In recognition of this heritage month, the Latin American and Latin@ Studies Program held a student led forum on October 12, from 5-8 pm at Shepard Hall. The event was co- sponsored by other organizations and supported by our department, the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.
The guest speakers were Lorena Modesto, Ivonne Quiroz, Mercedes Olmsted, Sarah Aponte, and José Pérez.
Today is the last day of March, 2022, the start of the Spring season here in New York City, but we could also look at these fraught times as the start of more hopeful times to come. Changes, whether as frightening as the current war and the Pandemic, could be helping to raise our consciousness to clamor for greater and more positive changes in our society.
In one of our courses at LALS, specifically The Latina in Latinx Studies, we are currently studying the words of Latina writers across disciplines. We examine the contributions of Latinas in the late 20th century and the start of this one, as the documents that have helped to build the corpus of texts known today as Latinx Studies. These works, spanning the cultural and academic fields as well as grassroots- on the street activism- are the foundational documents that we study today. It is a growing body of work that develops ever more significance for liberatory and decolonial theory.
Today, we will share a link to a publication that connects Black women’s theoretical and political writing to Latina women’s activism from the late 1970s, when, as women of color/Third World women in the U.S., Black and Latina women worked together to do the hard work of thinking ourselves towards freedom consciousness. One of the foundational texts studied in our program, Latin American & Latin@Studies, is the Combahee River Collective Statement, which was written in 1977 and published in 1979. Personally, as the author of this post, I can tell you that I recall being present in meetings in the Boston area when Black lesbian feminist theories and activist, Barbara Smith, stood up to announce the publication of this now famous and indispensable statement.
You can read it here, by following this link to the J-STOR Annotation Series, and you can also print and download it to read it anytime. It is a serious text that demands study and concentration. Though it is clearly written in simple and direct language, the importance of these words by women of color cannot be read quickly. Indeed, these words should be read slowly and allowed to resonate within us, for they are intended to aid in the liberation of everyone, all people, of all colors, classes, and genders, ages and abilities. Enjoy, and Happy March 31, which is International Day of Transgender Visibility. Let us come together, support each other, and move forward.
Mission Statement
The Dominican Studies Association supports the diffusion of intellectual production by providing Dominican Studies scholars the opportunity to create supportive networks, cultivate alternative agendas beyond their respective institutions and address polemic issues impacting the homeland, local, and global Dominican diasporic communities.
Registration
This year, due to the biennial’s online format, we are offering the conference free of charge for both participants and panelists. Instead, we are kindly asking for a $30 donation to help offset the cost for this year’s 2020 DSA Biennial Conference.
REGISTER AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://hostos-cuny-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wJHseIuHR6yfFIuUYUA88A:
I
Panel 13: Streetwalking: LGBTQ+ Activists in the Dominican Republic and its Diaspora
Chair: Ana-Maurine Lara, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Presenters:
Rosanna Marzán, Executive Director, Diversidad Dominicana, Santo Domingo, DR
Deivis Ventura, Founder, Red de Voluntarios de Amigos Siempre Amigos, Santo Domingo, DR
Carlos Rodríguez, Individuos Unidos por el Respeto y la Armonía (IURA), Santo Domingo, DR
Ana-Maurine Lara, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Panel 26: Social and Cultural Perspectives on COVID-19
Moderator: Norma Fuentes-Mayorga, Sociology/Latin American-Latina/o Studies, City College
Presenters:
Lina N. Cordero, Sociologist, Events Coordinator, Verania Consulting, Santo Domingo
“Muerte, cultura funeraria, entierros masivos y dolientes ausentes en la pandemia”
Stephen Ippolito, University at Albany Ph.D. Student/School of Professional Studies Instructor
“Killer Pandemics: Diabetes and COVID-19 Crisis”
Nelson Santana, Assistant Professor/Reference Librarian, Bronx Community College, CUNY
