Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: Influential Figures Shaping American Culture

Hispanic Americans have long contributed to politics, science, movies and TV, the arts, and sports, among many other industries. Latin American talent includes musicians who have exploded onto the scene like Bad Bunny did in the mid-2010s and politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who became the youngest woman elected to Congress.

Famous Hispanic actors have taken on beloved fictional roles, like Jenna Ortega did with the iconic character Wednesday Addams, and made Emmys history as Pedro Pascal did after becoming the first Latino to be nominated in the lead actor category in 25 years. And some Hispanic Americans are known for creating masterful works of art like Lin-Manuel Miranda did with his Broadway hit Hamilton.

All of these accomplishments center the stories and experiences of the Latinx community to entertain mass audiences and, in some cases, help shape American history. To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 through October 15, get to know some of the most notable Latin American figures who have influenced pop culture, politics, and beyond.

Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno, 92, has been a household name for decades, ever since she captivated audiences with her fierce portrayal of Anita in 1961’s West Side Story. Moreno would go on to cement her name in history by winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the role, becoming the first Hispanic American woman to win an Academy Award.

Born Rosa Alverio on December 11, 1931, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, the actor later changed her last name to match her stepfather’s after she immigrated to New York City with her mom in 1936. Moreno made her Broadway debut in Skydrift at age 13, with her career taking off after that.

The pioneering actor went on to star in dozens of film, TV, and stage shows through her decades-long career. She became only the third person ever to achieve the coveted EGOT, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award by 1977. In 2019, she added a P to the achievement with a Peabody Award, one of only three performers to accomplish this feat.

Cesar Chavez

Born in Arizona to a Mexican American family, Cesar Chavez grew up around the people he later helped through his activism. The defining moment in Chavez’s life came when his family moved to California during the Great Depression to become farm workers, inspiring his fight for farmers’ rights.

After receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy, Chavez worked as a lumber handler in San Jose, where he helped set up a chapter of the Community Service Organization, a pivotal civil rights organization for Latinos in California. Chavez made the CSO his full-time job after he was laid off, meeting fellow activist Dolores Huerta while traveling to chapters around the state of California.

Although Chavez later received criticism from within for his singular control of the union, including times in which he fired those who opposed him, the activist is still regarded as an important civil rights leader and posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom the year after his death, in 1993, at age 66.

Selena Quintanilla

Selena Quintanilla was a Mexican American singer born in Texas on April 16, 1971. Known simply as Selena, the Queen of Tejana Music released several hits including “I Could Fall in Love,” “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “Dreaming of You,” “Amor Prohibido,” and “Como La Flor.” Selena won a Grammy award for Best Mexican American Album in 1994, making her the first Tejana to win in this category.

Tragically, Selena’s life was cut short when she was shot by one of her employees and fan club manager, Yolanda Saldívar, on March 31, 1995. Droves of fans were left bereaved as they mourned the loss of the beloved singer who passed days before her 24th birthday.

Selena’s superstardom inspired movies, shows, and product launches that include 1997’s Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez in the titular role as well as Netflix’s Selena: The Series, which released in 2020. That same year, MAC Cosmetics released its second Selena-inspired makeup line after its first Selena-themed collection immediately sold out online and in-stores in 2016.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

In just a few short years, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has become one of the major leading voices for Hispanic Americans in politics. Also known by her initials AOC, the 34-year-old was born in 1989 in the Bronx, one of New York City’s boroughs, to a Puerto Rican mother and a Bronx-born father of Puerto Rican descent.

After graduating college in 2011, Ocasio-Cortez returned to the Bronx and later campaigned for Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. She visited Flint, Michigan, and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota after the general election, where she attended the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and decided to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ocasio-Cortez eventually challenged Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley, the first to do so since 2004, and pulled off a surprise primary win in June 2018. Through a grassroots campaign, she became the youngest person elected into the House during the midterm elections that year.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Few Hispanic Americans have made a bigger impact in recent pop culture than Lin-Manuel Miranda. He was born in 1980 in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City to Puerto Rican parents, who immigrated to New York to pursue academics.

Miranda was raised around musicals and started writing his first title at Wesleyan University in 1999 during his sophomore year. In the Heights, loosely based on his own experiences growing up, opened on Broadway in March 2008, earning him his first Tony Award.

But Miranda’s largest mark on culture to date came when his musical Hamilton opened on Broadway in 2015. Following the life of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda reimagined the beginnings of America told by all actors of color, whose ancestors didn’t have a say in how the country was built.

Bad Bunny

Three-time Grammy-winning artist Bad Bunny, whose legal name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has had a meteoric rise to fame with singles like “Soy Peor” and collaborations with big name musicians including Cardi B, J Balvin, and Drake. The 30-year-old reggaetonero, sometimes affectionately called Benito, was born and raised in Puerto Rico and showed an interest in music early in life.

Bad Bunny won his first Grammy in 2021 for the Best Latin Pop or Urban Album for YHLQMDLG. In 2022, his winning streak continued with the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album for El Último Tour Del Mundo, and he won again in 2023 for his album Un Verano Sin Ti.

Through his innovative music and collaborations, Bad Bunny has helped popularize reggaeton music among mainstream audiences.

Marco Rubio

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has made his mark in politics as a leading member of the Republican party. A Miami native, the 53-year-old was born in 1971 to Cuban immigrants who fled the Batista regime in 1956.

Rubio earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1993 and later earned his law degree from the University of Miami in 1996. His career in politics started just three years later when he won a run-off election for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

The politician announced his intention to run for U.S. Senate in 2009 and was elected the next