Hispanic Heritage Month: The Freedom We Carry Across Borders
The Freedom We Carry Across Borders
contributed by Luciano Paskevicius, Lowell Alliance
When people speak about Hispanic Heritage Month, the conversation often turns to food, music, language, and traditions. Those things matter, but for me, heritage lives somewhere deeper. It lives in the values and political ideas we carry from one generation to another and from one continent to another. It travels with us across borders, accompanying us throughout our lives.
Growing up in Argentina gave me an early understanding that freedom and democracy are never guaranteed; they are rights that every generation must value, protect, and defend, they must be protected by people who are willing to participate, speak out, and stand beside those whose voices are being ignored. That understanding is an important part of my Hispanic heritage.
Nearly twenty five years ago, one of the reasons I came to Massachusetts was my sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage was not yet legal here or anywhere in the United States, but Massachusetts had already become a leader in protecting people against discrimination based on sexual orientation. A larger movement for equality was also taking shape. To people like me, Massachusetts represented the possibility of safety, community, and a life lived more openly. I was not simply searching for a new place to live. I was searching for a place where I could belong, and become fully myself.
Coming from Argentina, I had grown up in a society that, in my experience, felt more culturally and religiously uniform. Arriving in Massachusetts introduced me to an extraordinary mosaic of people, different races, nationalities, religions, languages, identities, and ways of understanding the world. Because I have always been curious about others, I was drawn to that diversity. Rather than making me feel lost, it helped me recognize that our differences can bring us together.
Here, I found my community. I also met the Brazilian man who became my husband, and we are still together after more than twenty years. A few years after my arrival, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry. Our marriage is therefore connected to a larger political story, one written by people who organized, spoke out, voted, and refused to accept that inequality had to be permanent.
That experience shaped how I understand civic participation. It taught me that a person can arrive in a new country, find their own tribe, become part of a movement for change, and eventually live under the protections that movement achieved. Progress does not simply happen to us. Ordinary people create it by caring about themselves, caring about others, and remaining involved even when every day feels like another battle against the odds.
For me, this is what Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates: not only where we come from, but what we bring with us. Across the Hispanic world, we inherit histories marked by struggles for freedom, democracy, dignity, and justice. We also inherit the courage to continue those struggles wherever life takes us.
My Hispanic heritage gave me the strength to cross borders and imagine a freer life. The community I found in Massachusetts gave me the strength to help build one. Perhaps that is what belonging truly means: not only finding a place where we are accepted, but helping make that place more accepting and more free for the person who arrives next.
About the author:
Luciano Paskevicius is a Family Advocate and Community Organizer at Lowell Alliance, where he helps families access local resources, navigate social service systems, and overcome language barriers. He is serving in his second year as a Community Ambassador for the Office of Economic Empowerment at the Massachusetts State Treasury.
Originally from Argentina, Luciano moved to Lowell in 2008 and holds a Certificate in Communication in Business from Harvard University. Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, he has provided translation and interpretation services in education, nonprofit organizations, business, and political campaigns. He is also actively involved with Lowell Votes, promoting civic education, voter participation, and greater access to the democratic process.
His work focuses on building trust, expanding access, and creating opportunities for Lowell’s diverse communities.