Every year, when I was a kid, my Mexican family celebrated Christmas in the same labor-intensive but absolutely delicious way. Dad would buy 40-pounds of masa fina para tortillas along with an almost equal amount of pork and beef, dried chilis, several bags of corn husks and enough manteca to coat the entire outside and inside of the house in lard. Thus we would begin the annual holiday ritual of making enough tamales to feed our large extended family, all the neighbors plus all the starving kids in Africa, India and China.

Beginning on Christmas Eve until Easter, we ate tamales for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snacks. Who cared if our HDL and LDL cholesterol numbers were higher than our zip code? So what if we had to buy our summer clothes at Tent city? Tamales meant Christmas to us. I’m sure Jesus, Mary and Joseph would have appreciated it more if one of the Three Wise Guys had brought them an olla full of warm tamales rather than myrrh. What the hell is myrrh anyway and what good is it in a freezing stable in Bethlehem on Christmas Day?

But of course, the other tradition was watching our three favorite Christmas films: Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life. All the years I watched those and other beloved “White” Christmas movies, it didn’t dawn on me: “Hey, how come no Latino Christmas films?” We can linguistically claim Christmas is a Latino holiday. Baby Jesus has a uniquely Hispanic first name. As far as I know, there are no Jews, Muslims, Amish, Upper Patagonians or Anglo-Saxon Protestants named Jesus. 

I have a cousin named Jesus. Hell, all Chicanos have a cousin named Jesus. Jesus had long hair, a beard and hung out with twelve dudes. So did my cousin, Jesus, until he got busted on some exotic “import, export” charges and is doing hard time in Huntsville where they don’t show Christmas movies of any kind.

Now that I have established a dubious cultural Latino link to Christmas, here are three Latino-themed holiday flicks to consider adding to your viewing list:

NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS

This dramedy deals with a Puerto Rican family facing what may be their last Christmas together.

Stars: John Legizamo, Luis Guzman, Freddy Rodriguez, Alfred Molina, Jay Hernandez, Debra Messing, Elizabeth Peña. Written by:

EL CAMINO CHRISTMAS

In this wacky comedy crime film, some unlucky liquor store mart customers find themselves being shot at by a drunk local cop.

Stars: Kentwood Smith, Dax Shepard, Jessica Alba, Hope Diaz

HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS

A struggling artist working as a waitress kidnaps one of her customers to bring home to meet her parents at Christmas.

Stars: Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Timothy Bottoms, Markie Post

None of the movies cited here will ever find their way into the sacred canon of traditional holiday movies. But our day will come. As Latino Hollywood continues to make inroads in telling our stories on streaming platforms, movies, TV and theater, our Latino Christmas traditions will find their way into the collective unconscious of our increasingly diverse country.

All three films featured are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

¡Feliz Navidad! Don’t eat too many tamales. Save some room for the flan and capirotada.

Featured Photo: Mario Lopez in Holyday in Handcuffs (Photo: ABC Family/Freeform)

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Dubbed as a “virtual gathering of Latina influencers, celebrities, community leaders, (and) entrepreneurs” in the United States, the event will cover leadership, power, equality and entertainment. It will also feature success stories and hold an awards ceremony. It will take place April 21.

Alba and Ferrara are two of Hollywood’s most prominent Latina stars.

Alba is a Golden-Globe nominated, prolific actor and founder of a multi-billion dollar company.  

AN ‘ANGEL’ TAKES OFF
Her breakout role was the lead in the sci-fi superhero series Dark Angel, directed by Oscar-winning Titanic director James Cameron. This role earned her a nod to the award handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Her movie credits include Robert Rodriguez’s acclaimed drama Sin City, the rom-com Valentine’s Day, the thriller The Killer Inside Me, the children’s action film Spy Kids 4-D: All the Time in the World and the superhero franchise Fantastic Four. More recently, she starred in the police comedy-drama LA’s Finest, which she helped co-produce.

The actress has also banked on her fame to go into business. In 2012 she co-founded The Honest Company, which specializes in household goods, diapers, and body care products and is now reportedly valued at about $2 billion. Alba has also been involved in activism encouraging youths to vote and supporting causes like safe chemicals and same-sex marriage, children’s education in Africa and the non-profits Habitat for Humanity and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

A SUNDANCE WINNER
Ferrera, for her part, is a Golden-Globe-winning actress who in recent years has put on a hat as a producer and executive director of projects that are either Latino-themed or have main characters who are Latinos. Her feature film debut was as the lead in her breakout role in 2002 at Sundance in the award-winning drama Real Women Have Curves, written by Josefina Lopez and for which she won the Special Jury Prize for Best Actress. 

Ferrera’s TV breakthrough role was in Ugly Betty. The Salma Hayek-exec directed TV series won Ferrera three coveted prizes for best actress: a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy—the first Latina to earn the honor in that category.

After Ugly Betty, she went to star in the independent limited series Christine and had a recurring role in the law drama The Good Wife. She also voiced Astrid Hofferson in the DreamWorks Animation franchise How to Train Your Dragon, including the feature films, shorts and TV series. Her film credits also include Cesar Chavez, in which she plays Helen Chavez, the wife of the farmworker and labor leader, and the two The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films. 

Ferrera donned the hats of executive producer and director for two recent series, NBC’s Superstore, in which she also stars as Amy Sosa, and Netflix’s Gentefied, a drama about gentrification in East Los Angeles—also making an appearance in one episode. 

As an activist, Ferrera has supported getting out the Latino vote, immigration advocacy and women’s rights. She was the opening speaker at the 2017 Women’s March on Washington.

MORE STARS & LEADERS
Several other Latina actresses will also be joining #LatinasRepresent. They are Dascha Polanco and Diane Guerrero (Orange Is the New Black), Julissa Calderon (Gentefied), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Cristela Alonzo (Cristela), Giselle Blondet (Mujeres Asesinas) and Julissa Bermudez (Hunters). 

The event will also feature prominent Latina leaders like Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers and head of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and Janet Murguia, president of UnidosUS, the Hispanic advocacy organization formerly known as the National Council of La Raza. 

Other women participating in the event are Univision anchor Yarel Ramos and the up-and-coming singer Mariah Angeliq.

Hispanicize Media Group, the organizer of #LatinasRepresent, is owned by NGL Collective, actor John Leguizamo’s independent media and entertainment company.

#LatinasRepresent is a free event. To register, click here.

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