Christian Hubbard of Oswego came to Aurora Monday morning for the raising of the Mexican flag during a ceremony to honor Mexican Independence Day. “I was telling my colleague here a while ago how cool it is to make this culture feel celebrated, visible, seen, uplifted and it’s a really cool thing that we do,” Hubbard said as he stood at One Aurora Plaza in downtown Aurora for the ceremony. “We have all sorts of walks of life being celebrated right here at the plaza,” he said.
“This community is for everybody.” Aurora holds a number of flag-raising events throughout the year to recognize different cultures and communities within the city. Monday’s ceremony honoring the city’s Mexican community included remarks from city officials and a mayoral proclamation as well as a number of entertainers that featured special mariachi guests including youth singer Diego Rodolfo Trillo Valdez, the Mariachi Monumental de Mexico group, and a larger-than-life mariachi robot.
In addition, the annual Viva Excellence Awards were given out before the flag was raised. Aurora Chief Engagement and Equity Officer Clayton Muhammad spoke before Monday’s ceremony, noting that “the Mexican community is one of the largest communities here in Aurora.” “We look forward to celebrating the independence of Mexico and many of our families are directly from Mexico even though some were born here – there are many with direct ties to the motherland,” he said.
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