El Centro Newsletter - Fall 2023

EL CENTRO EL CENTRO

Fall 2023 Fall 2023

Cover photo by Valeria Montero S.

Cover photo by Valeria Montero S. @valemonteros @valemonteros

O N T H E C O V E R

COVER IMAGE:

“San Miguel de Allende”

80cm x 100cm

Acrylic on canvas

2022

Valeria Montero S.

www.valemontero.com

Soy Vale, y todavía me cuesta trabajo decir que soy "artista", te explico a continuación.

Crecí rodeada de plumones, colores y arquitectos. Siempre ha habido a la mano herramientas para crear. Dibujo desde que tengo memoria pero la cosa se volvió más seria cuando empecé a estudiar Diseño Industrial. En mi tiempo libre si no estaba en el taller, estaba en la biblioteca o en alguna mesa dibujando y dibujando hasta que por fin encontré "un estilo". Tal vez tengo el estilo pero todavía no defino el nombre de ese estilo, tal vez no lo necesita.

Puedo decir que me inspiro principalmente en las personas (entre otras cosas), la mayoría de las veces en las mujeres. "Entre otras cosas" también es la naturaleza. Me gusta pensar en mundos alternos donde no existe la imperfección. Tengo la impresión de que un artista puede expresar en palabras lo que quiere decir con la obra, pero eso es algo que me cuesta trabajo. Te confieso que me gusta improvisar. Me emociona a veces no saber el resultado final.

Acabé de estudiar Diseño Indsutrial en el 2018 y desde entonces me he dedicado al Arte, a crear, a dibujar y a descubrir(me) nuevos mundos.

Esto apenas empieza...

I'm Vale, and I still find it hard to say I'm an "artist." I'll explain...

I grew up surrounded by crayons, colors, and architects. I've always had tools at hand to create. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, but things got more serious when I started studying Industrial Design. In my free time, if I wasn't in the workshop, I was in the library or at some table drawing and drawing until I finally found "a style." I may have the style, but I still haven’t defined the name of that style. Perhaps, it doesn't need it.

I get my inspiration mainly from people (among other things), most of the time from women. "Among other things" is also nature. I like to think of alternate worlds where imperfection does not exist. I have the impression that an artist can express in words what they want to say with the work, but that is something I find difficult to do. I confess that I like to improvise. Sometimes, I get excited when I don't know the final result.

I finished studying Industrial Design in 2018, and since then, I have dedicated myself to Art, to create, to draw, and to discover(myself) new worlds.

This is just the beginning...

Valeria Montero is a Mexican visual artist based in Mexico City.

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IN THIS ISSUE...

About | Center for Latino Research and Latin American and Latino Studies

Letters from the CLR Director & LALS Chair

28

DePaul Art Museum's Current Exhibition: Life Cycles

Farewell to former Latinx Cultural Center Coordinator: Mariela Aranda

6 7 9 10 13 17 16 20 22

23

CLR Advisory Committee and LALS Faculty Faculty & Staff Announcements

30 33

34 37

Awards and Accomplishments

Latinx Staff Spotlight: Ahtziri Alviso

HSI Updates

LALS Spotlight: Yoalli Rodríguez

Social Transformation Research Collaborative Updates

2023 - 2024 CLR Faculty Fellows

2023 - 2024 CLR Faculty Fellows Spotlight: Jacqueline Lazú

38 39 40 41

CLR 2023 Public Intellectual Award: José “Cha Cha” Jiménez

CLR/LALS External Advisory Board Members

CLR/LALS External Advisory Board Members' Spotlight: Lou Sandoval

42 44

Diálogo - From the Archives

LALS Core and Affiliated Faculty Book Launch - Event Recap

Research Talk with Dr. Yuriko

Takahashi - Event Recap

Latine/x Heritage Month Events Calendar

LALS Course scheduleWinter 2023

Save the Date: CLR Faculty Fellows

Tertulia 45 46

Thank you from the Editors

Contact Us

27th Annual Latinx Graduation Event Recap 26 Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy - Event Recap

STATEMENT CLR MISSION

The Center for Latino Research (CLR) strives to open and sustain dialogues which foster the empowerment and advancement of Latinx communities. To that end, the CLR creates learning opportunities for students and supports scholars in their research, while forging collaborative relationships with local, national, and international research partners. We also publish an award-winning scholarly journal, Diálogo, and sponsor many activities on campus, including film series and speaker series.

LATIN AMERICAN & LATINO STUDIES

The Department of Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) explores the myriad contributions of Latin Americans and Latinx people to the global community. The department’s programs emphasize the profound linkages that have emerged between Latin America and the United States, particularly through the construction of Latinx communities in the U.S. We also critically analyze the complex intersections with Indigenous, African, European, Semitic, Arab, and Asian communities throughout the Americas.

Edited and Designed by Josué Paniagua, Sunidhi Kulkarni and Laura Pachón

Letter from the CLR Director

One of the lessons many of us teach our students is that real progress happens when people invest in collaboration and build community with one another. We are always greater when we work together. At the Center for Latino Research, I am truly proud to say that our collaborations with others has paved the way to success.

This past summer, the Social Transformation Research Collaborative (STRC), which Dr. Julie Moody-Freeman and I co-direct, completed two successful programs – the STRC Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and the second iteration of our Summer Institute for Newly Admitted Students. Our second annual Symposium, “The Right to Story: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in an Age of Banned Books,” will occur on October 19th

This fall, CLR collaborated with Dr Jacqui Lazú and the Office of the President on an incredible event celebrating the long history of the Young Lords in Lincoln Park We look forward to working with Dr. Lazú on a year-long series of events honoring this history. In addition, we ’ re grateful to be continuing our work with the DePaul Art Museum, cosponsoring events this fall in connection with their new exhibition, Life Cycles.

Members of our LALS/CLR External Advisory Board have connected us to several community partners, including the group Chicago Latines in Philanthropy (CLIP). CLIP members visited our campus in early September to learn more about our DePaul community. Advisory board members also helped us partner with members of the Nuveen Corporation, who will be leading a workshop on financial literacy and wellness for students in October.

Letter from the LALS Chair

Antes que nada, ¡bienvenides a todes a un nuevo año académico!

A pesar de todos los desafíos que experimentamos el año pasado, tuvimos un año muy productivo y con muchas celebraciones. Claro que todo ese trabajo no pudo hacerse sin la ayuda de todos ustedes: staff de LALS y CLR, profesores estables de LALS y afiliados, y varios profesores, staff y estudiantes muy activos.

Este otoño arrancamos con muchas actividades. Ya tenemos preparada una lista de más de 10 eventos para este quarter, incluyendo el Open House el 28 de septiembre (2-5pm). Nos enorgullece participar de todos estos eventos, sabiendo que en todos ellos CLR y LALS tienen un rol significativo. Es por eso que necesitamos mucho de su participación y que sigan colaborando con nuestras actividades y tareas semanales y mensuales Desde ya, no dejen de acercarse a nuestra oficina del 5to piso del SAC para hacernos cualquier pregunta y/o sugerencia.

Por último, quisiera dar una cálida bienvenida a nuestra nueva Assistant Professor en LALS, Yoalli Rodriguez Aguilera, a quien podrán conocer pronto en el Open House. ¡¡¡No se lo pierdan!!!

¡Feliz comienzo del año!

- Carolina Sternberg

Let us know how we can collaborate with you!

- Bill Johnson Gonzalez

Marisa Alicea, Professor

School of Continuing and Professional Studies

Carolina Barrera Tobón, Associate Professor, Modern Languages

Ionit Behar, Curator, DePaul Art Museum

Martha Martinez- Firestone, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Program, Sociology

Julie Moody-Freeman, Associate Professor, African and Black Diaspora Studies; Director, Center for Black Diaspora

Jacqueline Lazú, Associate Professor, Modern Languages; Vincent DePaul Professor

CLR ADVISORY COMMITTEE LALS FACULTY

Jesús Pando, Associate Professor & Chair

Physics and Astrophysics, College of Science and Health

José Perales, Interim Vice President

Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity

Rose Spalding, Professor, Political Science

Carolina Sternberg, Associate Professor & Chair

Latin American and Latino Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies

Joe R. Tafoya, Assistant Professor, Political Science

Core Faculty

Carolina Sternberg, Associate Professor & Chair

Latin American and Latino Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies

Lourdes Torres, Professor, Vincent de Paul Professor

Latin American and Latino Studies

Yoalli Rodriguez Aguilera, Assistant Professor

Latin American and Latino Studies

Affiliated Faculty

Marisa Alicea, Professor School of Continuing and Professional Studies

Luisela Alvaray, Associate Professor Media and Cinema Studies

Glen Carman, Associate Professor Modern Languages

Delia Cosentino, Professor History of Art and Architecture

Rocío Ferreira, Associate Professor Modern Languages; Department Chair, Women's and Gender Studies

Bill Johnson González, Associate Professor English Department; Director, Center for Latino Research

Jacqueline Lazú, Associate Professor, Vincent DePaul Professor

Modern Languages

Martha Martinez- Firestone, Associate Professor Sociology; Director, Undergraduate Sociology Program

