I asked my family to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with me this year. They were a little perplexed but I had my reasons. Cinco de Mayo is the commemoration of a battle won against the French army at a time when Mexicans (some indigenous, some Black, some more than that) were not supposed to win. It was hard but they put up a fight at Puebla at the beginning of May in 1862 and that fight had a ripple effect. It made people feel like resistance was worthwhile. Another one of those ripples may well have been that the French colonizers were unable to send a bunch of resources to help the Confederate army in the American Civil War. They would have supported the confederacy. This is all extremely complex and historians have many different takes. I don’t want to oversimplify or mischaracterize things. The idea was what lit a fire in me. The idea that small victories mean bigger things than we know. I’m also glad I grew up in a household where my elders taught me solidarity with other oppressed people was important. The fact that many of the Mexicans celebrating today are in the U.S. finding a day to pump up the volume on pride and existence is enough for me to know I needed to teach my children that it is more than bars and drinks. I want my children to understand solidarity, too. So we celebrated tonight. We made spicy chocolate drinks, mixed our pineapple and mango drink with a little Juneteenth style strawberry soda, listened to Selena, and enjoyed some blue corn tacos. I pray my children will learn more and find new ways to celebrate this day. P.S. Next year we will work on sourcing the ingredients well.