Eager to learn about the influences and personal success stories amidst poverty and adversity of Latin Americans the main theater opened its doors to an ethnically diverse audience of Skyline College students at noon on Sept. 27.The program started with the introduction of Skyline’s own professors of Latin decent, Alma Cervantes, Jacqueline Escobar, Hilda Fernandez, Pablo Gonzales, Raymond Hernandez, and Lucia Lachmayr, by Luciana Castro, the host of the event. “The importance of having this event is to celebrate and inspire the students to look at their Latino faculty here at Skyline College and how they can serve to help and find opportunities for students to succeed,” said Luciana Castro, the host of Americano as Apple Pie and professor of language arts. The film’s main agenda was to educate the incorrectly misconceived about Latin Culture and disproving stereotypes. Generalizations such as uniformly categorizing different Hispanic cultures into one collective group, was one of the problems that the documentary presented. Mexicans, Cubans and, Puerto Ricans are the three predominant Latin cultures in the US, each having their own unique traditions and customs that should be given an equal amount of respect and identification. Mexicans have the largest population among the Spanish speaking minorities in America, and at sixty percent, they dominate over the two other Latin cultures. According to the movie Mexicans are different from other Latin cultures because of their aboriginal claim to certain parts of the US, namely Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California, which were all purchased from Mexico in the mid 1800s by the United States after the Mexican-American war. The brief history lesson’s purpose was to let the viewer realize that many Mexican-Americans did not come illegally, but are as equally a citizen as any other. Now that illegal immigration has become a major political issue, the fact that most Americans view Mexicans as illegal aliens is unfair to the earlier generations that were naturalized. Personal stories of new immigrants were also shown in the film. Wild animals, the glaring desert sun, and the wide expanse to reach American soil, are challenges that Mexican immigrants have to go through just to escape poverty. Based upon the success stories of people in the documentary, their only agenda is to improve upon their lives, and most of them did. Puerto Ricans are the second Latin minority discussed by the film. Historically, Puerto Rico was declared a United States Protectorate in the early 1900’s after the Spanish-American war. Like Mexicans, Puerto Ricans are also woven into society by colonization. In the 1950s, President Harry S. Truman signed the Public Act 600, which allowed Puerto Rico to become its own commonwealth. After the bill was passed, the largest migration of Puerto Ricans occurred. Legally, they migrated into New York, New Jersey and Florida. Over 169,124 people were documented entering the country according to a census posted on, www.topuertorico.org which is a website attributed to Puerto Rico. The allure of the gleaming lights of the land of opportunity became their beacon for a better future. The third predominant Latin culture presented in the film was Cubans. Cuba was freed by the US in the early 1900’s after the Spanish-American war. They declared independence in 1902, although the United States still had leverage on political matters. In the 1960’s, Fidel Castro led the “Cuban Revolution.” Due to the political unrest, thousands of Cubans immigrated to America to escape the prosecution of the new regime. The treacherous stretch of shark infested waters between the US and Cuba seemed less intimidating because of their desire for a better life without fear. After the film, the seven professors talked about each of their backgrounds as Latin Americans. Their stories were filled with their triumph over adversity and scarce resources. They exude confidence as they exclaim their proud heritage throughout the large theater. Their backgrounds differ but a fine line connected them all, from the detached testimonials of the people interviewed in the film to the inspiring statements of Skyline Professors right in front of the audience. They are all products of hard work and perseverance. Latin Americans in the US, in some ways, personify the “American Dream.”