Susana S Martínez, Associate Professor Modern Languages; Director, Peace, Justice & Conflict Studies Program

Elizabeth Millán, Professor & Chair Philosophy

Juan Mora-Torres, Associate Professor History

Jesse Mumm, Professional Lecturer

Latin American and Latino Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies

Meloddye Carpio Ríos, Social Transformation Research Collaborative (STRC) Post-Doctoral Fellow, Latin American and Latino Studies

Heather Montes-Ireland, Assistant Professor Women's and Gender Studies

Vincent Peña, Assistant Professor

Journslism and Sports Communication, College of Communication

Xavier Perez, Professional Lecturer Criminology

Monica Reyes, Assistant Professor Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse

Ana Schaposchnik, Associate Professor History

Jose Soltero, Professor Sociology

Sonia Soltero, Professor & Chair

Leadership, Language and Curriculum, College of Communication

Rose J. Spalding, Professor Political Science

Joe R Tafoya, Assistant Professor Political Science

Christopher Tirres, Associate Professor, Vincent de Paul Professor Religious Studies; Inaugural Endowed Professor, Diplomacy and Interreligious Engagement

Faculty & Staff Announcements

YOALLI RODRIGUEZ

Dr. Yoalli Rodriguez is really excited to be joining the Latin American and Latino Studies Department at DePaul University as an Assistant Professor. They were born and raised in Puebla, Mexico. They received their Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology at Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, and a master’s in social Anthropology at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), in Mexico City. Dr. Yoalli Rodriguez earned their PhD in Latin American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin with a Doctoral Portfolio in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), African American and African Diaspora Studies, and Women and Gender Studies (2021). Their book manuscript (under contract with University of Illinois Press) is tentatively titled Grieving raphies, Mourning Waters: Race, Gender and Environment on the Coast of Oaxaca, co They are interested in environmental racism in Latin America, decolonial and olonial thought, anti-racist movements, and decolonial and critical feminisms in Latin ica

nvenida, Yoalli!

DELIA COSENTINO

This fall quarter, Dr. Delia Cosentino begins a Humanities Center Fellowship (2023-2025) for her new project entitled The Making of a Mexican Spartacus: Aztec Gladiators and European Print Culture, centering on the trans-historical and transnational construction of Tlahuicole, a brave Nahua warrior known for his heroic fight to the death while tethered to a stone First described in 16th-century native pictorial codices and early chronicles by Catholic missionaries, this storybook drama took on a trans-Atlantic dimension by the 18th and 19th century when European artists began to illustrate Tlahuicole in the guise of a Roman warrior Through this study, she hopes to illuminate the process by which a modern scopic regime devoured Tlahuicole and transformed his culminating act into a systemized way of seeing a timeless Mexico as both an imitation of classical Rome and uniquely savage

HEATHER MONTES-IRELAND

Dr. Heather Montes Ireland enjoyed an enriching year as a 2022-23 CLR Faculty Fellow, deeply engaged in Latina studies, and is so grateful to the Center for the support. She is excited to announce her manuscript, "Decolonization is Imminent: Notes on Boricua Feminism" was published this summer in the journal Feminist Formations (Johns Hopkins U Press) in a special issue, “On Decolonial Feminisms: Engagement, Practice, and Action,” edited by Leece Lee-Oliver and Xamuel Bañales. The article marks a body of work by Puerto Rican feminist artists, writers, activists, and scholars as Boricua feminism, a distinct formation within Latina feminisms. Indeed, our own Dr. Lourdes Torres is one of those foundational scholarly voices. Montes Ireland argues that anticolonialism is at the forefront of Puerto Rican feminist and queer struggles and subjectivities, such that Boricua feminism has not often been interpolated as feminism from a mainstream viewpoint.

Faculty & Staff Announcements

VINCENT PEÑA

Dr Vincent Peña, a second-year assistant professor of Sports Communication and Journalism, is now an affiliate faculty member of the LALS department He will serve as the liaison in the College of Communication for the interdisciplinary Latino/a Culture and Communication program Recently, Vincent was honored with the Emerging Scholar Award at the International Symposium of Sports and Society. He recently presented a paper at the annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference (AEJMC) in Washington, D.C. His most recent work, a co-authored article entitled “Who is Worthy of a Name? Identity, Naming and Social Difference in News Images’ Captions,” is forthcoming in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

JESSE MUMM

Dr Jesse Mumm opened a new research project in 2023 focused on the Momence Wetlands, an area of riverine forest and savanna along the Kankakee River just an hour south of Chicago tentatively entitled "Maroon Momence." He is looking at the long history and present potentials of Indigenous, Black and Latino cultural interchanges in ecological areas of tremendous beauty and importance marginalized by modern capitalism.

Dr. Mumm has been appointed to the 26th Ward Zoning Advisory Committee to provide guidance on zoning in the interests of resisting gentrification and displacement and encouraging balanced, equitable and sustainable local development.

He has also joined in an inter-university dialogue led by Lilia Fernandez, author of Brown in the Windy City, regarding the various projects undertaken to record, preserve and archive oral histories of Latinx people in Chicagoland.

AwardsandAccomplishments

We’d like to recognize the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Dr. Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco, and faculty members of the Latin American and Latino Studies Department, Dr. Carolina Sternberg and Dr. Delia Cosentino, for their most recent accomplishments. We are proud of our colleagues and we offer our heartfelt congratulations on this milestone in their careers. ¡Felicidades!

Congratulations to LAS Dean, ill Vásquez de Velasco for re TUMI USA Excellence Award Achievement Award cat professional accomplishment Award is the leading organizat States bestowing awards to Peruvian-Americans.

¡Muchas felicidades!

We would like to celebrate Professor Delia Cosentino (History of Art and Architecture) and Associate Professor and Chair, Carolina Sternberg (Latin American and Latino Studies), for receiving the Spirit of Inquiry Award at the 2023 Academic Convocation. The Spirit of Inquiry is a prestigious award given by the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences to celebrate faculty achievements as scholars and researchers and the high regard in which they are held by their colleagues.

¡Muchas felicidades!

LALS SPOTLIGHT Dr. Yoalli Rodríguez Aguilera

Interview Conducted by Josué Paniagua

Yoalli Rodriguez Aguilera (Ph.D., UT Austin) is an Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies. They specialize in environmental racism, ecological grief, mestizaje, state violence, and anti/ de-colonial feminism in Latin America, with their work intersecting between race, gender, environment, and affect. They were awarded the 2021 National Women Studies Association and University of Illinois Press (NWSA/UIP) First Book Prize. Their book manuscript (University of Illinois Press) is tentatively titled Grieving Geographies, Mourning Waters: Race, Gender, and Environment on the Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.

It’s so great to have you join the DePaul community! Could you tell me a little about yourself?

My name is Yoalli Rodriguez Aguilera. I use the pronouns they/she and this is very important for me to say. I identify as a non-binary person. This is also very important for me to say. I was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico and I did my undergrad in Social Anthropology there. I did my Masters in Social Anthropology in Mexico City and then I did my PhD in Latin American Studies, with a concentration in Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. Right after finishing my Ph.D., I had a position as an Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latinx Studies and Anthropology at Lake Forest College. After two years, I'm really excited to be joining DePaul University and the Latin American and Latino Studies Department starting this fall.

How was the transition of moving from Puebla to Texas?

It was a lot. English is not my first language. I learned it growing up but I actually started speaking English while in my PhD. I had to because otherwise, I would have not been able to do a PhD in the US. It was that and obviously, the culture shock since I’m from the southern part of Mexico. The central part of Mexico is another

world. Puebla has a lot of indigenous communities and is very rich in farming. It was a lot of shock but I would say once I settled in and I started getting to know my community in Austin, I really enjoyed my time there. I got know about the story of Chicanos coming from California, but also Tejanos, born and raised in Texas, the story behind a state like Texas, and just knowing the community and social movements there. After seven years, I always miss Austin at this point in my life. Since I made such a great community there I think Austin is always going to be in my heart.

Dr. Yoalli Rodriguez Aguilera

Where have you traveled to recently?

This summer, I went to Edinburgh in Scotland and to Berlin in Germany. I was invited to give a talk at a conference about gender, colonialism and environment. Scholars and professors from all over the world were invited to have a two day seminar about different issues surrounding toxicity, colonialism, and gender. It was in the Royal Gardens of Edinburgh and it was really nice to be with other scholars talking about these issues and how it happens in the Global South. Just knowing other scholars that are doing critical work was really amazing as well. In Berlin I got to meet Latin American people who are living there, people from Palestine, and getting to see decolonial movements in Berlin. It was great to be surrounding myself with communities that are building powerful things in other parts of the world.

What drew you to working on issues surrounding environmental racism, colonialism, racialized geography, grief and feminism in Latin America?

