Global Voices Online

195 years ago today, in the town of Dolores, Guanajuato, a Catholic priest named Miguel Hidalgo rang the bell of his church and, in a call for Mexican independence, cried out, “Mexicanos, ¡viva México!” That famous and passionate cry is now referred to as the Grito de Dolores or “Cry of Dolores” (a play on words referring to the town itself as well as the pain Mexico endured during its struggle for sovereignty) and is reenacted each year across the country at midnight on the night of the 15^th.

Maricela Hinojosa, who blogs at Retrato de un Sueño (”Portrait of a Dream”) says:

Today I will dress in the colors of the flag and scream “Viva México!, feeling proudly mexican, happy to have been born in this country, of being a person 100% made in this, my dear Mexico. And since I'm made in Mexico … I'm well made.

Entre Menos Burros + Elotes and Sala Verga have slightly less poetic ways of wishing their fellow patriots a happy Independence Day.

Daniela A. Ortega Herrerías from Veracruz, however, takes a more critical look at the holiday and how it is celebrated on Olganza:

Just like other Mexican holidays, we celebrate them with our heart in one hand and money in the other; we spend money that maybe we already would have but probably not and the following day it ends with a moral hangover.

Despite her problems with the consumerist slant Independence Day has taken in Mexico, she goes on to wish readers of Olganza a festive day celebrated for “continued freedom and keeping Mexico in your hearts and minds.”

El Crimen del Padrenatas, written by Chuy Asecas from Mexico City, recounts a conversation about Mexican patriotism he once had at a party:

He said, “The truth is I'm embarrassed to be Mexican. We're a cultura of losers, we're not a winning culture like the Gringos, we're surrounded by mediocrity, bla, bla, bla.”

… and I answered him with, more or less, the following: “You know what? I'm also embarassed to be Mexican, especially when I find myself by idiots like you. You say that we're not a culture of winners like the Gringos? How do you understand ‘winning culture?' A culture that invades weaker countries and exploits them insensitively?”

Mexicanwave has a hyperlinked transcription on Mexico's Independence Day from Tony Cohan's book, On Mexican Time. Ocho Cuartos, written from the northern industrial city of Monterrey, posted a few days ago, “as Independence Day nears, what better way to remind ourselves why we celebrate than taking a look at some statistics which reveal what we have achieved as a nation.” One of those statistics reveals that Mexico leads the world in deaths caused by acne (3).

Isopixel links to the government version of Mexico's Independence history and gets a loud response of virtual vivas. Nuahu.ti offers some advice on Independence Day, telling readers to liberate their own time and free themselves while not losing who they are.

Mexican-American bloggers Strolling Luna, Xoloitzquintle, and Soul Musings also shouted out their blog-gritos.

Are you celebrating Mexican Independence Day? Leave us a comment and let us know.