Latinx Resources: Page i

This syllabus seeks to provide historical context to current debates over immigration reform, integration, and citizenship. Many Americans have a romanticized idea of the nation’s immigrant past. In fact, America’s immigration history is more contested, more nuanced, and more complicated than many assume. Then, like now, many politicians, public commentators, critics, and media organizations have greatly influenced Americans’ understanding of immigration and the role that immigrants play in U.S. society.

The Dream 9 was a group of young undocumented activists who staged one of the riskiest protests in the history of the immigration rights movement. In 2013, nine young undocumented activists walked from Mexico up to border officials in the United States and demanded to be let in and granted asylum. They were wearing their graduation caps and gowns—a uniform that had become the unofficial symbol of the Dreamer movement. They walked arm in arm, flanked by reporters and cameras. If their plan failed, they risked never being able to return to the United States, the country where they grew up, ever again.

In the mid-1960s, a group of Mexican youth leaders dedicated to education reform and community service, called the Young Citizens for Community Action, emerged. Over time, the group would inevitably broaden their focus and probe issues of police brutality/harassment within their communities. Soon, they’d adopt the term “Chicano” in place of “citizens” as a form of identity and solidarity among Mexican-Americans. In a symbolic rebellion against the Anglo community and mainstream America, YCCA original member David Sanchez took a page from the Black Panther Party and began to change their appearance by donning brown berets and military style pants and jackets.

ROGER THAYER STONE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES

This curricular unit contains six (6) 75-minute lessons in Social Studies for grades 6-8. The unit is centered on history and civics themes relevant to migrant farm labor movements. Lessons can be used as they are written, or they can be adjusted to meet the needs of each classroom. This unit was developed by Erin Lierl, who currently teaches part-time in a New Orleans charter high school while pursuing her M.A. at Tulane University’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

Remezcla started as a grassroots project among writers and creatives. We shared one common point of view: there were so many great stories about new Latin music, culture, and events that no one was covering. Traditional Latin media was not for us. We were called “alternative,” but to us, what we were covering was our new mainstream. Along the way we met so many like-minded friends in other cities and countries that it sparked a movement. Answering “What is Remezcla?” is difficult for me because what started in living rooms and coffee shops among friends has grown to be so much more; today we reach millions of readers and have built a brand that goes beyond our publication.

This list contains over 100 scholarships, grants, and internships specifically for Latinx students.

This calculator can help students know how much money to save for an emergency. This tool will help students be prepared for the unexpected.

This guide to money management apps can help make budgeting easier for students.

The brutal assassination last week of Rio de Janeiro City Council member Marielle Franco has prompted a massive international outpouring of anger and grief. A fearless human rights activist who was LGBTQ and Black, 38-year-old Franco was killed along with her driver in a targeted drive-by shooting. Franco, considered a rising political star of the Party of Socialism and Liberty, was elected in 2016 to Rio’s 51-member City Council where she was the sole Black woman. Raised in one of Rio’s notorious favelas, she had distinguished herself as a voice for marginalized groups including LGBTQ people, women, Black and poor people.

Being a land defender in Latin America is extremely dangerous. A recent Front Line Defenders report found that in 2017, more than 300 human rights defenders – 80 percent of which were from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the Philippines – were killed. “An analysis of the work done by those killed is instructive: 67 percent were engaged in the defence of land, environmental, and indigenous peoples’ rights and nearly always in the context of mega projects, extractive industry, and big business. In many countries, governments and security forces were, at best, unresponsive to threats and attacks faced by HRDS and, at worst, state security forces were themselves responsible for the killings,” the report stated.

Dr. Marta Moreno-Vega established the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) (http://cccadi.org/) in 1976, inspired by a vision to create an international organization to promote and link communities of African descent. She guided the capital campaign for the renovation of the landmark firehouse at 120 East 125th Street, the Center’s new home. Dr. Moreno Vega has been an advocate for cultural equity cultural studies and education. As the second director of El Museo del Barrio, one of the founders of the Association of Hispanic Arts, Network of Centers of Color and the Roundtable of Institutions of Color. Dr. Moreno Vega has contributed to assuring that the contributions of African and African descendants are integral to the lives of civil society in the Americas. She has conducted research in Yoruba belief systems in the African Diaspora and has organized international conferences uniting scholars and leading traditional experts focused on expanding the knowledge and importance of sacred African Diaspora traditions.

