Latino Research Initiative Summit 2024 Kicks Off Hispanic Heritage Month
On September 17, 2024, from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. the Latino Research Initiative at the Great Cities Institute will hold its Summit 2024 at Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted. The event is free and open to the public.
The purpose of Summit 2024 is threefold: 1) to highlight the various partnerships of the Latino Research Initiative; 2) to provide our partners an opportunity to speak about their work; and 3) to provide an opportunity for networking.
Juan González, Senior Fellow at Great Cities, the co-host of Democracy Now, and the author of several books including the Harvest of Empire, will offer a keynote speech beginning at 11:30 a.m.
The keynote speech will be followed by a panel with the leadership of the Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus and the Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus Foundation.
Kicking off the morning is a short presentation by Elena Gonzales on ¡Aquí Chicago!, a forthcoming exhibit at the Chicago History Museum.
UIC Professor Xóchitl Bada, author of Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán: From Local to Transnational Civic Engagement, will then moderate a panel with five local community organizations that commissioned the Great Cities Institute to produce a report on Mexicans in Chicago. The report, Fuerza Mexicana: The Past, Present, and Power of Mexicans in Chicagoland, will be released on September 16, exactly seventy years after the 1954 unleashing in Chicago of Operation Wetback by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
We are very excited to hear about the further impact of the report that we co-produced with Mujeres Latinas en Acción, ¡Actívate!: A community data-driven guide to help Latinas and their families thrive. Mujeres continues to do the important work of addressing gender-based violence. A panel on their work includes Carrie Ward, CEO, Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, (ICASA); Norma Hernández, Illinois State Representative, 77th District; and Andrea Ortez, Program Officer, Woods Fund. The panel will be moderated by Sayeed Sanchez, Advocacy Manager, Mujeres Latinas En Acción.
Lilia Fernandez, UIC Professor and author of Brown in the Windy City, will moderate a panel on the growing presence of Latinos in the suburbs. Ambassador Reyna Torres Mendivil, Consul General, Consulate General of Mexico, will be joined on the panel with Maria del Socorro Pesqueira, President, Healthy Communities Foundation and Dr. Daysi Ximena Diaz-Strong, Assistant Professor, Jane Addams School of Social Work.
Other highlights of the Summit include updates from Rob Paral on serving recent immigrants and José Miguel Acosta-Córdova on the changing dynamics of Latino neighborhoods in Chicago. Professor Patrisia Macias will introduce both Rob and José.
Alderwoman Jesse Fuentes, 26th Ward, will headline a panel discussing the efforts in preserving the presence of Puerto Ricans in Humboldt Park through the creation of Puerto Rico Town, a state designated cultural district.
Alberto Morales will also share with you our work with Nuestro Futuro on a Latine philanthropic landscape scan.
The vibrancy of arts and culture is an important part of Latino presence in the region. Ignacio López, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, will speak about the very important Latino Arts and Culture Alliance Summit.
The Latino Research Initiative Summit concludes with remarks by Aldermen Michael Rodriguez and Rossana Rodriguez, co-chairs of the City of Chicago Latino Caucus.
Please join us for what promises to be a very interesting and exciting day. Feel free also to pass the word to your friends and associates.
You can view the whole agenda here.
See Latino Research Initiative main page here.
