MSC SCOLA Welcomes Amara La Negra, Dolores Huerta To Texas A&M

Actress Amara La Negra and Dolores Huerta, labor leader and activist, will headline the 31st Memorial Student Center Student Conference On Latinx Affairs (MSC SCOLA) at Texas A&M University, April 4-6 in the MSC.

Considered to be the nation’s largest student-led conference on Latinx affairs, the conference will open with a performance and discussion by Amara La Negra April 4 at 7 p.m., as part of the Afro-Latinx Festival in Aggieland. The festival supports this year’s theme, “Soñando En Grande: Rewriting Our Narrative,” by celebrating and highlighting the Afro-Latinx community through entertainment and cultural education.

Ashley Sosa, MSC SCOLA chair and conference organizer, hopes to build upon the legacy of MSC SCOLA, providing a meaningful and transformational learning experience for all in attendance.

“Understanding the history of our conference and how it started as just an idea in the late 1980s and seeing what it has grown into today is incredible,” Sosa said. “I believe we have a very big responsibility to our Latinx community, especially in our current political climate. Now more than ever, it is crucial to highlight those making a difference in a positive light. Being the largest student-led, Latinx conference in the nation is an honor but also means we have to put our best effort toward creating an experience our delegates from across the country will find valuable. We rise to the challenge of being on a national stage once a year and are determined to make this a memorable experience for everyone involved.”

Amara La Negra

Born in Miami as Diana Danelys de los Santos, Amara grew up singing, dancing, and acting. At four, she won a competition that landed her on the wildly-successful Hispanic variety show, Sábado Gigante. It was on the show where she was first exposed to what would turn out to be lifelong scrutiny of her blackness.

After years of straightening perms, hot combs, and dieting Amara decided she was done policing her body. So she took the stage name Amara La Negra, “love the black woman,” and embraced her afro. La Negra is an avid philanthropist known for her charitable work. She has performed at benefit concerts such as The American Cancer Society and is an activist for racial equality.

Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta will close out the conference during the April 6 closing gala at 7 p.m. Huerta, recognized as a feminist, a farm worker advocate, a gay rights activist and a labor leader, found her calling as an organizer while serving in the leadership of the Stockton Community Service Organization (CSO). During this time she founded the Agricultural Workers Association, set up voter registration drives and pressed local governments for barrio improvements.

It was in 1955 through CSO founder Fred Ross Sr. that she would meet a like-minded colleague, CSO Executive Director César E. Chávez. The two soon discovered that they shared a common vision of organizing farm workers, an idea that was not in line with the CSO’s mission. Today, Huerta continues to work tirelessly, developing leaders and advocating for the working poor, women and children.

Tickets for the Afro-Latinx Festival and the closing gala are available online or at the MSC Box Office, located on the first floor of Rudder Tower. A conference agenda is available on the SCOLA website.

In addition to La Negra and Huerta, the lineup of speakers also includes:

• Adriana Alejandre, Host of ‘Latinx Therapy’ Podcast
• Carlos Ojeda Jr., CEO of CoolSpeak LLC
• Maximo Anguiano, Founder & Creator of #WeLiveHeritage social justice web series
• Eduardo Chavez, Film Director of “Hailing Cesar!” and Grandson of Latinx Civil Rights Leader Cesar Chavez

The Afro-Latinx Festival is co-hosted by the MSC CAMAC and MSC WBAC.