Celebrating Hispanic (LatinX) Heritage Month 2022
The Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice honors and celebrates Hispanic (LatinX) Heritage Month 2022. The origins of Hispanic Heritage Month date back to 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson. It was enacted into law as Hispanic Heritage Month on August 17, 1988. (Note: Although officially designated as “Hispanic Heritage Month” there is significant debate regarding the appropriate designation for the community labeled as “Hispanic”, as well as a larger debate regarding the classification of people into separate, externally defined identity groups – see Latinidad debate. The quotations added to each mention of “Hispanic” henceforth seek to recognize and respect this debate and support and amplify the right and power of all people and communities to self-identify).
Even as we honor this month and the communities contemplated therein, we recognize that the “Hispanic” community is not monolithic. The month was designated to celebrate the “histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.”[1] This grouping of diverse communities comprised of varying geographic and intersectional racial, ethnic and cultural identities into the singular category of “Hispanic” is contested and debated as political, unifying, divisive, exclusionary, and overwhelmingly, complex.
From discussions of political power, to the rights of citizenship, to threats to human rights and democracy, we acknowledge the persistent struggles that directly and disproportionately impact “Hispanic” communities. However, as the “Hispanic” community is far more and greater than its struggles against marginalization, we offer that this month affords an opportunity to celebrate the joy, success, and power that exists within the “Hispanic” community, as well as interrogate structures that seek to marginalize it.
As part of this celebration and interrogation, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice, Government and External Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy invite you to join us for a program on September 16th that interrogates the status and impact of the legal rights provided under the United States Constitution, as well as the concomitant economic, political, social and cultural rights and creative freedom and practices that are essential for members of “Hispanic” communities to access, exercise, and protect their rights and the rights of all who reside in the United States.
10:00am – 10:10am: Welcome
10:10am – 10:30am: Opening Remarks – President Dwight A. McBride, PhD
10:30am – 11:15am: Legal Rights – Lourdes M. Rosado, J.D., President and General Counsel, Latino Justice PRLDF
11:15am – 12:00pm: Economic, Political, and Social Rights – Alumnus Alan Aja, PhD, Public and Urban Policy ’08, Professor and Chair in the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, Brooklyn College, City University of New York
12:00pm – 12:20 pm: Liberation in Creative Expression – Performance by Arturo O’Farrill [2], The New School Faculty, pianist, composer, educator, Professor of Global Jazz Studies and Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at University of California, Los Angeles
12:20pm – 1:00pm: The Personal is Political – Examining the Role of Identity – Discussion between RenĂ©e T. White, PhD, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Lorenley Baez, Associate Provost, Academic Advising and Career Development
Resources for Hispanic (LatinX) Heritage Month:
Latino Americans (PBS): PBS’ six hour documentary featuring interviews with over 100 Latinos covering more than 500 years of history
La Negrada: the first Mexican feature film about the Afro-Mexican community
John Leguizamo’s Latin American History for Morons: Leguizamo’s one man show that covers 3000 years of Latin American history with a heavy dose of humor
Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America
They Are We: A documentary that tracks the origins of of Afro-Cuban songs and dances found in Cuba as a result of the”slave trade” that originate from Sierre Leone
Please also join other events and celebrations across The New School community including:Facing Global Challenges: Speech by Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina.
From 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. Presented by Observatory on Latin America of the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs.
https://event.newschool.edu/albertofernandez?gz=none&pp=1
[1] https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/about/
[2] Please note that in a prior announcement, Arturo O’Farrill was misidentified as a “former” faculty member. We proudly correct that error to state that Arturo O’Farrill is a current and outstanding faculty member in The New School’s College of Performing Arts. We apologize to Mr. O’Farrill and thank him for his contributions to The New School.