“The COVID-19 Dominican Oral History Project”
Maria Cristina Fumagalli, Professor of Literature, University of Essex, Colchester, England
“Stranger than Fiction: Toward a New Haitian-Dominican Narrative under Covid-19”
Bridgette Wooding, Director, Caribbean Migrants Observatory (OBMICA), Santo Domingo
“Stranger than Fiction: Toward a New Haitian-Dominican Narrative under Covid-19”
Panel 34: Ethnic Studies in the Ivy League: A Roundtable Discussion
Chair: Lorgia García-Peña, Romance Languages and Literatures Department, Harvard U
Presenters:
Aracely Alicia García, student activist, ‘20 graduate, Stanford University
Alondra Ponce, student activist, currently attending Harvard University
Ana Ramos-Zayas, American Studies and Anthropology, Yale University
Jonathan Rosa, Center for Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University
Frances Negrón-Muntaner, English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
Lorgia García-Peña, Romance Languages and Literatures Department, Harvard U
Elena Valdez, Modern/Classical Languages & Literatures, Christopher Newport U, VA
Sharina Maillo-Pozo, Romance Languages Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Rachel Afi Quinn, Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies/Cultural Studies, U of Houston, Texas
Scherezade García, Visual Artist, Co-founder of the Dominican York Proyecto/Gráfica
Dulcina Abreu, Independent Curator, Artist, and Museum Advocate in Washington D.C.
Virtual toast, Directory of DSA2020 Virtually@hostos participants sent to all.
Projections for 2022
On November 5th, 2020, Bard College presents a screening of the classic film by Ana María García, La Operación (1982), followed by a discussion with Sociology Professor, Iris López, about Puerto Rico’s history of sterilization abuse. The event will be accessible via Zoom, from 6:30- 8:00 pm EST.
Update: This presentation was recorded and posted on the Bard College La Voz website. To access the discussion with Prof. Lopez, click HERE.
The event is organized by the La Voz Club, Bard College. For more information you can contact lavozoffice@gmail.com
Dr. López’s research on sterilization abuse of Puerto Rican women has highlighted crucial connections to globalization, reproductive freedom, and social justice.
Professor Park returned to City College via Zoom to give a presentation in our Gender, Race, & Latinidad course, on October 27, this Fall. His presentation covered a number of issues dealing with identity, including masculinities, sexism, racism, Latinx identity, prejudices against Asian communities in the U.S. and in Latin America, and the inherited, “2nd-hand orientalism” expressed in Latinx and Latin American society. Drawing on the analysis from his article, “The Latin Dragon: Remasculinization of the ‘Oriental’ Male in Marko Zaror’s Films,” Professor Park talked about the martial arts films featuring the Chilean actor, Marko Zaror, who is of Palestinian descent, and the contradictions about Asian and Latinx identities in Chile and other countries in in Latin America.
Photo from Dr. Park’s last visit to our campus, Feb. 2019.
Having grown up in Santiago, Chile, in the Korean-Chilean community, Dr. Park also spoke about his experience as an Asian man in the U.S. You can read his poetry in Y el verso cae al aula and his other academic work on his academia.edu page.
You can get the link to watch the recording of our Zoom class under Guest Speakers.
Below are a few screenshots of our class during the presentation.
Neighborhood in Santiago, Chile
Left: stereotypical image from martial arts films; center, cover from Dr. Park’s poetry collection Y el verso cae al aula; right, part of our class on Zoom on Oct. 27, 2020.
Dr. Iris López, Director of the LALS Program at City College, participated in this year’s conference as part of New Fellows Orientation. Dr. López’s research on sterilization abuse of Puerto Rican women has highlighted crucial connections to globalization, reproductive freedom, and social justice. As an invited speaker and panelist at numerous U.S.-based and international conferences, Dr. López continues to present critical work and speak about her areas of expertise in Latino/ education, gender issues, pre-natal care, and sterilization abuse.
For the Fall 2020 semester, Professor López is teaching LALS 31136, Migration, Gender, and Health in Latinx Communities, and LALS 13100, The Hispanic Child in the Urban Environment. Next Spring semester, 2021, Dr. López will also be teaching LALS 13100, as well as LALS 31300, Latinas and Reproduction Rights.
