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2024 Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month Theme: Pioneers of Change: Shaping The Future Together

Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month

“The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo: Oscar Zeta Acosta: From Latino Activist to Dr. Gonzo”

Date: Monday, September 23
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. CDT
Location: MCC Fort Omaha Campus, Building 10, Room 110

This genre-defying film introduces the radical Chicano lawyer, author and counter-cultural icon, Oscar Zeta Acosta. Acosta was the basis for Dr. Gonzo in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," written by his friend, the Hunter S. Thompson.
Channeling the psychedelic 60's and the irreverence of "Gonzo" journalism, “The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo” shows Acosta's evolution playing out against the backdrop of a society in turmoil. From his origins in rural California, to his stint as a Baptist missionary in Panama, to his radicalization in the Chicano movement of the late 60's, and finally to his mysterious disappearance off the coast of Mexico in 1974, the film offers a complex vision of a Chicano icon who was emblematic of a generation, and yet totally unique in so many ways.
Executive Produced by Benicio Del Toro and Official Selection at the San Francisco Latin American Film Festival and the San Diego Latin American Film Festival.
 

LECTURE: “Beyond Brown: Mexican Struggles for Equality Before and After Brown V. Board”

Led by: Dr. Valerie Mendoza, Kansas City, Kansas Community College

Date: Monday, September 30
Time: 11:00 a.m. CDT
Location: MCC Fort Omaha Campus, Building 10, Room 110

The momentous 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case dismantled racial segregation in public schools. Yet, the segregation experienced by Mexican and Mexican American students is often overlooked. This presentation looks at the ways the Latino communities banded together to fight discrimination and demand equal protection under the law, focusing special attention on Kansas examples.

Hybrid LECTURE: “Placemaking as Belonging: Latinx History and the Greater Midwest”

Led by: Dr. Delia Fernández-Jones, Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University
Date: Tuesday, October 8
Time: 10:00 a.m. CDT
Location: MCC South Omaha Campus, Mahoney 501
Zoom Link: https://mccneb-edu.zoom.us/j/92072745150

Through her personal and professional journey as a first generation Latina college graduate to later becoming a professor of Latinx history and Latinx studies and an administrator, Dr. Fernandez-Jones will present on how history can help us to better understand how we make places for ourselves and claim belonging in spaces where we are not always welcomed. She will also discuss how Latinxs and other marginalized groups shape ideas on who belongs in the Greater Midwest.

PRESENTATION AND FILM: “Strangers in Town”

Presentation by: Dr. Debra Bolton,  Research Fellow, Rising Voices Changing Coasts, Haskell Indian Nations University
Date: Monday, October 14
Time: 10:00 a.m. CDT
Where: MCC Fort Omaha Campus, Building 10, Room 110

Strangers in Town tells the story of how global migration transformed and enriched Garden City, Kansas. Amidst the increased demands for housing, social services, education, and infrastructure, current students at Garden City High School are flourishing. This film explores their stories, gives meaning to the city’s motto “The World Grows Here,” and provides an inspiring view of human possibility in the face of change that resonates in all communities. After the screening of the 30-minute film, take part in a timely discussion that promotes understanding and uncovers our shared humanity.

To pre-register for the events above, email Sarah Polensky at scpolensky@mccneb.edu.


Additional International/Intercultural Education virtual programming can be found on YouTube.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Audience members requiring accommodations due to a disability must contact International/Intercultural Education, interculturaled@mccneb.edu, 531-622-2253 at least two weeks prior to the program.

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