10 Latino Childhood Experiences that Are Sure to Activate Major Nostalgia

Latino kids with water balloon

One of the great things about growing up Latino is that you get to have a lot of experiences that are unique to the culture. Only Latinos know the joy of trying to get as many toys and candy from the piñata as possible, no matter who you have to hurt to get that bag. Even if you didn’t have a perfect childhood (who does, anyway?), you can look back at those quintessential Latino experiences and smile. We’re feeling nostalgic today, so let’s go down memory lane and look into the 10 childhood moments all Latinos cherish:


Quinceañeras and officially coming of age

young latina celebrating her quincea\u00f1era

Sweet sixteen parties don’t hold a candle to Quinceañeras. Like, not even close! Quinceañeras are one of the Latino traditions that truly stand out, and every Latina, if they chose to have one, can look back on their Quinceañera with fondness, even if it was debacle or in this case, Monster Energy Drink-themed to try to please your highschool crush. Decked out in a dress that could double as a cupcake topper, young Latinas dance the night away, soak in the inevitable chismes, and feel like royalty for a day. Even if you didn’t have one, attending one was sometimes even better. Who doesn’t love a good party with some top-level people watching?

Going to baseball or soccer games

people watching baseball game during daytimePhoto by Taylor Rooney on Unsplash

Whether it’s baseball or soccer, Latinos love going to a good game. When baseball or soccer season came along, you looked forward to going to games with the entire family. Uncles would get a bit hammered on beer, you got to eat churros and hot dogs, and you knew all the celebratory chants by heart. When your team scored a goal or hit a home run? Pure euphoria. There’s really nothing like cheering your head off with hundreds of other people who are just as excited as you.

Watching telenovelas with your aunts

Popular characters in Telenovelas

The drama, the tears, the betrayals! Watching telenovelas with our aunts was like a rite of passage. No Latino child ever forgets their first taste of telenovelas because it’s like being invited into the grown-up club! Who needed Netflix when you had María la del Barrio? Plus, you got to learn so much about life from listening to what your tías had to say about shady characters, toxic relationships, and dramatic situations. What a wonderful time it was!

Learning traditional dances

two Latina girls learning to dance

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels

From salsa to merengue, we learned it all. Our family gatherings doubled as dance-offs, with tías teaching us the moves and tíos embarrassing themselves trying to keep up. If you can master the cumbia with your abuelita leading the way, you can conquer any dance floor.

Looking forward to Three Kings' Day (Día de los Reyes) just as much as Christmas

sculpture of the Three Kings in Mexico

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

The holiday season is over after New Year’s for most people, but Latino kids look forward to Three Kings’ Day in January as much as they look forward to Christmas. Or that’s how it used to be and it was glorious! Leaving out shoes for gifts and waking up to find them filled with treats was like Christmas 2.0. And the rosca de reyes? Don’t even get us started on the baby Jesus surprise.

Having water balloon fights on hot summer weekends 

Water balloon fights during Carnival

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels

Hot summer weekends were our license to unleash mayhem with a hose in the backyard or water balloons if we wanted to take it to the next level. It always turned into a water war with the cousins (and the grownups loved to join in too). Those sneaky ambushes and soaking-wet battles were the highlight of our summer. Sure, there was the occasional accidental hit to the face with a water balloon, but hey, all’s fair in Latino water wars.

Weekend carne asadas with the entire family

Weekend carne asadas in Latino family

Photo by Anna Guerrero on Pexels

One thing about Latinos is that we don’t actually need a special occasion to get together and have a blast. Not all families are the same, but most Latino families make the most out of weekends with a good family cookout. The smell of grilled meat, the laughter of cousins running around, and the sounds of cumbia, salsa, vallenato, or reggaeton in the background made for perfect memories.

Not missing a single birthday party because of the piñata

playing with a pi\u00f1ata

No birthday party was complete without the piñata showdown. It was a battle royale where candy and cheap toys were the ultimate prize, and God protect anyone who got in your way. It was so fun to take turns hitting the piñata with a stick, while some uncle, brother, or dad in the family perched precariously on a roof, tree, or just about anything with height to taunt you with expert rope swings that could compete with any cross-fitter. Extra points if said rope swinger didn’t accidentally fall after one too many drinks before the start of the event.

Smashing cascarones on your friends’ heads during Easter

Cascarones for EasterPhoto by David on Flickr

While most people think about egg hunts when looking back on Easter childhood memories, Latinos think of cascarones. Easter was all about smashing cascarones (confetti-filled eggshells) on each other’s heads. The fun was maximized when the person didn’t even see it coming. The end result of everyone looking chaotically festive with all that confetti in their hair was a fun but painfully messy reminder that after the fun, someone is always stuck cleaning up the mess.

Getting your face painted for Día de Los Muertos

closeup photo of latina girl with her face painted for D\u00eda de Los MuertosPhoto by Danie Franco on Unsplash

Día de Los Muertos is a time to honor loved ones who have passed on, and get our faces painted in the most beautiful (and slightly spooky) designs. Granted, not all Latin Americans celebrate this holiday, but those who do will remember the excitement of getting their faces painted, putting together the ofrenda with their families, and going to fun festivals.

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.