Office of Institutional Safety & Equity (OISE) |
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Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the contributions and importance of Hispanics and Latinos/as/x to the United States and those American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
The Hispanic Heritage observance began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, on the approval of Public Law 100-402.
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One of the most famous Latin American poets of all time is Sor Juana Inès de la Cruz. Born in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (modern day Mexico) on November 12, 1951, Sor de la Cruz is the first published feminist poet in the Americas. She began her life as nun and moved to the Covenant of Santa Paula in 1669 where she remained cloistered for the rest of her life. Many have described Sor de la Cruz as the "last great writer of the Hispanic Baroque" and the "first great exemplar of the colonial Mexican culture." Her range of topics was vast, which was extremely unusual for a nun. Sor de la Cruz wrote moral, satiric, religious lyrics, as well as many poems of praise to court figures and secular love lyrics. Her most famous (and most difficult) poem, Primero Sueño (1692), is a convoluted 975-line poem that recounts the torturous quest of the soul for knowledge, attesting to Sor de la Cruz's lifelong pursuit of learning. She remains a national Mexican icon.
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Hombres necios que acusáis... |
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Hombres necios que acusáis
a la mujer, sin razón,
sin ver que sois la ocasión
de lo mismo que culpáis;
si con ansia sin igual
solicitáis su desdén,
por qué queréis que obren bien
si las incitáis al mal?
Combatís su resistencia
y luego, con gravedad,
decís que fue liviandad
lo que hizo la diligencia.
Parecer quiere el denuedo
de vuestro parecer loco,
al niño que pone el coco
y luego le tiene miedo.
Queréis, con presunción necia,
hallar a la que buscáis
para prentendida, Thais,
y en la posesión, Lucrecia.
¿Qué humor puede ser más raro
que el que, falto de consejo,
él mismo empaña el espejo
y siente que no esté claro?
Con el favor y el desdén
tenéis condición igual,
quejándoos, si os tratan mal,
burlándoos, si os quieren bien.
Opinión, ninguna gana,
pues la que más se recata,
si no os admite, es ingrata,
y si os admite, es liviana.
Siempre tan necios andáis
que, con desigual nivel,
a una culpáis por cruel
y a otra por fácil culpáis.
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¿Pues como ha de estar templada
la que vuestro amor pretende?,
¿si la que es ingrata ofende,
y la que es fácil enfada?
Mas, entre el enfado y la pena
que vuestro gusto refiere,
bien haya la que no os quiere
y quejaos en hora buena.
Dan vuestras amantes penas
a sus libertades alas,
y después de hacerlas malas
las queréis hallar muy buenas.
¿Cuál mayor culpa ha tenido
en una pasión errada:
la que cae de rogada,
o el que ruega de caído?
¿O cuál es de más culpar,
aunque cualquiera mal haga;
la que peca por la paga
o el que paga por pecar?
¿Pues, para qué os espantáis
de la culpa que tenéis?
Queredlas cual las hacéis
o hacedlas cual las buscáis.
Dejad de solicitar,
y después, con más razón,
acusaréis la afición
de la que os fuere a rogar.
Bien con muchas armas fundo
que lidia vuestra arrogancia,
pues en promesa e instancia
67
juntáis diablo, carne y mundo.
-- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
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2022 Hispanic Heritage Month Theme:
Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation
The 2022 Hispanic Heritage Month theme was submitted by Ms. Ily Soares, Supervisory Accountant at Farm Credit Administration (FCA). Ms. Soares writes: “Hispanics in the United States are a diverse group who bring a rich combination of language, culture, educational backgrounds, and experience to the great American experiment. This diverse background brings with it a wealth of ideas and perspectives. One uniting factor within our Hispanic community is our desire to be included and represented in all aspects of American society. As has been proven, when different voices are sitting at the metaphorical table and included in key decisions, the entire community benefits from greater solutions that address concerns from all people. Whether it be education, government, business, or the environment, ensuring that all voices are represented provide results in better and more thoughtful decisions. These improved decisions support the greater good and minimize any negative impacts to marginalized communities and people of color. We call on citizens of this nation from all walks of life to look around and welcome new voices to the table. This will help us build stronger communities and in turn, a stronger nation."
The winning poster for the 2022 Hispanic Heritage was submitted by Ms. Irene Matos Chan. In her poster, Ms. Chan represents 20 Latin American countries and territories: Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
"I am biracial and I wanted to represent my Hispanic culture and the Hispanic countries. I want people to connect to their Hispanic culture and show it and express it to their community. [The poster] expresses that you should be proud of your race no matter what it is , and be proud to show it and represent it.”
