DIY/DEI: Latinx Heritage

Advocates and allies are essential to promoting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education and beyond. For many, there is a new awareness of issues associated with DEI and a growing desire to learn and engage. To support your efforts, the NC State University Libraries and the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity have created a curated list of resources to inform your inquiry, introspection, and engagement with this topic. Engaging with these resources will provide you with an opportunity to explore DEI and develop your narrative and understanding.

This month's featured topic

September 15, 2022 will mark the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month (or Latinx Heritage Month). This month is designated to recognize the importance of Latinx Americans and their contributions to the United States, and to celebrate the heritage and cultures of Americans with roots in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The term “Latinx” relates to people of Latin American origin or descent and is used as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina. This list will showcase some books, videos, podcasts, and articles that dive into what it means to be Latinx in the U.S. 

This list has been curated by Crystal Vazquez and Alex Valencia.

Past DIY/DEI resource lists can be found here. To suggest a future topic for DIY/DEI, please send your topic idea to oied-communications@ncsu.edu.

Books

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora

Edited by Saraciea J. Fennell, 2021

Fifteen short stories from a variety of established and new authors exploring and celebrating the diversity of the Latinx community. Topics include love, ghost stories, and anti-Blackness. 

For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color

Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, 2021

Rodríguez covers a series of systemic issues, diving specifically into how women of color are affected. The Nicaraguan author interweaves personal anecdotes about her experiences with colonialism, imposter syndrome, machismo, and much more.

The Undocumented Americans

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, 2020

This book is a memoir in which the author strays from the dreamer narrative and sheds light on the lives of undocumented workers of Generation X living in the United States—while also sharing personal anecdotes. 

You Sound Like a White Girl, The Case for Rejecting Assimilation

Julissa Arce, 2022

While assimilation is often the golden key that immigrants strive for, Arce dives into how truly harmful that can be. She covers U.S. policies that have affected and continue to affect Latinx immigrants throughout our history while sharing her personal experiences as an immigrant. 

Down These Mean Streets

Piri Thomas, 2016 (new edition)

A coming-of-age memoir in which Thomas shares his memories as a young Puerto Rican growing up in Spanish Harlem who consistently felt like an outsider. He navigates his unexplored African ancestry and various other unexpected life events.

The Breakbeat Poets, Vol. 4: LatiNext

Edited by Felicia Chavez, José Olivarez, and Willie Perdomo, 2020

A collection of new and upcoming poets sharing various joys, battles, and traditions that are all part of Latinidad, in a variety of poetic styles.

Articles 

“The Power of Us: A conversation about how Hispanic and Latinx culture has shaped America,” Shirley Velasquez

Hearst Magazines and Oprah Daily invite you to celebrate Hispanic and Latinx culture with this special collection of stories.

“The new Latino landscape,” Suzanne Gamboa and Nicole Acevedo

The swift growth of Latinos in the U.S. is reshaping big states and small towns. Meet the faces of a new era.

“Somos Latinx: Latinos across the country are embracing their power in a shifting America,” Silvia Foster-Frau and Rachel Hatzipanagos

“Academic Outsider—Author discusses her book of stories of exclusion and hope,” Scott Jaschik 

Victoria Reyes, associate professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of California, Riverside, combines these stories with stories of her earning academic success.

“The Latinx Organization Decolonizing Veganism,” Andrea Devoto

Veggie Mijas founder Amy Quichiz on why starting an organization dedicated to educating women of color about veganism is also about decolonizing Latinx diets.

Podcasts 

Code Switch: Who You Calling ‘Hispanic’? (35:00)

While it is Hispanic Heritage Month, the notion of a multiracial, multinational, pan-ethnic identity called "Hispanic" is a relatively recent—and somewhat haphazard invention—in the United States. In this episode, we're digging into how the term got created and why it continues to both unite and bewilder.

Tamarindo Podcast: Tamarindo Hot Takes (35:00)

Brenda and Ana Sheila reflect on their Mexican heritage during this special recording in Mexico City. We also discuss the Los Angeles Times article “Californians and other Americans are flooding Mexico City.” We talk about how some locals want them to “go home” and some of what may be behind the forces that push and pull USians from moving to Mexico.

