SUNY Oswego will celebrate Latin American Heritage Month, Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, with speakers, movies, a Penfield Library display and more.

Appearances by two poets bookend the month, with Ricardo Nazario y Colón –- who also is senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion and the chief diversity officer for SUNY –- appearing on Monday, Sept. 16, and California-based Chicano poet Paul S. Flores -- who recently won an American Book Award for “WE STILL BE: Poems and Performances” -- speaking on Monday, Oct. 14.

Nazario y Colón’s will make a pair of appearances on Sept. 16, starting with a 3 p.m. talk in Penfield Library’s Speakers Corner. Nazario y Colón and English and creative writing faculty member Roberta (Rosie) Hurtado, both Puerto Rican scholars and poets, will explore interstices of Afro-Boricua culture, language and the meaning of home with people and places within his poetry.

This program is presented as part of “Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home,” a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. “Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar)” es una gran iniciativa pública en el campo de las humanidades, que se proyecta para el 2024 – 2025. Es dirigida por Library of América con el generoso apoyo del Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades.

Nazario y Colón also helps kick off the popular ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Latin American) Student Leadership Conference at 5 p.m. on Sept. 16. At this session, he will share his perspective on ALANA’s themes and engage with student leaders in a platica (conversation), also in Penfield’s Speaker’s Corner. 

In addition, Nazario y Colón was the most recent guest in communication studies faculty member Francisco Suarez's award-winning podcast "From Suarez's Basement." Follow this link to hear what Suarez described as "a great conversation."

Flores appears at 3 p.m. Oct. 14, also in Penfield’s Speakers Corner, as part of the Living Writers Series hosted by creative writing faculty member Soma Mei Sheng Frasier. Considered one of the most influential Latino performance artists in the country and a nationally respected youth arts educator, the award-winning writer and performer creates plays, oral narratives and spoken-word works about transnationality and citizenship that spur and support societal movements that lead to change. 

Two more poets –- Ariel Francisco on March 20 and José Olivarez on April 2025 –- will continue the theme of showcasing a wider representation of both Latino culture and masculinity than the stereotypes many see. 

Hurtado, who also is director of the university’s Latino and Latin American studies program, coordinates SUNY Oswego’s programs under this grant with Michelle Bishop, Penfield Librarian’s first-year experience librarian. 

Locally, the appearance of these poets is supported by ARTSwego, with partners including English and Creative Writing, Gender and Women’s Studies, Native American Studies, Curriculum and Instruction, a Grand Challenges Mini-Grant, Hart Hall and the Educational Opportunities Program. 

Film series and more

The Modern Languages and Literatures Department will host a pair of films during the months as part of its Latin American Film Festival series. “Home Is Somewhere Else (Mi casa está en otra parte)” on Sept. 23 and “Boca Chico” on Oct. 10 will both screen at 6 p.m. in the Marano Campus Center auditorium, room 132.

“Home Is Somewhere Else” (Mexico/U.S.) will present three animated stories, voiced by real families, offering an intimate window into the hearts and minds of immigrant Latin youth. With an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants living in the United States under the constant threat of sudden deportation, the film probes what it is like to grow up in such a situation with the rich complexity of the emotional experiences of immigrant children and families to better understand and empathize with them.

“Boca Chica” (Dominican Republic) looks at how lead character Desi's days unfold in the delicate balance between the vivid dreams of becoming an artist and the subdued reality that frames her daily life. Juxtaposing the realities and expectations of a young girl approaching womanhood in the Dominican Republic, the film shines a light on the insidious child sex trade and the lives it seeks to destroy while exploring themes of identity, family, codependency and truth. and how local social norms present the sexualization of very young girls as a path to survival.

Additional films in the series later this semester will include “Money Exchange” (Argentina) on Oct. 30 and “Guarani” (Paraguay) on Nov. 11.

Members of the campus community also can check out a “Celebrating Latino and Latin American Heritage Month” book display at Penfield Library. The display, which has been a regular tradition since 2016, also is coordinated by Hurtado and Bishop. Visitors to the library are encouraged to browse the titles and check out any books of interest.

In addition, the Latino Student Union organization organizes events and awareness activities related to the month as part of their annual programming. Keep up with their Instagram account, @lsu_osu, for more information.

More events are expected to be added to the university’s events calendar in the coming days and weeks. Keep reading Oswego Today and visit the events calendar for future programs.