Hispanic Heritage Month Programming Highlights on WETA World

Wednesday, September 17 at 7pm

Legendary U.S. anthropologist Dr. Clyde Snow sets out to train a new group of Latin American students in the use of forensic anthropology. Their goal: to investigate disappearances in Argentina during the “dirty war”. The group expands its horizons, traveling to El Salvador, Bolivia and Mexico, doggedly working behind the scenes to establish the facts for the families of the victims.

Thursday, September 18 at 7 pm

The origin of flamenco dancing and whether it can survive in the modern world; narrated by flamenco singer Antonio de la Malena.

Thursday, September 18 at 8pm

On May 5th, 1991, people took to the streets of Washington D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood to protest the police shooting of a young Salvadoran man, Daniel Gomez. Through testimony, song, poetry, and street theater, LA MANPLESA: An Uprising Remembered weaves together the collective memory of one of D.C.’s first barrios and dives into the roots of the '91 rebellion.

Saturday, September 20 at 7pm

The Last Mambo explores the San Francisco Bay Area’s (SFBA) Latin music scene. In the 1930’s musicians of color played in racially segregated areas. The 1950’s Mambo craze and integration expanded their world. Since 2000, gentrification has closed many clubs. But musicians are transforming the future through education and community outreach. The film celebrates their creativity and resilience.

Saturday, September 20 at 8pm

Explore how Latino DNA has been woven into the identity of the United States since before her inception, and has been pivotal all along the way. Despite facing severe discrimination and violence, Latinos were present and contributed in pivotal ways to the fabric of this nation. Highlighting key figures and events, host John Leguizamo shows how Latinos helped build the United States we know today.

Saturday, September 20 at 9pm

Meet the Mambo Legends Orchestra, committed to keeping the sounds of the great Afro-Cuban bandleaders Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez alive for future generations.

Sunday, September 21 at 9pm

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces trail-blazing journalists Jim Acosta and Van Jones to the ancestors who blazed a trail for them, meeting runaway slaves and immigrant settlers who took enormous chances so that their descendants might thrive.

Monday, September 22 at 7pm

Explore the story of Dominican-American poet and novelist Julia Alvarez, who burst onto the literary scene and blazed a trail for a generation of Latino authors.

Monday, September 22 at 9pm

Rudolfo Anaya perseveres through poverty, injury and an artistic struggle to become the first Hispanic-American writer to achieve major publishing success.

Wednesday, September 24 at 7pm

The Latinx Photography Project is a bilingual documentary film that explores how a creative practice like photography can succeed at cultivating leaders who are grounded in community cohesion. With photography as their medium, the participants in this project carve a path in a community that years ago was foreign to most immigrant farmworkers.

Thursday, September 25 at 8pm

In California’s Central Valley, hundreds of Latinx youth miss months of school annually, because they live with their families in one of the state’s farmworker housing centers. These subsidized apartments require families to move out each winter and relocate at least 50 miles away before being allowed to return in the spring. These cycles of displacement come at a high cost to families’ futures.

Thursday, September 25 at 9:30pm

The dance that began as a folk tradition has exploded into the mainstream, from nightclubs to performance halls, senior centers and salsa schools. Today, histories and traditions are recounted on dance floors across the region. From Casino-style to Colombian, from Puerto Rican to Dominican, the varied styles of the dance help delineate cultural identities and create connections and friendships.

Friday, September 26 at 7pm

The life of Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), a life filled with drama, adversity and triumph, is one of the great stories of the modern era. Despite poverty, childhood rheumatic fever that damaged his heart and an explosion in his youth that cost him his left hand, Orozco persisted in his wish to become an artist.

Friday, September 26 at 8pm

Discover how Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today.

Saturday, September 27 at 7pm

Birthright follows Cuban American electro-funk musicians, Cristy ‘Cuci’ Garcia and Tony ‘Smurphio’ Laurencio on their first trip to Cuba. In desperate straits, sixty years prior, their parents had left the island as political exiles. In 2016, the dynamic Miami-based duo, known as Afrobeta, were invited ‘back’ to perform in Havana.

Saturday, September 27 at 8pm

Host John Leguizamo explores the rise of the new empire, the United States. While Latinos were often relegated to the fringes of mainstream society, they made profound contributions to the fabric of the U.S. and beyond. Reflecting on his journey, John learns that Latinos were not just an asterisk in history, but that Latino history is the history of the United States.

Saturday, September 27 at 9pm

Celebrate the recipients of the 38th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards. The evening includes performances and appearances by some of the country's most celebrated Hispanic artists and visionaries. This historic program, created by the White House to commemorate the establishment of Hispanic Heritage Month in America, is among the highest honors by Latinos for Latinos and supported by 40 national Hispanic-serving institutions.

Sunday, September 28 at 9pm

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the deep Mexican roots of talk show host Mario Lopez and comedian Melissa Villaseñor, uncovering ancestors stretching back to the 1500s. Weaving together stories of migratory farmers, Spanish Conquistadors and Native Americans, Gates conjures up personal histories of diverse, sometimes conflicting, elements.

Sunday, September 28 at 10pm

Meet the beloved Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, who has thrilled audiences for over half a century, from the stages of Havana’s legendary nightclubs to her worldwide fame as part of the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club.

Monday, September 29 at 10pm

Join Ann Curry as two men search for the people who helped them settle in the U.S. when they fled Castro’s Cuba. One hopes to find the family who took him in as a boy while another looks for the shrimp boat skipper who brought him to safety.