Hispanic Heritage Month begins September 15 and runs through October 15. It's a great time to celebrate a group that makes up a third of Chicago's population and contributes so many things to the city's culture and livelihood. Discover WTTW's Hispanic Heritage Month programming below.
Plus, find more stories and content at WTTW's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hub.
Pati's Mexican Table
Pati Jinich returns for a tenth season of exploring Mexican cuisine and teaching the recipes she learns to the American home cook. This season, she travels to Jalisco, a state west of Mexico City that sits on the Pacific Ocean and includes such destinations as Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.
Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices
Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices presents trusted analysis and in-depth conversation about issues that matter to the Latino community in Chicago every week, with news and features on a wide range of topics including arts and life, entrepreneurship and innovation, and equity and justice.
Kitchenistas
Saturday, September 18 at 5:00 pm on WTTW
The graduates of a Latina-led health movement, called "Kitchenistas,” show how a range of small advocacy actions over time lead to big changes as they work to address high rates of obesity and diabetes in Southern California.
Raul Julia: The World's a Stage — American Masters
Sunday, September 19 at 2:00 pm on WTTW and Sunday, September 19 at 7:00 pm on WTTW Prime
Discover the life and career of Raul Julia, the charismatic, award-winning actor known for versatile roles on stage and screen, from Shakespearean plays to The Addams Family.
Great Performances: John Leguizamo's Road to Broadway
Sunday, September 19 at 8:30 pm on WTTW Prime
Follow John Leguizamo's path to the Great White Way with his theatrical showcase, Latin History for Morons, a comedic yet pointed look at the systematic repression of Hispanic culture throughout American history.
POV: América
Sunday, September 19 at 9:30 pm on WTTW Prime
Diego lives away from his family, where he scrubs wax in a surf shop by day and stilt-walks the malecon by night. He returns home after his grandmother, América, falls from her bed, leading to his father's arrest for elder neglect.
POV: The Infiltrators
Sunday, September 19 at 10:30 pm on WTTW Prime
Two young immigrants get arrested by Border Patrol and put in a shadowy for-profit detention center.
Voces on PBS: The Pushouts
Saturday, September 25 at 10:00 pm on WTTW
Meet Victor Rios, a high school dropout and former gang member-turned-award-winning professor, author and expert on the school-to-prison pipeline, who works with young people who have been 'pushed out' of school for reasons beyond their control.
Voces on PBS: Adios Amor — The Search for Maria Moreno
Saturday, September 25 at 11:00 pm on WTTW
See how the discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot—Maria Moreno, an eloquent migrant mother of twelve who became an outspoken leader for farmworker rights. Her legacy was buried—until now.
Wonders of Mexico
Sunday, September 26 at 7:00 pm on WTTW Prime
Travel south along Mexico's mountain spine, explore the tropical forests of the Maya, and journey across the deserts of northern Mexico to discover its amazing wildlife and culture in this three-part series.
POV: Stateless
Sunday, September 26 at 10:00 pm on WTTW Prime
An electoral campaign uncovers the complex history and politics of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Follow families of those affected by the 2013 legislation stripping citizenship from Dominicans of Haitian descent.
Canvasing the World with Sean Diediker: Southern Patagonia
Sunday, September 26 at 11:30 pm on WTTW Prime
Explores Torres Del Paine National Park from a basecamp lakefront yurt and brave Southern Patagonia's extreme climate on a quest to find the ultimate horse whisperer.
Los Hermanos (The Brothers)
Sunday, October 3 at 11:00 pm on WTTW
Virtuoso Afro-Cuban-born brothers—violinist Ilmar and pianist Aldo—live on opposite sides of a geopolitical chasm a half-century wide. This film tracks their parallel lives in New York and Havana, their poignant reunion, and their momentous first performances together.
Alma's Way
Weekdays beginning Monday, October 4 at 8:30 am and 4:00 pm on WTTW
Alma's Way. Photo: Fred Rogers Productions
A new animated series from Sesame Street's Sonia Manzano centers on 6-year-old Alma Rivera, a proud, confident Puerto Rican girl who lives in the Bronx with her family.
POV: Fruits of Labor
Monday, October 4 at 10:00 pm on WTTW
When ICE raids threaten her family, a Mexican-American teenager is forced to become the breadwinner, working days in the strawberry fields and nights at a food processing company.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It — American Masters
Tuesday, October 5 at 9:00 pm on WTTW
Discover how the trailblazing actor 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.
La Frontera with Pati Jinich
Fridays, October 15 and 22 at 9:00 pm on WTTW
Pati Jinich is not only a chef but also a former political analyst with a master's degree in Latin American Studies and the current resident chef of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. Using her background and the medium of food, she explores the misunderstood U.S.-Mexico border region, savoring the diverse cultures of El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, meeting artists, musicians, athletes, and of course chefs and home cooks.
Voces on PBS: Letters to Eloisa
Friday, October 15 at 10:00 pm on WTTW
The story of Jose Lezama Lima is a portrait of a writer's life and struggle for artistic freedom.
Voces on PBS: La Casa de Mama Icha
Monday, October 18 at 10:00 pm on WTTW
Decades after moving to the U.S. to help care for her grandchildren, Mama Icha returns to her hometown of Mompox, Colombia.
POV: Things We Dare Not Do
Monday, October 25 at 10:00 pm on WTTW
Defying gender norms, Ñoño works up the courage to tell his family in Mexico he wants to live his life as a woman, a fraught decision in a country shrouded in machismo and transphobia.
