Although Oct. 15 marked the official end of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Central Connecticut State University’s Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Center (LALCC) has planned several cultural events on campus beyond the nation’s yearly observation of the month.
Hispanic Heritage Month, observed from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, celebrates Latin American independence from Spanish colonialism, with many South American countries celebrating their Independence Day within its first week.
Melody Lozano, LALCC’s coordinator, along with Mary Ann Mahony, LALCC’s director, have coordinated a total of six events throughout the month and after. Lozano said the events include musical and theatrical events, funded with the help of foundation money, grants from CT Humanities and programs directed by Library of America.
LALCC commenced Hispanic Heritage Month with a display of the flags of Latin America, which were hung around Elihu Burritt Library’s entrance for the first time since the tradition’s inception.
“At first it was around the Student Circle and spread out through campus,” Lozano said. “This year they wanted to change it up.”
LALCC, in collaboration with the MOSAIC Center and the Latin American Student Organization, hosted “Salsa Fest” on Sept. 25 in the Student Center Circle. Lozano said students were taught salsa by dance instructor Xiomara Colon, with musical accompaniment by the Hartt Salsa All-Stars, a student-led musical group from the University of Hartford.
She said that Colon, a CCSU alumna and former member of Central’s Organization for Latin American Dance Awareness, gave background on the history of Salsa and its cultural significance within the diaspora.
“We are an academic cultural center, so we try to add in that academic aspect that a lot of student-led clubs may not add,” Lozano said.
Lindsy Figueroa, a new member of the LALCC, said that turnout was significant, with students enjoying the live musical performance and Latin American food trucks, which were also funded by the MOSAIC Center and LALCC.
Lozano said that the events were made possible by the grants, which allowed them to use their budget to hire musical performances from the University of Hartford and a mariachi performance by Mariachi Mexico Antiguo, which performed at LALCC’s Open House buffet on Oct. 2.
LALCC will also host poetry community readings featuring one Latin American poet per semester. Mexican American poet Deborah Paredez is scheduled to discuss her poetry at the New Britain Public Library on Monday, Oct. 21 and will hold a reading the next day in Memorial Hall at 10:50 a.m. where students from Meriden Public Schools will also participate.
“We partnered with the New Britain Public Library, the Spanish Community of Wallingford (SCOW), and Meriden Public Schools,” Lozano said. “Through our CT Humanities grant, we were able to purchase 100 copies of this Latino poetry book. We distributed 10 copies to each one of our program partners.”
Angel Vasquez’s upcoming one-man comedy show will wrap up CCSU’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
“It’s lighthearted, but he touches upon important topics within Puerto Rican history and politics today,” Lozano said. “It’s supposed to be a play on ‘West Side Story.’”
Vasquez’s “The Other Side Story” is scheduled for Oct. 24 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and will dive into the cultural struggles of Puerto Ricans in New York. Tickets are free and available through CCSU Blue Devils Ticket Office.
