Film and discussion events funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
The next installment in a series of events focused on Latino-American history, sponsored by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, will include a screening of the documentary film “Prejudice and Pride,” tracing the rise of Latino-American identity and activism in the 1960s and 1970s.
The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4 at the Jeannette Nichols Forum, UMKC Miller Nichols Learning Center, 800 E. 51st St., Kansas City, Mo.. John Valadez, director of the Latino Americans film series, will be the guest speaker and will talk about the making of the series after the screening. Following his presentation will be a discussion led by Miguel Carranza, Ph.D., director of the Latina/Latino Studies Program at UMKC.
The film and discussion are free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required and can be made at http://library.umkc.edu/form/events.
The event is the third of four discussion events to be hosted by University Libraries in collaboration with faculty in the UMKC Latina/Latino Studies program. The series, Latino Americans: 500 Years of History, is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association (ALA), and is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: Humanities in the Public Square.
This discussion forum will include a showing of a chapter from the six-part Latino Americans: 500 Years of History film series. The full series is available online at http://www.pbs.org/latino-americans/en/watch-videos/#2365075996.
The fourth session will include a presentation on the Samora Legacy Archive, part of the UMKC Miller Nichols Library’s LaBudde Special Collections. The Samora Legacy Archive contains the papers of Dr. Julian Samora, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Latino studies in the United States.
“Latina/Latino Studies is especially pleased to work with University Libraries to provide an opportunity to reach out to the Latino community and the general public through this NEH grant,” said Carranza. “This initiative will allow us to reveal more about Latino culture and history through the film series, and the unveiling of the Samora Legacy Archive will highlight a unique richness residing on our own campus.”
“We are delighted to be able to continue our partnership with the NEH to bring important historical perspectives to our community, and provide opportunities for a rich and enlightening discussion,” said Bonnie Postlethwaite, dean of libraries at UMKC. “We are especially pleased to include an opportunity for the public to learn about the Samora Legacy Archive. These archives provide valuable insight into the Latino experience; and its goal is to ensure that the Latino heritage is known and understood by both scholars and future generations of the Latino community.”
UMKC is one of only two institutions in Missouri, and 203 nationwide, to be included in the Latino Americans project by the NEH.
The final event in the series is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21 at the Miller Nichols Learning Center. Guest speaker Carmen Samora Ph.D., daughter of Julian Samora, will talk about the Samora Legacy Archive. Carranza will be the discussion leader.