We don't talk enough about racism in Mexico and Latin America. It's very clear in the US. We talk a lot about it and it’s very identified since there's a lot of open discussions about racism in this country. But we usually romanticize or idolize Mexico or Latin America saying there's no racism there, where in reality it is the opposite. It is just as racist in Mexico as in the US, especially towards indigenous and black communities. There are people who don't know about the existence of Afro-Mexican people. Up until 2019 the black population in Mexico was not even recognized by the federal constitution. Meanwhile, there are indigenous people everywhere and yet they are still facing

dispossession, facing discrimination in their everyday life. So I feel that my research wanted to encourage the discussion and the open debate about how Mexico is also a racist country, and that we have to talk about it, even if it's uncomfortable for many of us. We have to talk about the roots of colonialism, the roots of racism, the roots of a lot of colonial structures that we still live with up until now, in Mexican and Latin American societies.

How has living in the US, especially in Chicago informed your work and how do you apply that to the work you have been doing?

Living in the US has only expanded how I want to work and with whom I want to work with. It has given me the opportunity to engage with authors, specifically black, indigenous, and POC authors that are doing critical work around racism, colonialism, hetero patriarchy, and all the systems of oppression that continuously exist. So, for me, engaging in the US with authors, but also social movements that are doing anti-racist work, anti-colonial work, has been really empowering and also inspiring. After living in Chicago for a year, I have found a really amazing community doing amazing work. I'm now part of the editorial board of Contratiempo, which has been great. This is a collective journal that is an autonomous project, publishing the magazine all in Spanish, trying to share the work of Latin American people. These kinds of initiatives really excite me because while I’m doing scholarly work, I'm also part of communities that are trying to do something outside of academia, that are sharing knowledge and doing something. There's also a lot of community-based radio trying to do things, sharing the history of Latinx people in Illinois,

and specifically in Chicago. There are really powerful things happening in the community in Chicago and Illinois so I'm really excited to keep engaging with these types of initiatives.

Just to switch gears, what has been your favorite part about teaching?

Seeing students think critically gives me hope about life in the world. I feel that we're living in a world full of violence. There's a lot of hopelessness in the world, a lot of despair. So when I’m in front of my classroom, when I'm with my students, and we think and we imagine, and we discuss critically about the world, it gives me hope about new generations and about how to have a more fair world. In my classes, I really raise up voices of historically underrepresented communities so we read a lot of black, indigenous, POC authors, and a lot of activists. I feel that my pedagogical commitment is to build a safe environment for students because social justice is at the center of who I am. The classroom is a really important space for me. As a scholar, I think about the classroom as a place of activism. How can we build hope around this world? How can we fight for social justice? For me, what’s really fulfilling is when I'm with students who are thinking critically, being proud of who they are and their cultures and doing whatever they want, but enjoying life. It gives me hope, and I enjoy it. I really love teaching. I feel that it is like a mission. I'm really committed to teaching and that my students enjoy my teaching, and that it feels like a safe space where they can come and think critically. That we hear each other respectfully, but also go deep into what are the roots of oppression.

What do you look forward to about serving the Latinx student body at DePaul?

I'm really excited about coming to DePaul. I know there's a thriving Latinx community inside the university. I’m excited to learn about all the initiatives that students are doing. Getting involved as much as I can, even as a faculty advisor or just supporting the initiatives. Of course, in my classroom, I'm really excited about trying to share and also learn from students about Latin America, about the Latinx community in the U.S. from a critical perspective. That we discuss, that we share ideas, that we share how we feel, that we share knowledge and experiences. I'm also excited to imagine ways of having direct communication or a bridge between the Latinx community in Chicago and the university. I know there are already initiatives, but as a professor, as a scholar at DePaul, I want to be involved in those initiatives. Also as part of my classroom and my pedagogy, I want there to be more community engagement with the Latinx community in Chicago and with the university.

We have to talk about the roots of colonialism, the roots of racism, the roots of a lot of colonial structures that we still live with up until now.

Social Transformation Research Collaborative Updates

From Program Coordinator for the Social Transformation Research Collaborative, Alejandra Delgadillo

The Social Transformation Research Collaborative welcomed its second cohort of incoming students to participate in the Summer Institute from July 16th through the 21st.

Dr. Tara Betts (The Theatre School, PAX) and Dr. Michele Morano (English) created a curriculum based on this year ’ s theme, Stories for Racial Healing and Justice, which centers the multiple ways in which historically marginalized groups have used humanistic tools and creative expression to tell their stories and foster a sense of community, belonging, and healing. Students visited multiple significant sites across the city, including the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture

Our second annual Fall symposium, titled, “The Right to Story: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in an Age of Banned Books,” is scheduled for Thursday, October 19, 2023, from 9am to 5pm.

Our keynote speaker is Dr. Roderick A. Ferguson, professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University and author of The Reorder of Things: The University and Its Pedagogies of Minority Difference (University of Minnesota, 2012) and OneDimensional Queer (Polity, 2019), among others

At this year ’ s symposium, we will also hear from our first cohort of STRC faculty fellows:

Dr. Chernoh Sesay, Jr. Religious Studies

Dr. Susana Martínez Modern Languages

Dr. Lori Pierce African and Black Diaspora Studies

Dr. Lourdes Torres Latin American and Latino Studies

Our student poster session includes our inaugural cohort of undergraduate research fellows: Gabriela Córdova, Jael Davis, Laszlo Katona, Krystal Morgan, Lila Nambo, and Samara Smith.

We will have presentations by our 2023 Graduate Student Research Fellowship recipients, Laura Carvajal and Shannan Moore, both from the Critical Ethnic Studies Program. Our 2023 Summer Institute Panel will include four new DePaul students as well as two of our graduate student peer leaders, who worked with us during the program

This year, we will close the symposium with a roundtable of BIPOC artists: Darius Dennis, Vashon Jordan, Jr., Diana Solís, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall.

Thank you for your continued support, and stay tuned for more updates!

For more information please contact STRC Coordinator Alex Delgadillo a delgadillo@depaul edu

Social Transformation Research Collaborative Updates

Student Spotlight - Taylor Simon

The time that I spent attending the STRC Summer Institute was absolutely phenomenal.

I was born and raised in Chicago and still have so much to learn here. A particularly impactful event during the week-long stay was the walking tour through Paseo Boricua with Eduardo Arocho. In Chicago, you go outside and could be looking at three distinct areas at once. They're all completely different; culture, economic status, the buildings themselves, access to public transport. Neighborhoods so rapidly gentrify and change that preservation isn't something you necessarily become accustomed to here. This wasn't the case with Paseo Boricua. During the walking tour, Eduardo shocked me with how intertwined he was with the community. Every time we stopped, he would get a hug, a handshake, and big smile after big smile. He told us about the affordable community housing that was being built to maintain the neighborhood. Steel pipes make up the shape of the Puerto Rican flag and outline the borders of the district. They are now historical landmarks of Chicago, and cannot be removed. He taught us about how integral the flag is to the history and protection of the culture. Taking in this space was inspiring, to say the least. It was a reminder to me that through knowledge, preservation, and community, we are able to motivate and create so much happiness.

This was just one of the fulfilling experiences that I got to have at the STRC, and I'm so thankful to have been a participant!

~ Taylor Simon

RACE,GENDER,ANDSEXUALITY INANAGEOFBANNEDBOOKS

OCTOBER19,9a-5p|SCHMITTACADEMICCENTERROOM161

9:30a-KEYNOTESPEAKER

DR.RODERICKA.FERGUSON,YaleUniversity,Women’s,Gender,andSexualityStudies

“’EnterThouintoThisCompany’:TheImperiledMysteriesofCriticalLiteracies”

10:45a-STRCFACULTYFELLOWS

DR.SUSANAMARTINEZ,ModernLanguages

“ComingofAge(ncy)ontheMigrantTrail:CentralAmericanandMexicanAdolescentJourneysinContemporaryYoungAdultLiterature”

DR.CHERNOHSESAY,JR.,ReligiousStudies

“BlackBostonandtheMakingofAfricanAmericanFreemasonry:Leadership,Religion,andFraternalisminEarlyAmerica”

DR.LORIPIERCE,AfricanandBlackDiasporaStudies

“DNAForensicsandGenealogy”

DR.LOURDESTORRES,LatinAmericanandLatinoStudies

“TowardaHistoryofLLEGÓ”

11:45a-STRCSUMMERUNDERGRADUATERESEARCHFELLOWS

GABRIELACÓRDOVA,English

JAELDAVIS,History

LASZLOKATONA,Philosophy

KRYSTALMORGAN,AfricanandBlackDiasporaStudies

LILANAMBO,LatinAmericanandLatinoStudies

SAMARASMITH,PoliticalScience

1:00p-STRCGRADUATESTUDENTFELLOWS

LAURACARVAJAL,CriticalEthnicStudies

“Escapinganti-Haitinismo:WhatItMeanstobe‘Black’inDominicanRepublic”

SHANNANMOORE,CriticalEthnicStudies

“BlackDigitalSpaces:TheorizingResistanceintheWakeofRacistTechnology”

