Key People

How many Central Americans of note can you name?

In workshops on Central America, we begin with the question “How many Central Americans of note can you name? They can be in any walk of life (literature, sports, politics, etc.) and they can be from history or today.” Only a few hands go up to respond.

The question surfaces the realization that most of us know very little about Central American history or people. Workshop participants often guess “Cesar Chavez” or “Che Guevara” who are well known Latino/Latin Americans, but not from Central America.

Even in schools with large numbers of students with Central American heritage, at best the staff can name one person, usually Rigoberta Menchú who won a Nobel Peace Prize or Archbishop Oscar Romero who was in the news because of his beatification.

To help school staff fill this gap, we introduce a lesson where participants take on the identity of one of a few dozen people of note in Central American history. They interact in a meet and greet role play.

Below are a few of the people featured in the role play. They are Central American authors, poets, revolutionaries, priests, and musicians. We hope that these brief introductions encourage readers to learn about the people listed below and many more.

Please note that our goal is to add many more names and bios. Your donations will help us expand the list.