A Heart for Hispanic Heritage Month: Dr. Liz Palacios

WACO, Texas ( FOX 44 ) — National Hispanic Heritage Month has special meaning for Dr. Liz Palacios, a key gatekeeper for the Central Texas Latino community.

Palacios is a San Antonio native who has over 40-years experience in higher education. She earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Baylor and her Ph.D. in school psychology from U-T Austin in 2002. She sat down with Fox 44 to tell us how close she holds National Hispanic Heritage Month in her heart.

“Hispanic Heritage Month means a lot to me and many of my family & friends. It’s a chance to celebrate who we are, to bring in the richness of what we bring to our communities, to bring and appreciate our language, our foods, our culture, our celebrations – whatever we do,” Dr. Palacios said. “We want to be authentic, and we are proud of who we are, where we have come from, and the opportunity to celebrate and to share, to educate those around us.

“It’s a beautiful, rich culture. And, to remember how diverse it is. We are not all the same and even from different countries. So, to learn and to create curiosity with the people around us who don’t and understand who we truly are. There’s no one way to be Hispanic or Latino. There’s no one way to present, so that’s why it’s so important during the celebration and throughout the year to get to get to learn about each other, to ask questions – no assumptions, just an opportunity through the month to celebrate through music and food in different events.

“So hopefully you will have an opportunity to go to learn more about yourself, to learn more about different cultures, and definitely come away with some exciting pride and understanding of what It’s like to be a Latino in our community.”

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