1:35p-STRCSUMMERINSTITUTESTUDENTPANEL

DIAMONDBURKS

KARMENJOHNSON

NICOLESILVA

TAYLORSIMON

2:15p-ARTISTSANDWRITERSROUNDTABLE

DARIUSDENNIS,VisualArtist

VASHONJORDAN,VisualArtist

DIANASOLÍS,PhotographerandMultidisciplinaryArtist

MAGGIETOKUDA-HALL,Author

REGISTERHERE

DepartmentofAfricanandBlackDiasporaStudies

DepartmentofLatinAmericanandLatinoStudies

GlobalAsianStudies

CriticalEthnicStudies

CENTERFORLATINO RESEARCH

2023-2024FACULTYFELLOWS

JACQUELINE LAZÚ

AssociateProfessor|Dept.ofModernLanguages

AssociateDean|CollegeofLiberalArtsandSocialSciences

"YoungLordsSpeak:(Re)ConstructingtheNarrativeofRevolution"

This book project is a collection of primary historical resources and movement artifacts, curated and co-edited with original members of the Young Lords Central Committee, including Chairman José “Cha Cha” Jiménez, Minister of Information, Omar López, Field Marshal, David Rivera, and Minister of Education, Tony Baez It is an essential compilation of first-person narratives that privileges the stories by and about community leaders and history-makers As a CLR Fellow, I will return to the core institutional partnership between DePaul University and the Young Lords Organization which began over 25 years ago to complete the first-ever publication exclusively by and about the Chicago Young Lords During the award period, we will be working to complete the framework of the book, solicit the outstanding essays from committed authors, secure rights for use of the artifacts and archival materials to be used, primarily from our Young Lords collection in the Richardson Library and private individual collections, and make final edits.

JESSICA POLOS

AssistantProfessor|MastersPrograminPublicHealth

"TheRoleofChangesinMaternalEducationinExplainingtheHispanicBirthweightParadox"

This project considers whether patterns of weathering and skin-deep resilience attributable to educational attainment and delayed fertility may help to explain the Hispanic health paradox in infant birthweight Using natality data from the National Vital Statistics System from years 2012-2022, I will measure the extent to which disparities in infant low birthweight over time and by Hispanic ethnicity and race can be explained by differential changes in maternal educational attainment (e g , college graduation) among these subgroups. I will also decompose the extent to which observed relationships are due to the direct effect of educational attainment versus the indirect education-related delays in fertility. By examining population-level data for the near universe of births, I will determine whether there are different populationlevel payoffs to educational attainment for different groups that help explain disparities in low birth weight

JOE R. TAFOYA

AssistantProfessor|Dept.ofPoliticalScience

"LatinosandPoliceUseofForce:OvercomingUnderMobilization"

My project explores political mobilization in response to police shootings of Latinos

After noting how Latinos are peripheral to the debate on policing reform, my focus is threefold: (1) to unpack the degree of concern Latinos have about over-policing in their communities, (2) to weigh how Latinos get elected officials to pay attention to their plight, and (3) to interview Latino leaders of grassroots organizations promoting police accountability in Chicago neighborhoods Latinos are numerous but disempowered, and the #BlackLivesMatter movement offers insights to what Latinos must overcome Latinos as a group include a variety of national cultures with diversity in lived experiences and little agreement on issues Immigration status is another setback for Latinos – Latino immigrants will hesitate to speak out, to report crimes or even record police brutality when they see it. In the post-2020 George Floyd Uprising era, how can Latinos mobilize to bring justice to their communities?

2023 - 2024 CLR FACULTY FELLOWS SPOTLIGHT - DR. JACQUI LAZÚ

Interview conducted by Laura Pachón

Jacqueline Lazú is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and an affiliated faculty member in Latin American and Latino Studies, African and Black Diaspora Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies, and Criminology, a department that she co-founded in 2019 From 2018-2023, she served as Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dr Lazú’s scholarship reflects her preparation as a literary and cultural critic and a commitment to activist and community-based research These include studies of literature and culture as tools for social transformation, the history of Latinx and Latin American social movements, aesthetics, and political philosophy She is recognized as a leading historian of the Young Lords, a Chicago Puerto Rican gang turned social movement and has helped establish DePaul's Young Lords special collections archive as a destination for the study of Puerto Rican Chicago, the Rainbow Coalition, Illinois Black Panther Party, and 1960s and 1970s social justice movements.

To start off, congratulations on receiving both this year’s STRC Faculty Fellowship and the CLR Faculty Fellowship! What are you hoping to achieve during these fellowships?

Thank you! As an STRC fellow, I will be working on developing my skills in archival management. I have had many opportunities to collaborate with experts in our library, artists and curators in the community and have learned a lot from them. I wanted to delve deeper into those skills so I could offer more to these partnerships and imagine new ways to present history to the public. These projects also form the basis of two books that I have been working on about the Young Lords. One of them is an edited collection of primary materials about the movement that I am coediting with Cha Cha and original members of the Young Lords central committee. The working title for it is The Young Lords Speak:

(Re)Constructing the Narrative of Revolution. As a CLR Fellow this year, I will be working on completing the curation of materials for the anthology. The second manuscript is my own comprehensive history of the origins of the Young Lords in Chicago titled Stone Revolutionaries: The Origins of the Young Lords Movement.

You have worked collaboratively with the Chicago Young Lords Organization (YLO) for over 20 years. What was the reason you decided to focus your research on this organization?

In some ways, it was an unexpected opportunity. I worked in theater, specifically, looking at the representation of history and political identity in Latin American and Latinx Theater. One day, I was invited by the director of the Center for Latino Research, Dr. Félix Masud Piloto, back to a meeting with members of the Young Lords, including Chairman José “Cha Cha” Jiménez. They were forming a committee to work on developing an archive on the history of the Young Lords and the Puerto Rican community in Lincoln Park that included collecting oral histories and artifacts of the movement. I was thrilled. Like many of us as young Puerto Ricans, I had learned about the Young Lords and was really inspired by their actions in the late 1960s and early 70s. But also, I thought they were from New York. I didn’t know that they had started in Lincoln Park, Chicago. It was Dr. Masud who urged me to start working with the research that had already been gathered to write a play about the Young Lords. The play, called The Block/El

Bloque: A Young Lords Story, was the first of many projects that I have done since then with the Young Lords and their archives at DePaul.

What have you found in your research that incites the reaction “huh, I’ve got to share this with everyone”?

I feel like I’m sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the chance to talk about the depth to which we as a university were engaging with the urban renewal plans for Lincoln Park in the 1960s. Our community stood on both sides of the plans from the very beginning. Students, especially, were invested in the well-being of the greater community and were often in the front lines of the resistance movements and allied with groups like the Young Lords. Our student newspapers covered the stories of what was happening on campus and in the community. There was also an element of complicity and concealment among our leaders. DePaul Magazine proudly shared plans about expansion and there was not even a mention of what was happening to the people outside of the iron gates. But the silence spoke volumes and the materials in our archives reveal a much more vocal position on the part of our administration about the plans for Lincoln Park and the people trying to stand their ground. The university had a lot to gain from the displacement of the Puerto Rican and poor communities of Lincoln Park and effectively aligned itself with one of the most successful plans for urban renewal in the US at that time. Moreover, DePaul was one of the most victorious institutions in that plan.

As a former gang-turned-human rights organization, what are some of the things the Young Lords Organization (YLO) did to

Dr. Jacqui Lazú

support their community? What are the impacts of their work on the present-day Puerto Rican community in Chicago?

Specifically, the continuous struggle with gentrification and social justice issues in various neighborhoods of the city?

The YLO did begin as a gang and those years when they knew each other as kids in the neighborhood in Lincoln Park helped to build their organizing skills and the sense of loyalty between them that helped make the Young Lords Movement so enduring. During their peak years of activism in Lincoln Park—what I call The Peoples Church era—they led a series of Survival Programs or Service to the People modeled after the Black Panther Party platform. They allied with the Black Panthers and the Young Patriots to form the original Rainbow Coalition. The Young Lord’s programs included a breakfast program for children, a community health clinic, political education for adults in the community, and security services for the community. They became leaders in education, labor rights, social services, media, arts, politics, and community service. Also, women were on the frontlines at protests

and direct actions. Even during the “club” or gang years, the Young Lordettes and the social events they led in the community were at times all that was left of the group’s activities. Women like Yolanda Lucas and Angie Lind (Navedo) led the YLO during some critical moments when Cha Cha was in jail or underground. Angie was also instrumental in developing the Young Lords Collection at DePaul. This study of the role of women reveals even more layers in the political philosophy of the movement and why it has had such an enduring impact on generations of social justice activists.

What can the community members of DePaul do to keep the history of the YLO alive, on top of the commemorative plaque?

There is still so much more for us to learn about the Young Lords. Our responsibility is to create more opportunities to honor and learn about what happened in Lincoln Park in the late 1960s, and to understand the protracted struggle, the ongoing conditions of colonialism, poverty, and displacement in Puerto Rico and in the diaspora here in Chicago. The struggle of the Young Lords back then was motivated by circumstances that still exist for people of color and poor people in Chicago. We must honor that history, and we must honor our core values and the mission of the university by actively seeking more ways to confront and repair the historical injustices. I hope that we can all show up and take pride in the programs we will have available throughout the year here at DePaul and in the larger community to educate people about the Young Lords and the long history of resistance in Latinx Chicago. As the Latinx student population continues to grow at DePaul and we continue to

build on our commitment to diversity, this really must be understood as a cultural shift for our university.