Majestad Prieta: Episode 2: “Black History: La Cumbia Nos Llama” (60:00)

The hosts discuss blackness as an identity and how it has come to be defined by the Black American and the Black Latinx communities. Through comparison, contrast, and personal stories in this episode, we bring together pain, joy, complexities, contradictions, and dreams of the future to open a space for collaboration and mutual love.

Latinx Therapy: Coming Out of the Closet in a Machismo Dominated Culture (26:00)

Machismo and identifying as LGBTQ is an important topic because, in our culture, machismo is part of the root of homophobia. Renato Pérez, a licensed clinical social worker in Los Angeles, goes a bit more in-depth about machismo and history in coming out to his father.

Videos 

Mija | Official Trailer (2:00)

Mija chronicles the emotional and complex stories of Doris Muñoz and Jacks Haupt, the daughters of undocumented immigrants from Mexico, and navigates their careers in the music industry.

Yesika Salgado On Being Salvadoran (3:00)

Poet Yesika Salgado talks to Radar reporter Daniel Alvarenga about how her two homes, El Salvador and Los Angeles, shape her work.

Ain’t I Latina (2:00)

Diversity in news coverage is a starting point, but inclusion is where real change is effected. Ain’t I Latina founder Janel Martinez wants to ensure that AfroLatino news stories are covered from a place of authenticity.

LA Walkouts (11:00) 

In response to poor educational opportunities, students and teachers in Los Angeles began to organize in the late 1960s. Teacher Sal Castro reflects on the formative experience of seeing his family split up through the involuntary deportations of the 1930s. This informs his resolve to ensure better conditions for a new generation of students. Student activists reflect on the sense of empowerment and accomplishment that came through claiming Chicano identity and taking action.

The Spain-Aztec Mexico Encounter (4:50) 

This clip from PBS’ Civilizations presents the initial encounter between the Aztecs and Hernan Cortez’s Spanish army. Thinking Cortez might be the long-awaited god Quetzalcoatl, Aztec chief Montezuma attempted to appease the Spaniards with gifts of art and treasure. The gesture only increased the Spaniards’ appetite for wealth and the Aztecs were swiftly and brutally conquered. It seemed as though the Aztecs’ artistic legacy would be all but obliterated. 

Catholic clergy moved in, tasked with squashing any semblance of Aztec religion. In an effort to monitor their new converts, Christian friars commissioned Aztec painters to create a series of books that detailed the everyday lives and rituals of the Aztecs. The images mirrored those of Christian rituals and Aztec rituals found their way into Christianity.

Why Puerto Rican Bomba Music is Resistance (11:00)

Bomba is an ancient genre of resistance from Puerto Rico created by enslaved people on the island over 400 years ago. Recently, bomba music has been a staple of Black Lives Matter protests calling back to its roots as a music of resilience. Together, hosts Linda Diaz and LA Buckner break down the musical and cultural elements that make bomba what it is. Ivelisse Diaz of Bomba con Buya teaches Linda about bomba singing, and LA learns bomba drum rhythms. 

LinkedIn Learning

Through free access to the NC State community, LinkedIn Learning offers the following modules on this topic.

Color and Cultural Connections

Join graphic designer and brand strategist Nicte Cuevas as she discusses the impact that color has across cultures and how the hues we use in our branding and work can shift perception. Cuevas explains how color can hold different meanings across global cultures. She discusses how color psychology can shift or shape purchasing influences or create a divide among cultures. She helps you understand how cultural misappropriation can create a divide in communities and affect the perception of any brand. Cuevas points out how gendered marketing through color can shift across the world. She shares the importance of understanding the role color plays when it comes to cultural heritage, and how using the wrong hue can shift the meaning when you market on a global scale. She explains how brands can partner with communities and how experts avoid misunderstandings related to color language. In conclusion, Cuevas shares her thoughts on how you can use color and culture to truly connect with an audience.

Engaging in Active Allyship

Despite decades of diversity and inclusion efforts, people sometimes feel forced to choose between being included and being themselves. Join Kenji Yoshino, renowned New York University law professor and director of the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, to learn about “covering”—a strategy that people may use to downplay a stigmatized identity and blend into the mainstream. This course explores the four dimensions of covering, provides quantitative and qualitative data on covering in corporate America, and presents strategies for “uncovering talent” and contributing to a more authentic workplace.