Latino Scholars Are Celebrating Commencement With the Most Amazing Graduation Caps
There's nothing quite like putting one's unique stamp on a graduation ceremony — whether that means dunking on your principal or making a political statement covered by news outlets across the country.
In 2016, several Latino graduates are celebrating their achievements and their identities using intricately decorated graduation caps.
They look absolutely incredible. Instagram user and Latina Rebels blogger Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez told the Huffington Post that she started the hashtag #LatinxGradCaps a little more than a week ago as a way for graduates to share these images.
The results provide a unique look at being "young, brown and woke" in America today.
Whether they've just completed high school, college, graduate school or any other level of education, these scholars aren't the only ones decorating their caps, but they are using the opportunity to show the world how being Latinx — a gender-neutral term for "Latino" — has shaped their educational journeys.
Some are thanking their immigrant parents for the sacrifices they've made so their children could succeed. Others are simply expressing pride and joy in their identities.
"This is our future, they are the ones who will pave the way," Rodriguez, who is Nicaraguan, told the Huffington Post about the campaign. "It wasn't even a brilliant idea that was thought out. I sort of just wanted to celebrate them — all of them."
Each graduation cap has its own remarkable story — filled with challenges, heartbreak and, ultimately, triumph.
Here's a sampling of the #LatinxGradCaps posts:
Caption: "ASU Grad and first generation graduate."
Caption: "Always honor your roots."
Caption: "Chingona como mi madre" [Badass like my mom].
Caption: "I graduated today as first in my family. The flowers represent the Salvadoran and Mexican flags."
Caption: "Beautiful."
Caption: "YESSSSSSSS! gradúate!"
Caption: "I'm the first of my family to attend and graduate college! It took 6 years with my parents not know anything that came with applying and attending college. But without their support idk what I would have done without them!"
Caption: "I used to hate my skin tone and I used to hate being 'just Mexican,' but college changed that. I am proud to be Mexican, I am in love with my perfectly imperfect brown skin, but more than anything I am proud of my struggle because it's makes this moment mean so much more."
Caption: "My papi was on his death bed on April 11, 2015 due to a traumatic brain injury. The doctors told us he had a slim chance. I was angry. Why did I take so long in school? He is supposed to be there to his his little girl receive her bachelor's degree. Here we are a year later and my papi will be in the stands like a seed who has risen with new life. Like all of us, the children of immigrants, la raza ... we rise against all odds. My papi taught me that. This is political. This is personal. This is all of us."
Congratulations, class of 2016!
h/t Huffington Post