Moreno Vega is co-founder of the Global Afro Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI), a former program of Hunter College/Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. She is chief editor of Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora (Arte Publico Press) and author of The Altar of My Soul (One World/Ballantine, 2001). She is director and co-producer of the documentary When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio and has written a personal memoir by the same name (Three Rivers Press, 2003, Black Classic Press, 2018). Dr. Vega is also co-editor of Voices from the Battlefront Achieving Cultural Equity.

Many Hispanic Americans trace their roots to the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas -- including the Arawaks (Puerto Rico), the Aztecs (Mexico), the Incas (South America), the Maya (Central America), and the Tainos (in Cuba, Puerto Rico and other places). Some trace their roots to the Spanish explorers -- who in the 1400s set out to find an easier and less costly way to trade with the Indies. Other Latinos trace their roots to the Africans who were brought as slaves to the New World.

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 to celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens of Hispanic descent.

CLASP promotes all facets of Latin American studies nationwide by fostering global competency, language proficiency, and cultural awareness of Latin America and the Caribbean. To serve K-12 educators, we oversees initiatives such as the Américas Book Award; acknowledge the efforts of dedicated teachers through the K-12 Teaching Award; and facilitate finding quality resources through compiling information about quality teaching resources and opportunities produced by our network of 50+ member institutions.

This site includes a collection of various resources to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, organized by subject.

A time for celebrating the culture, art, and achievements of Hispanic people, September 15-October 15 has been designated as Hispanic Heritage Month. September 15 also marks the independence days of five Hispanic countries-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico achieved independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

This discussion activity encourages students to discuss Latino identity.

Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) is the leader in the development, production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural media that is representative of Latino people, or addresses issues of particular interest to Latino Americans. These programs are produced for dissemination to public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. Latino Public Broadcasting provides a voice to the diverse Latino community throughout the United States and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage month with the following lessons, activities, videos, and more.

More than four million Central Americans reside in the United States today, yet the lack of resources in most schools on Central American heritage make the rich history and literature of the region invisible. Teaching for Change has launched a campaign to encourage and support teaching about Central America. We have collected lessons, book lists, biographies of noted historical figures, and readings for free use by classroom teachers. Learn more.

The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in middle and high school classrooms across the country. Based on the lens of history highlighted in Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States, the website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and reading level. The Zinn Education Project is coordinated by two non-profit organizations, Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change.

This syllabus provides a list of resources for teaching and learning about the current economic crisis in Puerto Rico. Our goal is to contribute to the ongoing public dialogue and rising social activism regarding the debt crisis by providing historical and sociological tools with which to assess its roots and its repercussions. The materials gathered help place the current moment within the larger political, social, and economic history of this U.S. territory and illuminate how both the crisis and its proposed solutions are impacting the daily lives of millions of Puerto Ricans both within the territory and across its growing diaspora.

The Smithsonian Latino Center was created in 1997 to promote Latino presence within the Smithsonian. The Center is not represented in one physical location; rather, it works collaboratively with the Institution's museums and research centers, ensuring that the contributions of the Latino community in the arts, history, national culture and scientific achievement are explored, presented, celebrated and preserved. We support scholarly research, exhibitions, public and educational programs, web-based content and virtual platforms, and collections and archives

When fifth grade Spanish literacy teacher Cesarina Pierre realized that her nearly two decades of teaching Caribbean students in New York City Public Schools would not fully translate to teaching Central American students in Washington D.C., she sought resources from Teaching for Change. Pierre asked Teaching for Change, a longtime partner at the school, to help her understand the unique experiences of Central American families.

Hispanic culture influences the field of science in a myriad of ways. Their culture brings a unique insight and perspective to scientific achievement and growth.

The Civil Rights era brought about increasing political and social divisiveness between an already segregated east and west Austin. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Austin became a prime setting for the rise of social activists and grassroots organizations. Members of groups like the Brown Berets – a grassroots youth organization that served as the local chapter of the Mexican-American civil rights movement – and the Black Citizens Task Force – a social and economic justice group for people of African descent – used their voices and influence to bring about change in the Texan city.

With academic thought lining the shelves and Celia Cruz and Aretha Franklin dancing in your ears, Cafe Con Libros is hood feminism. Owner Kalima DeSuze hopes the space and its monthly book club will serve as a source of community building in the middle of a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood.

Selected Audio and Video from the Library of Congress.

The breadth of Latino/a experience is a vital aspect of America's rich and diverse past. The places explored here barely begin to hint at the varied ways their lives intersected with one another. Discover these remarkable stories preserved in our national parks and historic places.

