Remembering Our HERencia

The Latino Community Coalition would like to invite you to be part of Nuestra HERencia. This project was meant to create a permanent physical representation of our community in public places.  We hope to activate and name an alleyway in downtown Grand Rapids after a woman from the Latinx community.  We will honor our rich history and the women to whom many families owe their legacies here in Grand Rapids.  

Instead of relying on accomplishments, awards, and other merits, as we are so often pressured to do by our host culture, we hope to celebrate women who were the first in their families to settle here.  We hope to elevate the stability they brought to their home, how they anchored the family for generations to come, and all the milestones and accomplishments for those generations we can now celebrate.

We would like to name this alley after a deceased Latina who lived in Grand Rapids and had a strong influence among her family and neighbors by sharing her values, culture, and traditions. Her story is our story. We want her story archived at our Cook Library for future generations to always remember her. This alley will also honor her legacy, honor her story, and who she was.