Our responsibility is to create more opportunities to honor and learn about what happened in Lincoln Park in the late 1960s, and to understand the protracted struggle, the ongoing conditions of colonialism, poverty, and displacement in Puerto Rico and in the diaspora here in Chicago.

On that note, is there anything you would like to plug?

Yes! I’m just finishing my colleague, Professor Francesca Royster’s book Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance. It is powerful and really cool to meet her again through the familial and social space she recreates for us in the book. Also, please go see the new exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Chicago. “entre horizontes: Art and Activism Between Chicago and Puerto Rico” curated by Carla Acevedo Yates will run through May of next year and was meticulously developed in collaboration with many Puerto Rican artists, scholars, and activists in our community, including the art of DePaul professor Bibiana Suárez, and Young Lord photographer Carlos Flores. They are also publishing a companion reader featuring my research on the Young Lords and Professor Marisa Alicea’s research on Chicago Puerto Rican murals, among others.

CLR 2023 Public Intellectual Award

On September 18th, DePaul University kicked off a year-long series of events commemorating the 55th Anniversary of the Young Lords Organization (YLO) in Lincoln Park. ¡Todo el poder pa’ la gente!: 55 Years of Young Lords in Lincoln Park, organized by Dr. Jacqueline Lazú with support from the Office of the President and the Center for Latino Research, brought together community leaders and DePaul students, faculty and staff to acknowledge the legacy of the YLO in our community. At the event, Dr. Lazú presented a model of a historical marker that will be placed at the university’s School of Music building, once the site of a week-long occupation by members of the Young Lords Organization, commemorating the organization’s history in our campus.

At the event, Dr. Bill Johnson González, CLR Director, had the honor of awarding José “Cha Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Organization, the Center for Latino Research 2023 Public Intellectual Award, which acknowledges those who have made important contributions to Latinx history. In his speech, Dr. Johnson González stated that the award was presented to José “Cha Cha” Jiménez “in recognition of his lifetime of contributions to advancing civil rights and social justice for communities of color, and the way he has inspired thousands. We are also deeply indebted to el Señor Jiménez for his many contributions to our oral history archives and his constant generosity in contributing to the scholarship about the Young Lords, so that this history, his history and ours, can be accessible to future generations.”

Thank you, Mr. Jiménez. We are deeply grateful for your legacy.

Photo Credits:

DePaul University Newsline. (Dorn, Russel. Revealing history: DePaul honors Young Lords’ legacy in Lincoln Park; 9/25/23)

CLR/LALS External Advisory Board Members

Maria G. Arias

Principal, Maria Arias Solutions

BA, Political Science, DePaul University, 1983

Leonard Domínguez

Secretary, Little Village Rotary Club of Chicago

BA, Economics, DePaul University, 1967

Yvette Flores

Managing Partner/Director, Cardinal Green Investments LLC

BA, Sociology, DePaul University, 1986

Marisol Morales

Executive Director, Carnegie Elective Classifications, American Council on Education

BA, Latin American Latino Studies; MA/MS International Public Service Management, DePaul University, 1999

Michelle Morales

President, Woods Fund Chicago

BA, Latin American Studies, DePaul University, 1997

Maria Pesqueira

President, Healthy Communities Foundation

BA, Latin American Studies, DePaul University, 1990

Edgar Ramírez

President/CEO, Chicago Commons Association

BA, Political Science/Latin American Studies, DePaul University, 2000

Lou Sandoval

President/CEO, Halo Advisory Group

BS, Biochemistry, DePaul University, 1988

Lucino Sotelo

Chief Digital Officer, Northern Trust Corporation

BS, Accounting, DePaul University, 1993

CLR/LALS External Advisory Board Members' SPOTLIGHT - Lou Sandoval

Interview Conducted by Josué Paniagua

Over the past three years, the CLR and LALS Department have been working with Dr. Marisa Alicea to identify a group of DePaul alumnae/i and community members to serve our units as an External Advisory Board. This volunteer group serves as advocates, advisors, and resources for CLR & LALS faculty and students. The group meets quarterly to remain informed about CLR & LALS activities and to establish a plan to assist in our efforts. The board’s work is grounded on a common understanding of the importance of the opportunity to study and research Latin American and Latinx communities. In this spotlight, we conduct personal interviews with our alumnae/i to shine light on what they have done since graduating DePaul University and the work they do outside of serving on out External Advisory Board.

Hi Lou! Could you tell me a little about yourself?

I'm originally a Chicago native, born, bred, and raised in Southeast Chicago. I'm the oldest of 16 grandchildren on my mom's side and the first generation to go to college. My passion when I was growing up was really around science so I thought for the longest time that I wanted to be a doctor. I majored in biochemistry and pre-med, and when I graduated from school, I got accepted to Loyola to go to medical school. But, as I was doing my thesis, I changed my mind about medical school. About a week before I was supposed to start, I sat my dad down and told him that I didn’t want to go to medical school, I wanted to be on the business side of things. My dad was a little shocked, because I spent all this time wanting to be a doctor, got accepted, and all of a sudden changed my mind. But, he said, “It doesn't matter what you do, I just don't want you sitting around here all summer long.” So, I pivoted and in the process of figuring out what I was going to do, I got a telegram from a company that I interviewed with on campus. They told me “We'd like you to come in and talk to us.” It was Abbott Laboratories, just north of the city. I started in their management professional development program. That kind of got my career

Lou Sandoval

off in the right direction. There are so many companies in Chicago, so I had already interned in a couple of different positions in my field. Having that background and experience by the time I graduated made it kind of a no-brainer.

Do you feel like DePaul had enough opportunities for you to grow and belong there?

At DePaul you're able to embrace your cultural identity. While we knew the other Latino students, there were only a handful of us. If we all got together in the cafeteria, you could see us all sitting at one table. So you knew the people that were Latino. But

for us in that generation, it was a lot of trying to blend in. Everybody knew we were Latino, but you didn’t wear it on your sleeve. At the same time, the school was still trying to figure out how to best serve Latino students. They gave us jobs, they gave us career planning to help us find internships, ways to supplement our education, and eventually get employment. Towards the end of my time at school is when they started the Bridge Program. I think that started to make a big difference for a lot of students from underrepresented communities. You looked at the Bridge students, and a majority of them were African American and Latino. It's no surprise that sometimes the gaps in education due to whatever inequities that are there inherently needed that little extra leg. So that felt like the school's first move into equity, at least trying to create an equitable playing field. To raise up the groups that needed it to give them a great shot.

How do you think DePaul is supporting their Latino student body today?

Our Latino population is at 22.9%, almost 23%, we're almost at that level of becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution. If you're at 25% undergraduate Latino student population for two years or more, then you will get HSI status, which means that it gives you a different level of grants and support from the federal government to be able to make sure that the students have what they need to continue on in their education. So I think the goal right now for the CLR and LALS is to figure out how to give back so that the students of today have it a bit easier than we did when we were going through school. A lot of my contemporaries on the CLR Advisory Board are all people that I knew in undergrad or thereafter, and they all have very similar stories about some

of the challenges that they had to get through to get into college or stay in college. It’s not atypical. If you reach out to African-American students, they have similar challenges. It's just what happens in underserved communities.

What was it like reflecting back on all of your experiences throughout life when writing Tenacity for Life? What did you learn through this self-reflection?

I think life is a series of peaks and valleys and everybody, especially in today's world, with social media, where you can manage exactly what your situation looks like, can make everything look wonderful. Yet at the same time, you don't show the struggle. I think it's important for people to know about struggle because it's not all peaks. That's what drove me to write the book and tell the whole story about all the ups and downs, and how looking back at it, you can see how you had to go through that valley to get to that peak. I had to really double down on learning that because it helped me in the next opportunity that came on. And it was amazing. Writing a book is an extremely vulnerable experience because you're sharing your innermost thoughts with people. In most cases,

The goal right now for CLR and LALS is to figure out how to give back so that the students of today have it a bit easier than we did when we were going through school.

it's a complete stranger that reads your book. And through all these different formats, I've gotten so many emails of people that have said, “I was reading your chapter on blank and blank, and it felt like you were speaking directly to me.” So it's in that sharing, that you make an impact on people. And hearing people say that my book made a profound difference in what they were going through has probably been the single most rewarding aspect of having written the book.

Looking back at all the roles you have taken on, is there a common thread between them such as a lesson you have learned, a consistently applied skill, etc.?

