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This year, Lafayette will celebrate Latino Heritage Month by focusing on the issue of immigration and engaging the college community in discussions, lectures, performances, films, and an art exhibition surrounding socio-political issues affecting Latino/as in the United States.
According to Michael Benitez Jr., director of intercultural development and the David A. Portlock Black Cultural Center, the celebration’s theme is “Latino/as: Strong and Colorful Threads in the American Fabric.”
“[The month’s events] aim to provide different opportunities on campus, and for the wider Lehigh Valley community, to broaden people’s views and perspectives on economic, global, cultural, and social issues surrounding immigration as it pertains to Latino/as in the United States,” he says. “The need for today’s college students to have the ability to positively cope and deal with these matters is critical in a time when immigration, specifically Latino/as immigration, is quickly becoming the face of injustice and inequality in this nation.”
The keynote event of the month will be a multimedia lecture by award-winning director Sergio Arau and actress Yareli Arizmendi, who will explore topical news items from a Latino point of view. The lecture will be held 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room 104. Arau and Arizmendi are co-creators of the film A Day Without a Mexican, which illustrates California’s economic dependency on Mexican and Mexican American workers and the growing cultural presence and power of Latinos in America. The film will be played at Limburg Theater Sept. 22-24.
Another major lecture will be presented by Francisco Flores, former president of El Salvador from 1999-2004 and founder of the América Libre Institute, 7:30-9 p.m. Oct. 12 in Kirby 104. His discussion and reception entitled, “U.S. Immigration Reform: Thoughts from a Friendly Neighbor,” is also sponsored by the Policy Studies program.
An art exhibit with work by Costa Rican artist Alberto Murilla Herrera and Curlee Raven Holton, professor of art and founding director of the Experimental Printmaking Institute, will run through Oct. 20 at the David A. Portlock Black Cultural Center. Other activities during the month include brown bag discussions on numerous Latino/a topics, a concert performance by Miami-based Tiempo Libre, a Latin market, and a “Night of Culture” celebration.
The Latino Heritage Month celebration will conclude with the Hispanic American League of Artists (HALA) Film Festival 2 p.m. Oct. 15 in Limburg Theater. The film Taking Root will be presented with a discussion period to follow. This documentary looks at the lives and struggles of a range of immigrant and refugee communities including the Central Valley of California, Houston, Texas, and Central Iowa.
For more information about Latino Heritage Month, or any of the events, please contact the office of Intercultural Development at Intercultural@lafayette.edu or ext. 5819.
Latino Heritage Month events: