World-Class Latin Culture & Global Roots
St. Patrick’s Day Has a Latin Side
St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) is an Irish commemoration of the traditional anniversary of the patron saint of Ireland’s birthday into heaven (his death).
Asturian, Galician, and Basque Spaniards celebrate their shared Celtic heritage including tartan, kilts, gaita (bagpipes), and more. Irish soldiers played important roles in the Latin American Wars of Independence. Read More 🇮🇪
New York Latin Culture Brings the World Together
Hostos Center 2026 Season
Repertorio Español, School of American Ballet, Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed and Unbowed, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company
UBS Arena Latin 2026
Ramón Ayala, Romeo Santos & Prince Royce, Peso Pluma
Repertorio Español Latin Theatre
“La breve y maravillosa vida de Oscar Wao,” “Los Soles Truncos”
New York International Children's Film Festival NYICFF
“Bird Boy,” “My Grandfather is a Nihonjin,” “Remaining Native”
Whitney Biennial 2026 Has a Puerto Rican Curator
Marcela Guerrero, Beatriz Cifuents, Leo Castañeda, Ignacio Gatica, Oswaldo Maciá, Carmen de Monteflores, Gabriel Ruiz, Julo Torres, Johanna Unzueta
New York Mets 2026 Home Opener
Home Opener, 1986 World Series Ring Replica, Juan Soto 40/30 Bobblehead, Subway Series, Memorial Day, 1986 World Championship Retro T-Shirt, Fireworks Night
Feast of Saint Joseph, Latin Father's and Stepfather's Day
March 19 🇧🇴 🇭🇳 🇮🇹 🇲🇿 🇵🇹 🇪🇸
Feast of Saint Joseph, Latin Father's and Stepfather's Day
March 19 🇧🇴 🇭🇳 🇮🇹 🇲🇿 🇵🇹 🇪🇸
Spring is Blooming in NYC
March 20, 2026
Latin Culture & Global Roots
New York City and the United States are the greatest mixes of cultures on Earth.
Indigenous NYC 🪶
Iroko “Kíko” Keith Widyolar
Founder, Editor, Cacique, Mayimbe, Oba, Bobo, Whatever
¿KLK? I’m an American, a 20-year New Yorker who lives and works in the Latin world.
I build brands and businesses, but my life’s purpose is to bring people together through culture. Maferefún Eleguá.
I’ve been looking for the roots of Latin culture since 2006. They reach around the world, but the literal root has been right in front of me the entire time. It’s the yuca.
Raw yuca root is poisonous. Indigenous Amazonians developed the technology to make it safe to eat.
Taíno brought it to the Caribbean because it’s nutritious and didn’t spoil on long sea voyages.
On the islands, Taíno developed advanced farming techniques and mass-produced casabe flatbread. Yuca was so important, they named the great father Yúcahu.
In the Caribbean, we still eat boiled yuca with garlic and oil, bitter orange, and sauteed onions for any meal. It’s inexpensive, filling, and delicious.
The colonizers recognized yuca’s power and took it to Africa and Asia.
In Mother Afrika, it’s called “cassava,” “manioc” (French for the Brazilian Tupi-Guarani word “mandioca”) or “muhogo.” In West Africa it can be used to make fufu.
In the Pacific, yuca is called some version of “tapioca” or “manioka” and has become the main starch of the islands.
In Asia, yuca is often called “tapioca,” or “cassava.” It is used to make sweets, including the tapioca balls in your favorite Taiwanese Boba Tea.
Thailand is now one of the world’s major yuca producers. That’s where I first tasted it as a child.
I just figured out that those tapioca balls and the boiled yuca I eat for dinner are the same Amazonian Caribbean super food.
So come with me and Yúcahu. Let’s explore New York’s Latin World, the city of enchantment. ¡Ay bendito!
“E-le-le, le-le-le…” WEPA. ¡Ashé!