I operate on the following areas, we'll call them operating principles. One, I function on creating a lot of teamwork between people. I believe in developing avenues for collaboration with people. Where you collaborate, you come up with solutions as a group. Next, I focus on the aspect of transparency as a leader in different organizations. The vulnerability to the degree that you're able to offer transparency. Because people want to know why decisions are being made and so you have to help bring people to the

why. Sometimes that's not possible but I think if you focus on making that part of your operating values, your operating principles, it'll come through. Three, I believe I've always operated on a high level of integrity. The one thing that we all have is our word and our determination to keep our word. When you say you're going to do something, commit to something and do it to 100% of your capability. And then lastly, I really believe in celebrating victories as a team. That's probably my Latinidad. So, work hard, play hard, and then celebrate the victories of the team. As I've kind of evolved and developed as a leader in different organizations, those are the operating principles that I've tried to tackle everything with.

What’s a piece of advice you would like to share with students currently at DePaul?

What would you say to students who are in leadership roles right now or are interested in pursuing it in the future?

Some fundamental advice that I got when I was about to graduate high school was from my guidance counselor. He said to me, “Lou, please make a list of things you want to do before you die. And do so in a manner that you leave nothing uncovered. Just think of everything that you possibly want to do and then keep that list close by, add to it, subtract as time goes on and accomplish things because that's the only way you'll really understand whether you've made progress or not.” So I made that list, and I'm fortunate that at various inflection points I’ve referred to it, scratched some things off and added more things, and it has continued to flow. I think you need those goals to push yourself. So create some short-term goals and then some long-term goals that you want to accomplish.

COLLABORATIVE NETWORKING EVENT WITH CHICAGO LATINES IN PHILANTHROPY (CLIP)

EVENT RECAP

On September 7th, the External Advisory Board of the Center for Latino Research and the Latin American and Latino Studies Department welcomed members of CLIP, Chicago Latines in Philanthropy, to our Lincoln Park campus for a collaborative networking event.

LAS faculty members discussed ongoing Latinx initiatives at DePaul with a group of DePaul Latinx alumni and leaders in the Chicago Latinx community. The presentation was followed by a guided tour of DPAM’s current exhibition, Life Cycles The event fostered an avenue for dialogue and collaboration between CLIP and DePaul

We’re looking forward to more opportunities to collaborate with this inspiring group of Chicago professionals!

Chicago Latines in Philanthropy promotes professional development, career advancement and knowledge sharing within the Latino philanthropic community to deepen the expertise of members in the issues affecting the Latino community, foster collaborations and effectively respond to the needs of the community.

Current Exhibition

LIFE CYCLES/ CICLOS DE VIDA

September 7, 2023–February 11, 2024

Life Cycles includes artworks from DePaul Art Museum's permanent collection in conversation with contemporary Chicago artists not yet represented in the museum ' s collection This exhibition focuses on the processes and materials that structure and subtend life while also examining the life of art objects In so doing, the time of life no longer has a linear structure, but comes into view as a marvelous tangle, where there is no beginning or end, where death is not the opposite of life, nor the truth or fulfillment of it

Life Cycles is curated by Ionit Behar, Ph.D., Curator, with contributions by David Maruzzella, Ph.D., Collection and Exhibition Manager, and DePaul University Students Spencer Bolding, Chiara Conner, Charlie Delgado, Zoe Hamilton, Ellie Naughton, Eli Schmitt, and Bernardo Soares and organized by DePaul Art Museum as part of the ongoing Learning Studio initiative. Life Cycles is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art and DePaul University's Vincentian Endowment Fund.

Upcoming Public Programs at DPAM

Thursday, October 12, 5:30 - 7:30pm Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration

Friday, November 17, 6:00 - 8:00pm

Saturday, November 18, 5:00 - 7:00pm

Drag Up: Karmaklubb* X DPAM in collaboration with Brendan Fernandes

Events co-sponsored by the CLR

Saturday, September 30, 2:30 – 3:30pm at DPAM

"The Library of Gestures SV.s5": A performance by Natalia Villanueva Linares

Elsa Muñoz, The Great Turning, 2022 Oil on panel. Courtesy of the artist and Brandt Robert Galleries. Photo: Tom Van Eynde.

Upcoming MUSEum Series with DePaul Professor and Artist Bibiana Suárez

Farewell to Mariela Aranda Former Latinx Cultural Center Coordinator

Interview Conducted by Sara Luz Torres and Marcela L. Reales Visbal

Mariela Aranda was the Coordinator of the Latinx Cultural Center (LCC) from 2020 - 2023. During her time at DePaul, she established herself as an advocate for Latinx students. She led the LCC throughout the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully restructuring services and resources at the same time that the college experience transformed. Before Mariela transitioned from DePaul, we talked about her journey in Higher Education, her work at the LCC, and her advocacy for our amazing students.

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Mariela Aranda. My pronouns are they/them, and she/her/hers. I've been at DePaul since 2018 and I've been the Latinx Cultural Center (LCC) Coordinator since 2020. I think that the LCC has really evolved in my time here and I've been really blessed with the opportunity to exercise creative freedom and revamp the Center. I'm someone who's very community-oriented, so I see the LCC as a vehicle for community. It's a space with resources that is here to bring people together. But, we're not the LCC without the student body. Outside of DePaul, I'm also very community-oriented. I'm part of an art collective, I'm a dancer and I'm very involved in cultural spaces. I'm really lucky to have a position at DePaul where I can bring culture to the campus and reimagine what the college experience of Latine/x students at a PWI can look like.

How did you end up working in Higher Education?

I had no idea I would be working in colleges until I was a graduate assistant at the University of Texas in Austin and worked at their Gender and Sexuality Center. I always thought that I would come back to Chicago and either work for the city or do some sort of nonprofit work, but I got really disillusioned. I was in Texas from 2016 to 2018, and because of the time, I was really frustrated and disappointed in the lack of creativity I saw in

spaces where supposedly policies were being created for a better world. When I took the graduate assistantship, I had no idea that I would love working with undergraduates so much. I saw U.T., which is a huge campus, as a small space where policy had an immediate impact on our community. The things that were on the news and being talked about, like undocumented people and white supremacy, we were addressing them in the moment, in realtime, in our little community. That was really empowering and I really loved it. Also, a lot of the undergrads I worked with there went on to really reach for the stars after they left college. And that was inspiring to me because I don't remember having felt empowered and proud as I graduated from undergrad. It was just like okay, I did it. I finished. But I really saw them shine as they left, and that's something that I want to

Mariela Aranda

contribute to, make our students leave DePaul shining brightly and really reaching for the stars.

Is that what brought you to DePaul?

I knew I wanted to come back to Chicago, so I was applying to different schools. But honestly, it's really hard to crack into a university setting. Especially since I didn't have a master's in Education or Critical Race Theory or anything like that. I had a master's in Public Affairs so I think it was confusing for people, and the only experience I had was as a researcher and as a GA in graduate school. I applied to the Steans Center which was the perfect fit because my position was overseeing a program where we place students in community organizations and have them do service there. It was also a soft introduction to the Student Affairs side because that was a part-time position. I’m very lucky and I'm very grateful to the Steans Center for really giving me an opportunity.

Can you tell us what is the mission of the LCC, and your specific role in the Center?

The LCC is a hub for Latine/x students to find community and work towards thriving at DePaul. I have two branches in my role. One is creating student experiences like programs and events where students can find community and see Latine/x culture reflected. I think those experiences also serve the larger DePaul community of non-Latine/x people because it's a space for them to learn. That's the branch of my work that most people see because of the big events we put on like FERIA, which had over 500 people last year (2022). The other branch is a little bit more subtle; on the day-to-day, I’m very accessible to students. My office door is open, and I do student advising, crisis management, and conflict resolution. I'm working to professionally

develop my staff and build relationships with students so that they can continue to use me as a resource. That is what takes up the majority of my time, and that's the part of the work I really love.

You talked about how rewarding it was to see students shine and grow into themselves and feel empowered. What specifically about working with Latine/x students at DePaul do you find the most fulfilling?

Our students care a lot about each other. Sometimes it's hard for me to get them to advocate for themselves because they're always thinking about other people or folks who don't have as much as they do. Our students have a really, really strong ethic of care for each other. I think DePaul students, come to the LCC, meet each other, and find out that their experiences are very different; they're always looking to learn. I think they're very curious and everyone's so different. Sometimes you think “Oh, a Center space for people of shared culture, they're going to find that they have a billion things in common.” More often than not, I have students come and be like “I don't have anything in common with any of these other Latino students.” And I think that's also beautiful in its own way.

What has been one proud moment since you’ve been working at the LCC?

Last year, we hosted Las Estamos Bordando, which was a project where our students had a series of programs where they talked about gender-based violence and femicide across the Americas, and learned about the social movements that are happening in Latin America that are getting a lot of coverage, but also the

connections in Chicago to some of those structures of violence and learning how the issue is almost of equal magnitude here but not spoken about in the same way because of our history of more racist assumptions. While we had these discussions, we were embroidering the names of missing and murdered girls and women, both in Chicago and in Latin America. The first program was in the fall of 2022. Many of the students told me “Oh, I've never embroidered before, but my grandmother tried to teach me” or “My mom does this all the time.” And some of them were like “Oh, I've tried to learn.” They were all in a circle doing their tejidos. When everyone got back from winter break, some of the student staff brought back huge pieces. So much stuff that they had worked on when they went home with their moms. And I thought that was so beautiful, to see that our space really resonated with some cultural familial memory that they had and that they took it and made it their own and continued the practice. Some of them said that they felt more connected because they knew it was something their grandmother did, or they knew it was something that was common in their family. And I think that was really, really powerful in a different way than the discussions were powerful. Honoring and respecting the arts of maternal figures in your family. That's not something that's easy.

