Hispanic Heritage Month, Paths to Empowerment opened November 1 at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY), with a presentation by award-winning poet Cristina Rivera Garza, author of The Iliac Crest, “an excavation of forgotten Mexican women writers.” Other events that day included the opening of the Altar del Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead Altar as well as an exhibit in the BMCC Library that features works from the Hispanic diaspora.
“We wanted to have a more academic focus that would provide our students with the tools to raise critical awareness about our current social issues,” says Professor Rosario Torres of the Academic Literacy and Linguistics Department at BMCC. “Transformative events such as the Third Cross Cultural Approaches to Latin Studies (CCALS) Biennial Conference: School as an Immigrant and the Moth Storytelling Workshops are the highlights of this Hispanic Heritage Month.”
The events “will emphasize storytelling, experience sharing and collective wisdom in order to build paths to empowerment,” says Professor Torres, who is co-chair of the Hispanic Heritage Committee with Professor David Caicedo. “Events will range from academic workshops on narrative construction, to storytelling podcasts, to legal advisement on immigration.
Hispanic Heritage Month will run through December 7. For more information, contact Professor Rosario Torres at rtorres@bmcc.cuny.edu.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Hispanic Heritage Month, Paths to Empowerment is November 1-30
- The month opened with a presentation by Mexican author Cristina Rivera Garza, author of The Iliac Crest, “an excavation of forgotten Mexican women writers”
- Storytelling, academic workshops and other events will continue through the month
