Medgar Evers College Successfully Caps Off 15th Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
Korean War veteran and Broadway star honored
On Friday, October 6, Medgar Evers College hosted its 15th annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration with a free CUNY-wide interdisciplinary symposium. The all-day event’s theme was “Latina/o/x Voices: Transforming the Academic Landscape” and was co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies. Conference themes/strands included “Expanding the Identify Narrative” Perspectives on Gender Identity, Colorism, and Intersectionality within the Latino/a/x Community,” “Writing Our Stories: Publishing opportunities and strategies for Latina/o/x Writers and Scholars,” and “The Impact of Latina/o/x Identity on Academic Outcomes,” which actually doubled as a student roundtable.
Opening remarks were given by Keynote Speaker Marilu Galvez, who is also the president/general manager of WABC-TV New York. Other featured speakers were Dr. Patricia Ramsey (Medgar Evers College president), Dr. Alirio Valbuena (Medgar Evers College, CUNY associate provost), and Dr. John A. Gutiérrez, who is the director of the CUNY Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies. Featured performance poet Irene Vázquez helped close out the opening hour. Adding to the atmosphere were the works of Chilean visual artist Fabio Puentes, whose Día de Los Muertos-inspired pieces are hanging around in the lobby of the AB1 building until Hispanic Heritage Month ends on October 15.
The day’s featured panelists included award-winning novelist Dr. Theresa Varela, author and 2022 Mellon Foundation Letras Boricuas Award-winner Dahima Llanos-Figueroa, Galit & Zacker Literary Agency literary agent Saribel Pages, and Raesha Cartagena, board chair of the Puerto Rican Institute for the Development of the Arts (P.R.I.D.A.).
The day’s main panel was “Latino/a/x Representation in the Arts, Media” and Entertainment Industry.” Joining Cartagena as panelists were WABC-TV New York general assignment reporter Sonia Rincón and Tony Award-nominated actress/dancer Daphne Rubin-Vega. All spoke of the respective challenges they faced in their industries of not just fighting for opportunities as Latinas, but holding the line in how they define themselves while sharing and telling the stories from across the Hispanic diaspora.
The evening capped off with Rubin-Vega receiving the Latina Trailblazer of the Year Award. The evening’s other honorees was Sgt. Julio A Feliu, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran who served from 1950-1953 as part of the 65th Infantry Regiment, a segregated unit composed mostly of Puerto Ricans with mostly continental officers. The unit was the subject of the 2007 documentary The Borinqueneers. Feliu, who recently lost his wife of 65 years, came down from his home in The Bronx with his Bronze Star for Valor and the 2014 Congressional Gold Medal he was awarded by President Barack Obama.