What are some other events hosted by the LCC?

Besides FERIA, we host an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration. I'm very excited to continue that conversation and continue pushing our students to look at the land acknowledgment and really study it and understand it. After School Amiguis is another ongoing year-long series where we do arts and crafts with students and give them a space to meet each other, reflect, journal, and have discussions. We also do field trips. We've gone to the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture, the National Museum of Mexican

Art, field trips, movie nights. Something new that's starting in the fall are community dinners a couple of times a quarter, Convivencia y Comida. That actually came from one of our custodian workers who was talking to me about what the space looked like before the pandemic. She said, “You know, before, students would come together and eat dinner. Even after the centers were closed, they would have a potluck-style meal together.” I kept thinking about that, we haven't really had that culture since COVID and just everything happening with the world. So, I want to bring back that spirit of eating dinner with other people, trying new food, and meeting new people. Also, I know that there's an increasing issue of food insecurity so I'm hoping to also bring resources to those meals to make sure that our students feel cared for and paid attention to.

What do you wish DePaul students knew about the Center?

You don't have to join. People think it's like a club that you have to sign up for. You don't have to. You can literally come and put your water bottle in the fridge if that's what you need that day, that's what we're here for. You can come and play the Nintendo Switch for an hour after class to decompress. You can come and work on a group project. We have paper, markers. This isn't like an organization where you need to come and present in a certain way. You can just come as you are that day and use this space. We just hope you feel comfortable here.

Mariela Aranda left DePaul in August of 2023. ¡Adiós, Mariela! Thank you for all your work and advocacy. We will miss you!

Flor Reza is the new Coordinator of the Latinx Cultural Center since September 25th, 2023.

¡Bienvenida, Flor!

27th Annual Latine/x Graduation

Event Recap

What started as a small gathering for Latine students graduating from DePaul has evolved into a traditional celebration honoring the accomplishments of our growing Latine class.

The 2023 Annual Latinx Graduation took place on June 1st at the Lincoln Park Student Center. Families and friends celebrated the accomplishments of the 2023 DePaul graduates.

¡Muchas Felicidades, class of 2023!

Latinx Staff SPOTLIGHT Transfer Admission Counselor: Ahtziri Alviso

Interview Conducted by Sara Luz Torres

Ahtziri Alviso graduated from DePaul University in the spring of 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in International Studies/Global Affairs and Spanish As a first-generation Latina college student from an immigrant family, she developed a strong passion for the advocacy of human rights and diversity inclusion We discussed her transition from student to staff member, Latinidad in higher education, and DePaul’s role in serving Latinx students as a Transfer Admission Counselor

Tell us about your time at DePaul. Absolutely! At DePaul, I graduated with a double major in International Studies and Spanish. It was really important for me to do that. Throughout my academic career, I did a lot of human rights work and things like that. International Studies was just pretty much the best fit. It encompassed everything that I wanted to focus on. I could concentrate on something I was interested in, which was human rights violations in Latin America, and Spanish just went hand in hand with that. It was a great experience. Getting that major prepared me for everything that I did onward. I was able to do an internship during my time in college that focused on human rights violations, immigration, and related issues. I worked for a foundation and was a research and grant analysis intern. So yeah, that was a great experience.

How did that internship and other opportunities at DePaul impact your overall experience?

I was able to do an internship through the International Studies department. I remember receiving some sort of communication about it, and it looked super interesting, so I decided to apply, and luckily, I could do it. I was working for the Center for Latino Research and the Latin American and Latino Studies Department as a student assistant, and everything I did went along

well with what I wanted to study.

More than anything, being a first-gen Latina in school, it was important for me to find community and spaces that supported me. I found people who were in the same situation as me and just provided support for each other. That was awesome. I found community and opportunities through the Latin American and Latino Studies department. I was also a peer leader for the Social Transformation Research Collaborative, which is really awesome because I was able to work with a lot of first-gen students of color coming into college, like me, and be an example and just provide resources, tools, and

Ahtziri Alviso

just give them my experience of what college was. I was also an RA at the University Center. There, it wasn't just DePaul students, but it was also other Chicago colleges as well. It was Roosevelt University, the School of the Art Institute, Columbia. Again, it was nice just to be a resource and help other students in the same situation as I was when I was a freshman and all throughout college. Not just DePaul students but also other students in the Chicago school community. More than anything, all of the parts that I contributed, whether it was job-related, clubs, activities, or internships, I kept at the forefront to give back to where I come from as well. I think that for us, as Latinos and first-gen students, sometimes we don't have all of the other resources that some students might have from their established families in this country. It was really important for me to provide community and help students in the same situation as me.

What is your current position at DePaul? How does it feel to be back as a staff member?

I'm back at DePaul! I am a Transfer Admissions Counselor. A lot of my job is working with students in Illinois Community Colleges looking to transfer to a four-year university like DePaul. It's so important to me, having been a DePaul student, being an alum, and being from the background that I am, that many of the students I work with are first-gen students of color, and many of them are Latinos. I really enjoy my job because a lot of students will come in, and you'll visibly see that they’re a little bit nervous, that they're apprehensive, they're like, “I don't know if I can get into DePaul.” After I tell them the admission process, what I can do for them, and

how I can help them and guide them through the process, you can just visibly see their relief. They told me it's really helpful to have someone like me in the admission process, especially since I graduated a year ago, so I'm very familiar with still being a student and having that fresh in my mind. Also, providing them with resources such as the Office of Multicultural Services, the Latinx Culture Center, the Latin American and Latino Studies department, and the Center for Latino Research and just letting them know that they will have opportunities and community here at DePaul, reiterating that they're not alone and we're here to support them, is something I really do enjoy about my job.

What is the most important advice you would give to incoming students of color?

Remember that you are here for a reason and have worked hard for everything you have. You belong, and you deserve to be where you are. I personally, and a lot of my other friends, as well as colleagues, have struggled with imposter syndrome. I think that's something that a lot of us struggle with. You'll see many people who are not

They’ll [students] find academics and financial aid, same as other schools, but what determines their decision is if they'll belong, feel cared for, and valued here.

like you, and you'll be in predominantly white spaces, and you'll think, “I don't fit in. What am I doing here?” It's easier said than done, but just remember that you belong there and should take up space because you're earning it, you're there, you're working. You deserve to be where you are, and everything will be okay. What made my experience at college such a great one was that I was able to find community and surround myself with like-minded people who wanted to see me succeed and supported me, and we supported each other.

DePaul is also good about providing resources, especially for networking. I've had students tell me, “Will I find community here? Will I belong?”

I think that's such a huge part of students who decide to come to DePaul. They’ll find academics and financial aid, same as other schools, but what determines their decision is if they'll belong, feel cared for, and valued here.

How does your background influence your educational journey, personal growth, and professional growth?

It's a huge part of my identity. It's everything to me. I come from a Mexican immigrant family. I'm the first in my family to attend college, and Spanish is my first language. It's so important to remember where I come from and see how far I've come. Everything that I go for, I keep my community at heart, and I keep that in my mind and see how I can give back. Now, as a transfer admissions counselor, when I see many first-gen students of color going through the same process all by themselves, I just remember that I had great advisors throughout my time in college. They were great resources, so I want to provide the same resources and tools for our students to

succeed and grow professionally and personally as much as possible. More than anything, it just feels like it's my turn to give back.

What was the transition from student to staff?

Going through that imposter syndrome, when I first started, I thought, “Oh my gosh, what am I gonna provide to students?” but everyone in my department was super welcoming and awesome. Having come from the CLR and LALS, a big thing was that I always felt cared for, valued, and respected. Even though I was just a student worker, it didn't feel like I was just a student worker. I was a colleague, and it was great because I was always taken in mind, and my opinion mattered, so when I transferred to the Transfer Admissions Office, it felt very natural. Everyone was super welcoming and kind, and it was really great. Having been an alumni, I have that student perspective. Now, as a staff member and having recently graduated, I can give that perspective to students and let them know what opportunities they have.

What are you currently working on?

My project right now is working on a presentation for Latino students for Latinx Heritage Month. I hope to do Spanish presentations around community colleges in Illinois and have families more involved in their student's admission process. Some territories and schools I work for have a high Latino population. I'm very excited to do that and incorporate accessible resources in Spanish. I also started pursuing my master's in Public Policy this fall, so I’m very excited about that as well!

HSI UPDATES

What is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)?

The U.S. Department of Education defines HSIs as institutions of higher education that have an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25% Hispanic, and enrolls low-income students.

Emerging HSIs (eHSI) are institutions with 15-24.9% of undergraduate full-time equivalent (FTE) Hispanic enrollment.