It seems as though conversations regarding Afro-Latinidad are now louder than ever. These much-needed discussions have slowly raised the curtain on an identity that magazines and movie screens have intentionally whitewashed. Recently, artists Cardi B and Amara La Negra have unapologetically centered their Afro-Latinidad – confusing many still unaware that Blackness and Latinidad are not mutually exclusive. These women – and countless other Afro-Latinos doing the hard work of telling our stories – are defining what it means to live in our skin.

Since the 1910 Mexican Revolution, Mexico’s national identity has been defined by mestizaje – a term that recognizes mixed racial ancestry of the New World after colonization. But although Mexico’s African presence was considerable from the start of colonization, this “third root” is often excluded from classic views of mestizaje, which focus on indigenous and European ancestries. This National Museum of Mexican Art exhibit looks at the African Diaspora’s presence and importance in Mexico.

Approximately 120,000 Africans were brought to present-day Mexico between 1519 and 1650. These people, forced into a life of slavery by the Spanish Crown, were instrumental in the social, economic, and cultural development of Mexico. Several contemporary artists work with the subject of Afro-Mexican history. They are piecing together an omitted chapter in the story of Mexico’s struggle with its self-identity.

Black in Latin America, a four-part series on the influence of African descent on Latin America, is the 11th and latest production from renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., writer and presenter of the acclaimed PBS series African American Lives 1 (2006), Oprah’s Roots (2007), African American Lives 2 (2008), Looking for Lincoln (2009) and most recently Faces of America (2010). Black in Latin America is the third of a trilogy that began in 1999 with the broadcast of Professor Gates first series for public television, Wonders of the African World, an exploration of the relationship between Africa and the New World, a story he continued in 2004 with America Beyond the Color Line, a report on the lives of modern-day African Americans.

The Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography is a major biographical reference work covering the lives and legacies of notable Afro-descendants from the Caribbean and Latin American, men and women from all eras and walks of life. This groundbreaking resource provides unprecedented coverage of the region through the lives of its people. Biographical records on Afro-Latin American and Caribbean lives are in short supply. Even as new historical scholarship has invigorated the international study of Latin America and Atlantic history, and even as new departments of Latin American Studies have flourished, no large-scale biographical reference work devoted to black subjects in the region has ever been attempted. This is a surprise given the enormous influence the people of these areas have had on history, culture, and technological achievement.

In a series of sepia-toned postcards with the words “Saludes from Bluefields, Nicaragua” or “Recuerdos de Nicaragua,” you can see how colonizers from the Moravian Church – a Christian church in Germany – imposed their European-style of clothing on the Afro-Indigenous communities living on the Caribbean coast of the Central American country. The artifacts – which disparagingly describe the indigenous people as “noble savages” and others as “heathens” – are among the only images documenting the region’s Afro-indigenous people during the early and mid-1900s. For Jasmine Chavez Helm, they are a crucial part of her current research.

The Latino Youth Community History Project Oral History documents the personal histories of members of the Latino community of Washington, D.C. through interviews conducted by high school students from that community from 1981 to 1982.

In 1969, Raphael Montañez Ortiz founded El Museo del Barrio to provide a platform for the Latino art that mainstream museums ignored. Since then, things have changed.

They were leaders of the Young Lords Party, the militant Puerto Rican civil rights organization based in New York. Today, many are notable mainstream journalists, including Juan Gonzalez, Felipe Luciano and Pablo Guzman. Iris Morales makes history come alive as veterans of the movement recall their fight for equality, jobs, health care, and education.

These are various issues of the newspaper Palante when it was published by the Young Lords Organization and then the Young Lords Party, before it became the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization.

It was just past noon on a sunny Tuesday, March 5, 1968 — the day a Mexican American revolution began. Soon came walkouts at two more Eastside high schools, Roosevelt and Lincoln, in protest of run-down campuses, lack of college prep courses, and teachers who were poorly trained, indifferent or racist. By the time the “blowouts” peaked about a week later, 22,000 students had stormed out of class, delivered impassioned speeches and clashed with police. Scenes of rebellion filled newspapers and television screens. School trustees held emergency meetings to try to quell the crisis; Mayor Sam Yorty suggested students had fallen under the influence of “communist agitators.”

The impact of Latinos on America’s history spans centuries. At center is the story of a community that has worked hard to belong to American society while still maintaining its heritage. Smithsonian Insider spoke with Mireya Loza, curator in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, to find out how this museum works to tell the story of Latino influence on U.S. labor and television history.