--
Ms. Irene Matos Chan
Senior IT Manager for the Square Tech Computer Repair & Training Center
Castle Square Tenets Organization
Hispanic Heritage Month Poster Winner
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In 2008, Gloria Casarez became Philly's first director of LGBTQ Affairs. Casarez was a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, affordable housing, and AIDS awareness. She and was laid to rest last year after a long and public battle with breast cancer.
In 2020 Mural Arts commissioned a mural of Casarez on the old 12th Street Gym. Before the building's scheduled demolition, the mural was painted over without warning or notice.
In October 2021 Casarez was honored in with a historical plaque in walking distance from PAFA, near City Hall. Early this year, opened the Gloria Casarez Residence, a beautiful 30 apartment affordable housing building for LGBTQIA+ young adults experiencing homelessness.
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10 Latino economic mobility startups join Village...
Village Capital, a mortgage banking company located in Henderson, NV, through its " Backing LatAm's " accelerator, recently published the list of 10 Latin American startups focused on economic mobility that were selected for the "Middle Class"...
Read more
aldianews.com
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Directed by Afro-Latinx filmmaker Nadia Hallgren (director of Becoming, the Emmy-nominated doc about former First Lady Michelle Obama), After Maria tells the story of a group of Puerto Rican women forced to leave their island in October 2017 on the heels of the devastating Hurricane Maria. The women bond in a Brooklyn FEMA hotel, and try to find stability in their new lives, hoping to return home someday.
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In this four-part Netflix doc series, trans Dominican-American director Kase Peña shines a light on LGBTQ+ representation and celebrates queer Latinx characters on TV and film. Visions of Us highlights groundbreaking moments throughout the history of Latinx and trans representation on screen, and honors the struggles and triumphs behind such representation.
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Niños de Papel
(Paper Children)
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Directed by Emmy-nominated Cuban-American filmmaker Alexandra Codina, Paper Children (Niños de Papel) follows a Honduran family fleeing violence and seeking asylum. The film highlights the struggle that the family’s four children face in navigating the asylum system, arriving in the US alone and reuniting with their parents in Miami, Florida.
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A La Calle
(To the Street)
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Offering a first-hand account of the extraordinary efforts of the Venezuelan people to take back their democracy, A La Calle (To the Street), an IDA fiscal sponsored project, portrays the Venezuelan opposition against the Maduro dictatorship. Filmmakers Maxx Caicedo and Venezuelan-American Nelson G. Navarrete gained access to opposition leader Leopoldo López, whose arrest in part inspired a national movement.
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Directed by IDA’s executive director, Rick Perez, Cesar’s Last Fast tells the story of then 61-year-old Cesar Chavez’s water-only fast in the summer of 1988. A personal act of penitence for not having done enough to stop growers from spraying toxic pesticides on farm workers, Cesar’s “fast for life” was just one example of his commitment to challenging the nation’s powerful agribusiness. With contemporary interviews of people who knew Cesar, the film portrays his impact on the treatment of American farmworkers and on the American Civil Rights movement.
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Blending personal photographs and home videos, To My Motherland is an experimental personal essay that explores the complexities of immigration, language, and returning to the motherland of Peru. Directed by IDA’s Awards Competition Manager, Kristal Sotomayor, the film uniquely portrays their experience as the child of Peruvian immigrants, and the feelings of dislocation that came with visiting their motherland for the first time in over 13 years.
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China Marks, Hope and Despair Greet the New Century, 1990, Four color lithograph with chine collé and sculptural attachments
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Gift/Deeds: The Ofelia Garcia Collection
Ofelia Garcia is a Philadelphia–based collector with a uniquely broad commitment to the arts. She is a Cuban–born artist who has served the community as a professor, university dean, college president, exhibition juror, curator, board chair, faculty critic (including at PAFA), and director of The Print Center in Philadelphia. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the College Art Association’s Women’s Caucus for Art in 2011, around the same time she began gifting works to PAFA, and is responsible for approximately 120 works of art in the permanent collection.
Her gifts to PAFA reflect her belief in the importance of ensuring artists’ work reaches appreciative audiences, and have required her to part with work despite still enjoying living with it in her home. Her generosity can be understood as a practice of joy: as she stated recently, “it is always a pleasure for me to see my old friends on your walls.”
Installed in the works on paper gallery through January 8, Gift/Deeds: The Ofelia Garcia Collection has 26 works by 24 women artists on view.
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We challenge you to check PAFA’s Diversity Awareness Calendar monthly and attend monthly OISE sponsored events. The purpose of this calendar is to celebrate and raise awareness of religious obligations, ethnic and cultural festivities, and significant events that may affect students, colleagues, and friends in the PAFA community.
Being an ally for a S.A.F.E. Community at PAFA
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