DePaul is an eHSI, with 24% of undergraduate FTE (as of September, 2023)

DePaul is among the top 5 institutions awarding degrees to Latinx students in Illinois (2017-2018):

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chamberlain University - Illinois

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

DePaul University

Northern Illinois University

Illinois has 31 HSIs

18 are in Chicago

15 are 4-year private institutions 15 offer graduate programs

DePaul is among 26 emerging HSIs in Illinois

Note: We use the terms Hispanic and Latinx interchangeably in this page.

Source: Excelencia in Education. (2023). Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) Fact Sheet: 2021-22. Washington, D.C.: Excelencia in Education.

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From the Archives

Delve into an article from our Premier Issue! Volume 1, Issue 1, Spring 1996: "Shades of Lincoln Park: Armitage Avenue in the 1970s"

LALS Core and Affiliated Faculty Book Lauch

EVENTRECAP

On May 11th, we celebrated the book releases of our LALS Core Faculty member Carolina Sternberg and LALS Affiliated Faculty members, DeliaCosentino and RoseJ.Spalding.

Congratulationstoourwonderfulcolleaguesfortheirrecentlypublishedbooks!

Dr.Sternberg presenting her book titled NeoliberalUrban Governance:Spaces,Cultureand DiscoursesinBuenosAiresand Chicago.

Dr.Cosentino presenting her book Resurrecting Tenochtitlan:Imaginingthe AztecCapitalinModern MexicoCity.

Dr.Spalding presenting her book BreakingGround:From ExtractionBoomstoMining BansinLatinAmerica

Research Talk with Dr. Yuriko Takashi: Political Culture of Mexican Immigrants in the US EVENT RECAP

On May 4th, Dr. Yuriko Takahashi, Associate Professor of Political Science at Waseda University, Japan, and Visiting Scholar at the University of California San Diego’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, presented her ongoing research on the political attitudes and political participation of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. and in their countries of origin. Dr. Takahashi presented findings from focus group interviews with Mexican immigrant leaders and activists and community surveys.

The lecture concluded with a research plan to expand its scope to the political culture of the Latinx community in the US, which is politically underrepresented relative to their share of the population.

Thank you for an inspiring lecture, Dr. Takahashi!

18

SEPTEMBER

¡Todo el poder pa ’ la gente!: 55 Years of Young Lords in Lincoln Park

1:30 - 4:00 PM | Cortelyou Commons Office of the President/Center for Latino Research

21

FERIA

5:30 - 8:30 PM | DePaul Welcome Center Parking Lot Latinx Cultural Center/Office of Student Initiatives

22

The First Rainbow Coalition: A Film Screening and Conversation with Director Ray Santisteban

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Arts & Letters 103

Center for Latino Research/Center for Black Diaspora/ Steans Center

People’s Poetry Set

4:30 - 8:30 PM | Arts & Letters 103

Center for Latino Research/African & Black Diaspora Studies

26

When Democracy is Lost: Remembering the 1973 Chilean Coup and its Aftermath

4:30 - 5:45 PM | LP Student Center 314 B

Mission & Ministry/Latin American & Latino Studies/Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology/Political Science/ Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America/Humanities X Latine Open Mic

6:00 - 8:00 PM | LP Student Center Lounge 1898 DePaul Activities Board/Latinx Cultural Center

28

Latin American & Latino Studies Department and Center for Latino Research OPEN HOUSE

2:00 - 5:00 PM | SAC 5th Floor, Suite A-H

Latin American & Latino Studies/Center for Latino Research

30

“The Library of Gestures SV.s5”: A performance by Natalia Villanueva Linares

2:30 - 3:30 PM | DePaul Art Museum

DePaul Art Museum/Latinx Cultural Center/ Center for Latino Research/Tepeyac

Questions? Email clr@depaul edu

4 10 11 12 19

OCTOBER

MCA Exhibit Tour with Bibiana Suárez entre horizontes: Art and Activism Between Chicago and Puerto Rico

1:30 - 4:00 PM | Museum of Contemporary Art Center for Latino Research

Financial Wellness Workshop for Latinx Students with Nuveen

4:30 - 6:00 PM | Arts & Letters 412

Center for Latino Research

Dolores Huerta Heritage Event

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM | LP Student Center 314 AB

Office of Institutional Diversity & Equity

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration

5:30 - 7:30 PM | DePaul Art Museum

DePaul Art Museum/Latinx Cultural Center/Office of Institutional Diversity & Equity/Division of Student Affairs

STRC Fall Symposium

The Right to Story: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in an Age of Banned Books

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | SAC 161

Social Transformation Research Collaborative/Center for Latino Research/Center for Black Diaspora/African & Black Diaspora Studies/Latin American & Latino Studies/Global Asian Studies/ Critical Ethnic Studies

25

DPAM Exhibit Tour with Bibiana Suárez Life Cycles

1:30 - 3:00 PM | DePaul Art Museum

Center for Latino Research/DePaul Art Museum

RECURRING EVENTS

TUESDAYS

Latinx Support Group (Please email Andrea Martínez Cabrera if you plan to attend - amart459@depaul.edu)

5:00 - 6:30 PM | LP Student Center 350 University Counseling & Psychological Services

THURSDAYS

Cafecito con Tepeyac

3:00 - 4:00 PM | Follow @depaultepeyac on Social Media for location details Catholic Campus Ministry/Tepeyac

LATINAMERICANAND LATINOSTUDIES

ThisinterdisciplinarydepartmentexploresthebroaddynamicsshapingLatin American&Latinxexperiencesanddrawscoursesandinsightsfrommultiple fields.TheDepartmentofLatinAmerican&LatinoStudiesalsoservestodeepen Latinxstudents’awarenessoftheirculturalheritage.

LST 310: Music, Sounds and Rhythms of Latin America

Dr.YoalliRodríguezAguilera

M/W-11:20am-12:50pm

This course considers Latin American music within a broad cultural, political, and historical framework. Latin American musical practices are explored by illustrating the different ways aesthetics and society are intersected through music. Our discussions will be framed by a range of concepts pertinent to Latin American contexts, such as colonialism, diaspora, mestizaje, globalization, migration, and community. This course will examine popular music from Latin America and consider song a reflection of socio-political, historical, and cultural movements. Coursework will include listening to and viewing performances and reading historical and critical texts on music and its relation to politics. QUESTIONS?

SAVE THE DATE

HEATHER MONTES-IRELAND Assistant Professor | Dept. of Women’s and Gender Studies

“DECOUPLING WORK AND DIGNITY IN LATINA VISUAL CULTURE”

ANA SCHAPOSCHNIK

Associate Professor | Dept of History

“DID THE HOLY OFFICE LEAVE ROOM FOR AGENCY?: THE TRIAL OF FAITH OF FRANCISCO VÁZQUEZ (LIMA, 1600S)”

MONICA REYES

Assistant Professor | Dept. of Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse

“SHELTER RHETORICS: STORYTELLING WITHIN THE U.S. ASYLUM PROCESS”

QUESTIONS? CLR@DEPAUL.EDU

Thank You from the Editors

I wanted to take a moment to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for your unwavering support and engagement with the El Centro newsletter. It has been an incredible journey to design, curate content, and gather unique insights for our readers.

Creating diverse and eye-catching designs, weaving together valuable content, and collecting unique perspectives has been a labor of love. I've enjoyed every moment of this creative process, and it's your enthusiasm and readership that have made it all worthwhile.

El Centro is not just a community; it's a family, and I am honored to be a part of it. Your trust in the newsletter's mission to inform, inspire, and unite us all is what drives us forward.

As we continue this journey together, I look forward to bringing you even more exciting and meaningful content in the future. Your feedback and support are invaluable, and they motivate us to strive for excellence.

Once again, thank you for being an integral part of the El Centro newsletter.

~ Sunidhi Kulkarni

Thank you for reading this issue of El Centro! We hope you enjoyed reading it as well as finding something that resonated with you. Like previous issues, this newsletter could not have been made without the collective effort of our staff, faculty, professors, students, and featured guests. Through this, our goal for El Centro has always been to spotlight stories and individuals that deserve more attention and recognition. I believe we have done that for this issue as well.

As more people read this issue, I hope that this inspires others to seek out and discover more incredible work being done by people in our community. Whether that is a club/organization enacting change here at DePaul or a small-business serving their community, it's vital that we continue to support them in any possible way we can.

Thank you again and make sure to stay tuned with what CLR has in store in the near future!

~ Josue Paniagua

Contact Us

LALS | CLR

Carolina Sternberg

LALS Chair csternb1@depaul.edu

Bill Johnson González

CLR Director bjohns58@depaul.edu

Marcela L. Reales Visbal CLR Assistant Director mrealesv@depaul.edu

Sara Luz Torres Department Assistant storre38@depaul.edu

Josué Paniagua Student Assistant jpaniag5@depaul.edu

Sunidhi Kulkarni Graduate Student Assistant skulka12@depaul.edu

Laura Pachón Graduate Editorial Assistant (AY 2022 - 2023) lpachon@depaul.edu