Five of the nation’s top Latino social media influencers are setting off on Saturday on a road trip with the shared mission of visiting historic sites protected by the National Park Service that honor the contributions of Latinos throughout American history.
Organized by the American Latino Heritage Fund in partnership with Hispanicize 2013 and PapiBlogger.com founder Manny Ruiz, and with the support by automotive sponsor Chevrolet and telecommunications partner Verizon, this unique social media project is expected to raise awareness of, and support for, the American Latino Heritage Fund. The Fund strives to tell of a more inclusive story of American History by preserving, celebrating and promoting the cultural, economic and civic contributions of Latinos to the American story.
The “American Latino Heritage Road Trip” will document the history of the nation through four regional road trips spanning thousands of miles in the northeast, southeast, southwest and midwest. Audiences can follow the road trip on Twitter, using the hashtag #LatinoHeritage, or by visiting any number of partnering sites, including ALHF.org, Hispanicize.com, and BeingLatino.us.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Hispanicize and Being Latino on the American Latino Heritage Roadtrip,” says Midy Aponte, Executive Director of the Fund. “Latinos’ contributions are deeply embedded in the fabric of American History. We hope the stories these bloggers will uncover will help generate a renewed interest in how the American story is told throughout the national park system – and also inspire Latinos to visit national parks.”
“This social media project aims to show all Americans – regardless of race, language, political affiliation or skin color – that Hispanics have played many varied and vital roles throughout U.S. history from Key West to Seattle,” said Ruiz, who in the past two summers has documented 22,000 miles of major family road trips on his PapiBlogger blog.
The five social media influencers include:
• Lance Rios of Being Latino: Rios (@BeingLatino) and his team from Being Latino will canvas the Northeast from New York City to Washington, D.C. His adventures will be posted on www.BeingLatino.com.
• Alex de Carvalho of the South Florida Media Club: de Carvalho (@AlexDC) will tour Texas, New Mexico and parts of Arizona.
• Eva Smith of Latina Mom Bloggers/Tech.Food.Life Blog: Smith (@Eva_Smith) and her family will document the Southwest starting in San Diego, California and through Arizona and New Mexico. Her travels will be documented on www.techfoodlife.com.
• Cristy Clavijo-Kish of Hispanicize/Los Tweens: Clavijo-Kish (@LatinoMarketing) and her family will explore the Mid-Atlantic Region. Her road trip will be posted on www.LosTweens.com.
• Maria de los Angeles of Sex and the Beach: de los Angeles (@ViceQueenMaria) will be joined by north Florida Latina lifestyle blogger Babushka (@bbabushka) who will drive the entire state of Florida from Key West to Tallahassee. De los Angeles will blog her adventures at http://sexandthebeach.blogspot.com/ while Babushka will document at her website http://bohemianbabushka.blogspot.com/.
The American Latino Heritage Fund of the National Park Foundation will assist the National Park Service and communities across the country to ensure that our national parks and historic sites preserve, reflect and engage the diverse stories and communities of American Latinos for future generations. For more information, visit www.nationalparks.org/AmericanLatinoHeritageFund.