Latine/x Heritage Month
Macalester College is proud to celebrate the cultures, contributions and resilience of Latine/x, Hispanic and Latino-identified communities around the world.
Latine/x Heritage Month, which takes place from September 15th to October 15th in the U.S., is a time period in which contributions and cultures of the Latine/x community are uplifted. Historically, this month commemorates the independence anniversaries of several Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, on September 15th, as well as Mexico’s independence on September 16th and Chile’s on September 18th. In Puerto Rico, the Grito del Lares, a large-scale rebellion against Spanish colonists occurred on September 23rd.
At Macalester, we take this time to bring us all together to center Latine/x stories, celebrate community, and build awareness of the Latine/x community here at Macalester. This month provides us an opportunity for members of the college to engage in meaningful dialogue and learn more about the complexities and narratives of Latine/x cultures.
Please note that the events below are organized by different organizations and departments at Macalester. Please use the links below for further information or contact the event host with questions.
Welcome Event
Fri., Sept. 8 | 4:45–6 p.m. | Shaw Field
Hosted by: Latinx Student Union | [email protected]
Join the Latinx Student Union for our first gathering of the academic year and get to know the Latinx community on campus while playing games and hanging out. This is a low-stakes event, with an emphasis on welcoming first-year students and new Latinx staff/faculty to campus. We’d love to see the Latinx community show up in support of these faces. Light snacks will be provided. For more information please visit Mac College Events Calendar.
RSVP LSU Latine/x Heritage Month Events
Spanish & Portuguese – Ice Cream Social
Wed., Sept. 13 | 4:45–6 p.m. | Casa Hispana (196 Vernon St.)
Hosted By: Spanish & Portuguese Studies | [email protected]
Latinx Employee Affinity Group: Welcome Back Luncheon
Fri., Sept. 15 | 12–1:30 p.m. | DeWitt Wallace Library – Harmon Room (133)
Hosted by: Latinx Employee Affinity Group
For more information please contact [email protected].
Latinx Student Union’s Annual Cook-Out/Carne Asada
Sat., Sept. 16 | 5:30–7:30 p.m. | Spanish House
Hosted by: Latinx Student Union
Latine/x Student Union is back with its annual carne asada, the first event of Latinx Heritage Month! Join students, staff, and faculty in this awesome celebration of culture! This event will serve as an introduction to the LSU board and provide a basis for what the rest of the heritage month will look like. We have family cookout games, lots of food, and many more surprises for you. Hint hint: Taquero at Macalester alert! Be there! For more information please visit Mac College Events Calendar.
Maria Isa Pérez-Vega
Pa’La Raza: From the Hip-Hop Barrio Cyphers to the House of Representatives
“A conversation & performance about cultural identity, hip-hop and politics”
Tue., Sept. 19 | 6 –7:30 p.m. | The Loch
Hosted by: Institutional Equity | [email protected]
Co-Sponsors: Latinx Student Union, Latin American Studies, Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice, Music Dept., Political Science, Center for Religious & Spiritual Life, Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese
Institutional Equity invites you to join us for our Latine/x Heritage Month keynote speaker with Maria Isa.
Maria Isa is a Boricua singer, songwriter, actress, rapper, activist and international recording artist born in Minnesota and raised on St. Paul’s West Side barrio. Isa was raised by the influences of many different rhythms of Afro-Latino Indigenous culture and channeled it into performing arts and activism at a very early age. Since 2009, Maria Isa serves as CEO for her independent label SotaRico, distributing 13 of her albums bridging her music mix and upbringing of Minnesota and Puerto Rican culture into a fusion of sound.
María Isa is also a Minnesota State Representative and currently directs the mentorship program for the Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project, which empowers young people through music and a cultural curriculum. She also serves on the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board Public Engagement Advisory Task Force, working to ensure the Capitol is a welcoming space for the community. For more information please visit Mac College Events Calendar.
RSVP for the reception with Maria Isa from 7-7:30 p.m..
Master Class with Professor Alfonso Cervera in Folclórico
Fri., Sept. 22 | 4:45–6 p.m. | Fox Dance Studio, THDA 120
Hosted by: Theater and Dance Department | [email protected]
This class will highlight particular regions of Mexico’s cultural dance practice known as Ballet Folklorico.
Through foot syncopation and choreography, students will embody movement aesthetics that are both traditional and contemporary that are in relationship to storytelling and or historical knowledge from Mexican communities.
For more information and to RSVP please visit Folclorico Workshop Sign-up.
Latine/x History Month Community Luncheon
Tue., Sept. 26 | 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. | Kagin Ballroom
Hosted by: Institutional Equity | [email protected]
This luncheon is intended to create a space for our Macalester Latine/x community to come together in connection, celebration, and reflection. This will be an opportunity for MAC Latine/x community to connect/re-connect with one another. While in community we hope you will be able to build a network with one another based on academics, interests, passions, and careers. For more information please visit Mac College Events Calendar.
RSVP is not required but encouraged.
Latin American Studies – Open House
Tue., Sept. 26 | 4:45–6 p.m. | Weyerhaeuser Boardroom
Hosted by: Latin American Studies | [email protected]
LSU x Adelante! Event
Fri., Sept. 29 | 7–8 p.m. | The Great Lawn
Hosted by: Latinx Student Union x Adalente! | [email protected] | [email protected]
Join Adelante! and Latinx Student Union for a collaboration during Latine/x Heritage Month! We’ll be playing games and drinking some mock-tails to continue building community among Latinx students, staff, and faculty at Macalester! We hope to see you there! For more information please visit Mac College Events Calendar.
MNI Guest Speaker Felipe H. Lopez
Zapotec Poet & Writer
Tue., Oct. 3 | 4:45–6 p.m. | Weyerhaeuser Boardroom
Hosted by: Spanish & Portuguese and Linguistics Department | [email protected]
Dr. Lopez is a teacher, poet, and writer of the indigenous language Zapotec. He will share his poetry and reflections on being a Zapotec poet:
Writing Dizhsa (San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec) poetry, for me, is a self-determined initiative to express my identity in form, process, and content. My poetry is both language preservation and cultural resistance. Becoming a Zapotec writer has meant navigating multiple layers of challenges, including ideologies that restrict what Native poetry “should be about” and having to create an orthography. Most Indigenous Mexican poets also practice self-translation, as do I, and are writing for a readership that is still nascent. In this talk, I will read several of my poems in Dizhsa and share not only the cultural context of the poetry, including the life of a Zapotec migrant in Los Angeles, but also reflect on the realities of Zapotec language activism through poetry.
Latinx Heritage Month Showcase
Fri., Oct. 13 | 5–8 p.m. | Kagin Ballroom
Hosted by: Adelante!, Latinx Student Union | [email protected]
We hope to see you all at Latinx Student Union’s annual Latinx Heritage Month Showcase! It’ll be a night filled with performances from local speakers, dance groups, and more! We’ll also have a chance to share some food and conversation at the end of the night. For more information please visit Mac College Events Calendar.