The San Antonio College community will celebrate Hispanic Heritage September 18 to October 12, with a series of talks, dance and musical performances, and an Antojitos Festival. All events are free and open to the public and will be held at San Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro Ave. For more information, contact Hispanic Heritage Committee Chair Adolph Lopez at 733-2658 or lopez@accd.edu.
"We will start with a focus on our Chicano Roots with the theme Aqui estamos y No Nos Vamos," said Lopez. He added, "Hispanos have been in Texas and the United States before there was a Texas or United States, [with] Mexican Americans comprising the largest group of Hispanos."
He said a Dia de La Raza (Day of All Hispanics) event will celebrate Hispanic diversity. The day "refers to the birth of a new people derived from the mezcla (blending) of the indigenous Indian and Spanish explorers to form the first Latinoamericanos. Hispanics have never been a homogeneous group, said Lopez, and "even in South Texas they are comprised of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadoreans, Cubans, and many other Latino groups."
Schedule of Events
Monday, September 18:
11:30 - Noon: Mariachi Azteca Noventa (Loftin Student Center mall area)
Noon - 1 p.m.: Dr. Jose Angel Gutierrez, "Roots of Chicano Activism: Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos." (Loftin Student Center Fiesta Room)
Dr. Gutierrez is a professor of political science at UT Arlington and was one of the major Chicano civil rights and political leaders in Texas at the height of the Chicano movement in the 1960s and 1970s. He has been a school board member and administrative law judge. He has been honored as among 100 Outstanding Latino Texans of the 20th Century, by Latino Monthly 2000 and received the Distinguished Faculty Award by Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education in 1995. He founded and directed the Center for Mexican American Studies at UT Arlington and is author of The Making of a Chicano Militant: Lessons from Cristal (1998) and numerous other books and articles.
Wednesday, September 20:
Noon - 1 p.m.: Dr. Arturo Vega, "'Americanizing?'- Attitudes and Perceptions of U.S. Latinos." (Loftin Student Center Fiesta Room)
Dr. Vega is an associate professor in the College of Public Policy, UTSA. He teaches graduate courses in public policy, urban planning and public administration. His research has focused on local and national politics, urban planning, community health, and Latino youth. He is currently working on a book titled Race and the City.
Wednesday, September 27:
9 a.m. - 2 p.m.: Antojitos Festival (Loftin Student Center mall area).
Food served in booths will include chicken fajitas, palletas, nachos, bunuelos, and Frito pie.
Friday, September 29:
Noon - 1 p.m.: Semenea Dance Group (Loftin Student Center Fiesta Room)
Monday, October 2: Noon - 1 p.m.: Los Inocentes, performing traditional acoustic Mexican folk music (Loftin Student Center Fiesta Room)
Wednesday, October 4:
7 p.m.: Ballet Folklorico Fiesta Mexicana (McAllister Auditorium)
Thursday, October 12:
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Dia de la Raza Latino Showcase ((Loftin Student Center Fiesta Room). Featured singers include Liz'Ann and Jennifer Gomez.
