In response to the Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy students' outrage in November due to its lack of Latino representation, the Chicago History Museum is developing an exhibit committed to Latinidad, according to a report by Remezcla.

In 1856, Chicago History Museum was established with the purpose of revisiting and featuring Chicago's elaborate history. The city is home to some of the most vibrant Latino communities in the country, including Pilsen, Little Village, and Humboldt Park. In 2017, Chicago Tribune reported that Latinos have surpassed other minorities in Chicago, including African Americans, in population, becoming the second largest racial and ethnic group in the city after U.S.  However, it seems the museum had missed this vast segment which actually constitutes about 30 percent of the city's population.

It can be recalled that a group of Latino students who are part of a class from Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy conducting a field trip at the museum on September, got offended when they found out that the only display remotely close to their culture was a lowrider that had a Mexican flag on it.

Said students and other Latino students from the academy launched a campaign to bring public attention to the issue and to get the museum to make changes. They made banners saying messages like, "Latinx history matters.", "Where's Latinx history?", "We deserve credit too.", created a social media buzz, and wrote letters to the museum about their concerns.

This prompted the museum to call for a meeting with the concerned individuals. On November 15 Latino students from the academy met with the museum officials to address the issue and come up with permanent solutions to the lack of Latino representation.

"Imagine how many younger kids came and didn't think that their ethnicity or their family background wasn't as important, because they didn't see it in the museum," said Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy student Samira Rivera. "It isn't really even Latinx. It's more of like an L.A. thing," she added.

For  Karina Valadez, a student who visited the museum last month, it is more than just an exhibit. "We're tired of not seeing our history represented in textbooks. We deserve to be remembered, " she added stressing that not knowing their roots prevents Latinos from moving forward.

"Low riders are often associated with, you know, hot-rodding and vehicles and cars, and Latinx history makes this association with cars," students' teacher Anton Miglietta said.

During their meeting, Chicago History Museum Curator Peter Alter told the group, "Our intention was not to offend, but that is a failure, I would say, definitely that lies specifically with me."

Meanwhile, Museum vice president John Russick said, "These students are civically engaged and asking us to do better, and we want to deliver."

The new exhibit which will take a few years to develop, is set to be displayed on 2023. For the meantime, the museum has committed to installing smaller displays throughout existing galleries to offer more pan-Latino representation.

To ensure this is all done well and in good faith, a monitoring committee will be established. It will be composed of the students and interested community members from the creatives and the academy.