Summary
Highlights
Yalitza Aparicio, a Mexican actress and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, advocates for the revitalization of indigenous languages. She stresses the need to include these languages in education and understand indigenous communities' characteristics and needs to combat discrimination.
Aparicio's goal is to prevent parents from feeling forced to hide their indigenous roots and languages to protect their children from societal discrimination. She wants every child to grow up proud of their heritage and recognize that speaking an indigenous language is a source of pride and a way to offer a richer perspective to the world.
She shares her own experience growing up in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca. Although her parents spoke indigenous languages, she and her siblings only learned Spanish because her parents wanted to secure their future and prevent them from facing the same discrimination they experienced. Spanish was seen as a gateway to more opportunities, even if it meant abandoning their roots.
Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico's ambassador to the UN, highlights the alarming rate of indigenous language disappearance. It was reported that two indigenous languages are lost every month out of the 6,700 spoken worldwide, emphasizing the severe consequences of this loss.