On Thursday, Sept. 28 at Texas A&M University, the second annual Carlos H. Cantu Education and Opportunity Endowment’s Latinx Policy Issues in the 21st Century Lecture Series will host the first lecture of the year. The lecture series will focus on prominent issues facing the Latinx community. Throughout the presidential campaign to today, the underlying tensions and obstacles faced by the Latinx community have continued to be brought into focus, say event organizers.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the first lecture at 5:30 p.m. in Memorial Student Center room 2405 will be a panel discussion dedicated to providing information and knowledge about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). “American Dreamers: Raising Awareness & Support” will focus on understanding how DACA has improved the chances of achieving the American Dream for close to 1 million Americans. Organizers say the panel can bring to light and change the misrepresentations surrounding the lives of Dreamers.Organizers say they hope that the lecture series will be a space for discussion to learn not only about the problems facing the Latinx community but to appreciate the richness of the Latinx culture and community’s successes in the face of obstacles. The lecture will feature Dr. Stella Flores, NYU Associate Professor of Higher Education, and Dr. Rene Flores, University of Texas Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology. It will also highlight the research agendas of Texas A&M’s Dr. Sonia Hernandez, Associate Professor of History and Dr. Nancy Plankey-Videa, Associate Professor of Sociology.
In addition , a panel discussion will accompany a screening of “They Call Us Monsters.” The invited panelist will come from diverse backgrounds to speak on how to help change the system and how the Latinx community can help protect youth from the school-to-prison pipeline. Organizers hope the open panel and documentary screening can serve as a dialogue about the importance of the breaking the stereotypes surrounding our Latinx youth and draw attention to the need for criminal justice reform.
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For more information on topics and dates, visit: http://perg-tamu.com. Direct questions to Apolonia Calderon at 956-534-1330 or macalderon123@tamu.edu.
