‘The 39th Hispanic Heritage Awards’ Review: A Celebration That Found The Right Place At The Right Time
Several weeks ago, my wife and I attended the taping of The 39th Hispanic Heritage Awards, which celebrates Latino culture, achievement and pride. It was the first time the awards had been presented in Minneapolis, and given the year Minnesota has had — one marked by an enormous federal immigration enforcement operation, fear in immigrant communities and arguments over who gets to be considered a “true” American — it turned out to be a particularly meaningful place for the ceremony to land.
The Hispanic Heritage Awards had traditionally been held in Washington, D.C., and their move to Minneapolis was historic. The Hispanic Heritage Foundation, which was established by the White House in 1988 to commemorate the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month, said it wanted to recognize the response of Minnesotans to the federal immigration crackdown that began in December. The People of Minnesota ultimately received the evening’s Humanitarian Award, with more than 30 Minnesotans representing organizations, businesses and community groups taking the stage to accept it.
There was also a practical reason for leaving Washington. The Kennedy Center, which had been the longtime home of the ceremony, was closed indefinitely in September after an inspection found significant public-safety problems. But the move was about more than finding another building. Antonio Tijerino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, told the Los Angeles Times that after many years at the Kennedy Center, the organization wanted to take the awards somewhere else. Minneapolis, in other words, wasn't simply a substitute venue. It became part of the story.
And what a story it was.
The People of Minnesota were presented with the Humanitarian Award alongside icons including Oscar D’León, who received the Legend Award; Mon Laferte, who received the Social Justice Award; Eladio Carrión, who received the Inspira Award; and Ximena Sariñana, who received the Music Award. Rep. Joaquin Castro received the Public Service Award. Comedienne Anjelah Johnson-Reyes hosted, and Los Tigres Del Norte provided the kind of musical firepower that makes you wonder why every awards show doesn't simply book Los Tigres Del Norte and get out of the way.
The live experience was genuinely moving. What struck me most was how little interest there was in turning the evening into a political rally, despite the obvious political context surrounding the decision to bring the ceremony to Minnesota. You didn't hear anti-American rhetoric. Instead, the emphasis was overwhelmingly on Hispanic culture, achievement and the ways Latino communities have contributed to and strengthened American life.
There were certainly references to the circumstances that brought the ceremony to Minneapolis. One of the most striking moments came when Los Tigres Del Norte presented the Humanitarian Award and spoke about the fear and disruption experienced by immigrant communities during the federal enforcement campaign. The group closed the show with “Jaula de Oro,” its 1984 song about the experience of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
There was also a wonderfully simple visual statement at the taping when someone held up a sign reading “I Am An Immigrant.” That moment didn't make the television broadcast, which is too bad, because it captured something important about the evening without requiring a three-minute speech to explain it.
The event also benefited from the decision to recognize Minnesota itself. Tijerino described Minnesotans as embodying solidarity, unity, resourcefulness, strength and resilience, and the audience seemed to understand exactly why the organization had decided to make the state part of the awards' history.
As much fun as the live taping was to experience, however, the resulting one-hour broadcast is less inspiring.
The problem is largely structural. The taping ran roughly two hours, and compressing that material into an hour creates some jarring edits and abrupt transitions. People appear, receive awards, speak for a few moments and disappear before you've quite figured out what just happened. The live show had room to breathe; the television version occasionally feels like somebody attacked it with a chainsaw.
I also appreciated the decision to provide English subtitles for the Spanish-language portions, although the execution was odd. The speeches were captioned, but the songs weren't, which creates the strange experience of understanding what someone is saying onstage while having considerably less idea what they're singing about. Considering how important the music is to the ceremony, that feels like a missed opportunity.
Still, none of that diminishes what is genuinely special about the program. The performances are strong, the honorees are compelling and the entire evening has a sense of purpose that can be surprisingly rare on television. Mon Laferte, Ximena Sariñana and Eladio Carrión all perform, while Los Tigres Del Norte get the closing slot and remind everybody why they remain one of the great live bands in Latin music.
And there is something particularly satisfying about seeing this ceremony in Minneapolis. The awards were created nearly four decades ago in Washington, but this year they found themselves in a city that had become a national symbol of a very different kind of American story. Rather than treating that as an embarrassment, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation chose to recognize the people who responded to their neighbors during a frightening period.
That's worth celebrating.
The 39th Hispanic Heritage Awards isn't perfect television. The editing is occasionally abrupt, the compressed running time sacrifices some context and the subtitles could be more consistent. But those are problems created by trying to squeeze a big, energetic live celebration into a one-hour broadcast.
The celebration itself is another matter.
It is warm, occasionally funny, frequently beautiful and filled with people who clearly understand that celebrating Hispanic culture isn't about separating Latino Americans from the larger American story. It is about recognizing how thoroughly that culture has become part of it.
You don't have to understand every word to understand what the evening is trying to say. And sometimes, particularly in a year like this one, that's more than enough.
The 39th Hispanic Heritage Awards is streaming on PBS.com and the PBS app.