[ad_1]
About 100 University of Michigan students and community members attended the opening ceremony for Latine Heritage Month in Rogel Ballroom at the Michigan Union Monday evening. Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs organized the opening event, which was centered on the theme of “Corriente: La felicidad es mi resistencia,” or “Coming thru: Happiness is my resistance.”
Latine Heritage Month is a celebration of Latine/a/o/x people, culture and contributions and takes place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The opening event, as well as the other upcoming events over the next month, was organized by MESA’s Latine Heritage Month Committee.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA senior Manuel Maya-Silva, MESA student coordinator, took part in planning the event and said he hoped the celebration’s theme would create a sense of joy for the Latine community.
“When we were making the theme, we were thinking of themes that could potentially acknowledge our presence in our community, but also expand the conversation into what our community can look like on campus,” Maya-Silva said. “A lot of our narratives can be portrayed in a very harsh light or where our identity is composed of negative experiences. This theme really allows students to feel empowered through their happiness and through joy.”
Sara Awartani, LSA assistant professor of American culture, was the ceremony’s keynote speaker. At the event, Awartani recounted having trouble connecting with her Latine identity because her mother, who is Puerto Rican, and her father, who is Palestinian, had assimilated into mainstream American culture.
“I was born and raised in the south, aspiring towards assimilation and largely divorced from both of my communities,” Awartani said. “It’s been only 11 years since I gave myself permission … to ask: Why did my parents migrate and immigrate to the United States? Why did they choose so strongly to assimilate?”
LSA sophomore Anabella Godfrey attended the event and said in an interview with The Michigan Daily she identified with Awartani’s experiences because she also felt disconnected from her Hispanic heritage.
“I have a Hispanic mother and a white father, and I didn’t grow up speaking the language either,” Godfrey said. “I really liked how she explained that she felt disconnected from her culture, but she also wanted to be a part of her culture at the same time, especially in college, when that’s the time to reconnect with it.”
Awartani teaches an introductory course — AMCULT 103: Latinx Freedom Dreams — about the history of radical movements in Latine culture. In her speech, she said she was excited to have the opportunity to discuss Latine culture with her students early in their academic careers, an experience she did not have.
“What would it have been like if, in my first year, I entered a class that unapologetically centered Latin American culture?” Awartani said. “What would it have felt like to not have to wait three years of college courses to enter a classroom where our history is at the center of everything we studied? Everything we did and everything we dreamed of? It means the entire world to me to know that my students will never have to ask themselves those same questions.”
Awartani’s speech was followed by a performance of Los Salseros Azules, a salsa dance team on campus. LSA sophomore Elina Castillo, Los Salseros Azules founder and president, said she thinks it is important to bring the Latine dance culture and spirit to campus.
“I lived in California, sort of near Los Angeles, so there were a lot more Hispanics there, so it was definitely a jump coming here and just seeing the differences in the representation,” Castillo said. “But to me, it was really important to bring this aspect of dance and culture to campus. To have this ceremony where there are Latinos and Latinas, and we’re all meeting together, and we’re celebrating our culture and the different aspects, it’s really important to me.”
Naomi Rodriguez, Art & Design senior and MESA student coordinator for the event, said she appreciated how the event provided a space for the Latine community on campus to come together.
“We wanted to just represent our identity, our ancestors and where we come from because you find that really important, especially in Latin America, because the culture is so distinct in each country,” Rodriguez said. “So it was a lot about showing up, representing and being true to who you are for the community. The biggest thing that we love as a Latino community on campus is the social ability of us all and coming to these events and all these things happening because we realize there’s so many of us and sometimes we forget about that until we enter a room like this.”
LSA senior Leticia Marquez attended the ceremony and told The Daily she was excited for upcoming events over the next month.
“I’m looking forward to just learning more about what’s on campus for Latinos,” Marquez said. “There are very limited resources and courses, and I think having this specific month for Latinos kind of highlights what other resources are out there that we’re not aware of.”
Maya-Silva said hoped Monday’s ceremony would highlight the diversity within the Latine community while still strengthening its pride and unity.
“I think the other really important thing to acknowledge within Latino accessibility for students is our diaspora,” Maya-Silva said. “I think a lot of people homogenize the Latin identity to be this very mestizo-based identity when there are Black people in our diaspora, there’s Indigenous people in our diaspora, like me, and there are other people in our diaspora. So it’s a conversation of not only how can we better our own community, but how can we better the different racial and ethnic communities within our organizing, within our student body.”
Daily Staff Reporter Audrey Shabelski can be reached at audres@umich.edu.
Related articles
[ad_2]
Source link
