Cinco de Mayo: More Than a Day of Drinking

When most Americans think of Cinco de Mayo, the majority envision plastic-beaded jewelry, scantily-clad women, and an extreme excess of alcohol. Music, laughing, and talking fill the air and the scene is set in chaotic and colorful disarray. But this image, while vibrant and full of life, is not how Cinco de Mayo is supposed to be celebrated.

For those who aren’t already aware, Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day (which is Sept. 16). Cinco day Mayo is the day the Mexican people remember when General Ignacio Zaragoza led the Mexican Army into a victory against the French armies in the Battle of Puebla on May 5 of 1862.

“The war with France actually has a lot of significance to American history; the Civil War was going on simultaneously. France would have sided with the confederates in the Civil War, and had they not been sidetracked by the war in Mexico, the Civil War could very easily have had a very different outcome,” said Javier Cervantes, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at LBCC

In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is not widely celebrated. All children have the day off of school, but the day is only a national holiday in the state of Puebla, where the battle was won. The festivities are most prevalent and widespread in Puebla. The neighboring state of Veracruz also has a full holiday on May 5, and there are various military-themed parades across Mexico, but the festivities are nowhere near as ostentatious, raucous, and flamboyant as those in most of the United States.

“I feel like Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that is just used in America as an excuse to drink, like Saint Patrick’s day is. It would be like another country using the alamo or our independence day as another drinking day,” said Moriah Hoskins, an LBCC student of Hispanic descent.

If you would like to celebrate in a way that is culturally accurate or learn more, visit LBCC’s Diversity Day on Wednesday, May 10; which will be in the courtyard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature performers, music, food, club and community tables, and more.

“Cinco de Mayo celebrations are a signature event at Diversity Day, it’s one of the most fun days of the year,” said Cervantes.

Lights, Camera, Action!

As Marissa Fieland reaches the final bars of the song, tears fill the eyes of everyone around her. Her posture and poise is perfect as she reaches the last notes, her voice never wavering. The room is silent for a few seconds, before bursting into thunderous applause. A tremendously talented individual, Fieland breathes new life into music and awakens the inner child of everyone around her. Not only is she talented, Fieland is a hard worker, and incredibly down to earth.

A senior at West Albany High School, Fieland has been a vital part of the school’s music and performing arts programs for over three years.

Fieland plans to continue with music. Having been accepted into the Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and the University of Oregon, Fieland will be attending the New England Conservatory, where she was awarded a $23,000 scholarship.

“What I’m specifically studying is vocal performance; I hate that title, though. I like to tell people I’m studying opera. I feel like opera like the title 'Vocal Performance' is more flashy and implies pop singing or something, which I’m not doing,” said Fieland.

Music is an integral part of Fieland’s life, and always has been.

“It’s (music) one of the only things that can actually satisfy me. It’s also the one thing that can exhilarate me and relax me at the same time, I guess that’s more of the performing music, though,” said Fieland. “One thing I’m particularly fond of is how with music you can hear a recording of a song and hear it one way, but the next day you can listen to the same recording of the same song and it feels like a different recording because you hear it differently based on your mood. I think that’s one of the coolest things because that means there’s always new about it that you didn’t realize existed, you’re constantly living in the moment I guess,”

In the future, Fieland hopes to pursue music professionally.

“I plan to audition for operas in hopes of getting paying roles,” said Fieland. “Eventually, I want to teach at a music conservatory or college.”

In addition, Fieland wants people to understand what opera is -- and isn’t.

“Most people think it’s just a genre of music, but technically an opera is pretty much like a musical, it has a plot and characters, but all the lines that are delivered are sung. And they’re sung specifically in either a belcanto or baroque style, depending on whether or not the opera was written by a romantic composer or a classical composer like Mozart,” said Fieland. “ They’re (opera singers) not just high singing with a symphony behind it; there are characters, a theme and a moral learned.”

At a Glance:

Marissa Fieland is an 18 year old senior at West Albany High School who will begin studying vocal performance at the New England Conservatory in the fall. Fieland recently played the Fairy Godmother in West Albany High School's spring musical, "Cinderella."