Conexión Americas is a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 serving the Latino community in Nashville and Middle Tennessee through various programs that include education, microenterprise business, workforce development and advocacy.
With their mission to integrate and invite everybody to continue building a diverse community here in Nashville, Conexión Americas will be a part of the annual VIVA Spring Festival at Centennial Park this Saturday (April 11) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Along with Nashville Noticias, the free, family-friendly event will feature minority-owned food trucks, music, art and cultural dances celebrating the Latin communities in Middle Tennessee.
“It’s an invite to not only explore the city, but also to get to know the organization that I serve,” co-executive director Martha Silva said. “People are going to see many of the programs of Conexión Americas, especially the entrepreneurship because we are going to have food trucks that have been incubated in our commercial kitchen. People are going to experience about six different variety of food trucks with a diverse culinary cuisine and also arts and culture that represent not only the Latino community but the immigrant community that calls Nashville home.”
Silva moved to Nashville back in 2009 and she says she was looking for a community of people that sounded and looked like her to integrate to this new city and Conexión Americas gave her that. She wanted to continue to provide that same feeling and integration to the community.
“We want to go beyond the Latino community,” she said. “We want to continue serving as a bridge between the local community and our Latino immigrant community because we understand that we need to continue integrating, we need to continue building this community together and not being divided. We are in times when there is a lot of division, a lot different point of views, but at the end of the day, we are all human beings that deserve a good life and we want to make sure that Latinos are fulfilling those dreams and reaching their full potential. Because when the Latino community does well, everybody wins.”
The organization also wants to provided a better future for the next generation serving three major schools in Nashville.
“I’ve been be able attend the festival for the last three years and it’s a party,” said Martha’s daughter Sophie Louis Silva. “It’s full of food and dancing and it’s very fun to go to. What I’ve taken away from the Latino community is there’s so much life in the people I know who are Latino. It’s very fun to let my friends know where I come from and having a diverse community of everybody sharing their culture.”
“I see it through the life of my daughter, but also through the many kids that we serve at Conexión Americas,” Martha Silva said. “When I think about my own family and own my own daughter, she’s half American and she’s half Colombian and she was born and raised here in Nashville. What we are trying to educate her and teach her is the love of the country that she was born at, as well as the country and the culture that I can give to her as a Colombian, as a Latina myself. Obviously being bilingual and understanding that we all come from different places, understanding that we are all sound, look and behave differently sometimes, is part of the beauty of building communities. It’s the fabric that makes us all different, but at the same time, the same with the same goals and dreams. I love that my daughter understands and can navigate both worlds.”
Additional event opportunities:
Starting tonight (April 8) Freely Fest is at Bridgestone Arena and Monophonics performs at Eastside Bowl. Friday night (April 10) Moonchild is at Brooklyn Bowl. Also on Friday Sister Act begins at TPAC and Saturday night (April 11) AVTT/PTTN is at The Pinnacle. Sunday night (April 12) Yo Yo Ma performs at the Opry House and we’re wrapping up this week with two WNXP presents shows on Tuesday (April 14) They Are Gutting A Body of Water at The Blue Room and Broncho is at Cannery Hall’s The Mil.
