Welch, Cliff

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Grand Valley ReviewVolume 22 | Issue 1 Article 101-1-2000Fighting Invisibility, the Fifth Conference on theAmericasCliff WelchGrand Valley State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/gvrThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Grand Valley Review by anauthorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gvsu.edu.Recommended CitationWelch, Cliff (2000) "Fighting Invisibility, the Fifth Conference on the Americas," Grand Valley Review: Vol. 22: Iss. 1, Article 10.Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/gvr/vol22/iss1/10by Clif!Welch Fighting Invisibility, the Fifth Conference on the Americas Cliff Welch is Associate Profes-sor of History and Coordinator of the Latin American Studies Program at Grand Valley State University Allendale Michigan, USA 49401-9401 Officejescri t6rio: 616-895-3414 Fax: 616-895-3285 Cellular: (616) 262-9710 (funciona no Brasil como ligac;iio internacional) Home/casa: 616-452-4127 welchc@gvsu.edu www4.gvsu.edujwelchc Visit us at: www4.gvsu.edujlas and www4.gvsu.edujlatinos I n October 1994, the newly-established Latin American Studies Program at Grand Valley began a conference series that _has g_rown. to become a regular part of west Michigan hfe. W1th the theme "Democracy, Capitalism, Activism," the program hosted an event which contained many of distinctive features that would come to char-acterize all Conferences on the Americas. Dedicated to commemorating the anniversary of key historical events in Guatemala's history, the conference featured a keynote speaker (Profes-sor Susanne Jonas of the University of California at Santa Cruz), numerous panels put together by scholars from many institutions of higher learn-ing in the midwest (from MSU to ~alvin t? Western), a balanced focus on things Latm Amen-can both inside and outside the borders of the United States, and the close involvement of com-munity activists (instrumental in organizing the 1994 conference was Jeff Smith of the Institute for Global Education). . The successful combination of these features-a thematic focus, a nationally recognized keynote speaker, hemispheric analysis, and regional town and gown participation-gradually came to shape the LAS Program itself. Not satisfied to keep knowledge within the confines of the classroom or outside the walls of the institution, the LAS Program built on the conferenc~ to str_engthen university and community relations. T1me and again, the program brought its schola~ly speak-ers and performers into the commumty or ~he community onto campus. Most recently, Umon High School in Grand Rapids brought a class of students to Cook-DeWitt Auditorium to hear Professor Cecilia Zarate speak about the U.S. drug war in Colombi last Conference on the Martin Espada-a poe1 the University of Ma~ in Holland and Gra dressed hundreds of reading to nearly one 1 bers at the El Matado of town and gown, of street-knowledge in t ing and explaining the has proved to be om unique and enduring , former LAS coordinc the series "a conferer nity ." As the year participation grew ar namic force to the endeavors. The ties d! nity stimulated increa Latin American popu: on Latinos. This featu ies was always a par1 the conference encoUJ investment in the issu on-going communit: "Latinos in West Mic typically interview lo their experiences. Sev1 by students have bee designed website (ww pleased to report that Cortes, executive dire1 of West Michigan anc Stanford University, 1 ciated with this projec Michigan. This outgrc also led to increased GVSU faculty, a sloVI cently addressed in Stark, a puertoriquef\.o Most people imagi be an annual event l Americas is actually ter. Thus, the sixth C( i f t h  = a s  v l y - e s t a b l i s h e d  L a t i n  ~am a t  G r a n d  V a l l e y  ~s t h a t  h a s  g r o w n  t o  ; ; t  M i c h i g a n  l i f e .  W i t h  t a l i s m ,  A c t i v i s m , "  t h e  h i c h  c o n t a i n e d  m a n y  w o u l d  c o m e  t o  c h a r -o n  t h e  A m e r i c a s .  1 g  t h e  a n n i v e r s a r y  o f  t t e m a l a '  s  h i s t o r y ,  t h e  . o t e  s p e a k e r  ( P r o f e s -i v e r s i t y  o f  C a l i f o r n i a  m e l s  p u t  t o g e t h e r  b y  i o n s  o f  h i g h e r  l e a r n -M S U  t o  C a l v i n  t o  n  t h i n g s  L a t i n  A m e r i -e  t h e  b o r d e r s  o f  t h e  i n v o l v e m e n t  o f  c o m -t a l  i n  o r g a n i z i n g  t h e  m i t h  o f  t h e  I n s t i t u t e  o n  o f  t h e s e  f e a t u r e s -/  r e c o g n i z e d  k e y n o t e  i s ,  a n d  r e g i o n a l  t o w n  i u a l l y  c a m e  t o  s h a p e  o t  s a t i s f i e d  t o  k e e p  n e s  o f  t h e  c l a s s r o o m  i n s t i t u t i o n ,  t h e  L A S  ~renee t o  s t r e n g t h e n  r e l a t i o n s .  T i m e  a n d  i t s  s c h o l a r l y  s p e a k -~ c o m m u n i t y  o r  t h e  1 o s t  r e c e n t l y ,  U n i o n  i s  b r o u g h t  a  c l a s s  o f  ' \ u d i t o r i u m  t o  h e a r  > e a k  a b o u t  t h e  U . S .  d r u g  w a r  i n  C o l o m b i a .  O n  t h e  o c c a s i o n  o f  t h e  l a s t  C o n f e r e n c e  o n  t h e  A m e r i c a s ,  k e y n o t e  s p e a k e r  M a r t i n  E s p a d a - a  p o e t  a n d  E n g l i s h  p r o f e s s o r  a t  t h e  U n i v e r s i t y  o f  M a s s a c h u s e t t s - v i s i t e d  s c h o o l s  i n  H o l l a n d  a n d  G r a n d  R a p i d s  w h e r e  h e  a d -d r e s s e d  h u n d r e d s  o f  s t u d e n t s .  H e  a l s o  g a v e  a  r e a d i n g  t o  n e a r l y  o n e  h u n d r e d  c o m m u n i t y  m e m -b e r s  a t  t h e  E l  M a t a d o r  T o r t i l l a  F a c t o r y .  T h e  m i x  o f  t o w n  a n d  g o w n ,  o f  a c a d e m i c - k n o w l e d g e  a n d  s t r e e t - k n o w l e d g e  i n  t h e  p u r s u i t  o f  u n d e r s t a n d -i n g  a n d  e x p l a i n i n g  t h e  L a t i n  A m e r i c a n  e x p e r i e n c e ,  h a s  p r o v e d  t o  b e  o n e  o f  t h e  c o n f e r e n c e ' s  m o s t  u n i q u e  a n d  e n d u r i n g  q u a l i t i e s .  R e c o g n i z i n g  t h i s ,  f o r m e r  L A S  c o o r d i n a t o r  W a l t e r  F o o t e  d u b b e d  t h e  s e r i e s  " a  c o n f e r e n c e  f o r  t h e  w h o l e  c o m m u -n i t y . "  A s  t h e  y e a r s  w~nt b y ,  c o m m u n i t y  p a r t i c i p a t i o n  g r e w  a n d  d i v e r s i f i e d ,  a d d i n g  d y -n a m i c  f o r c e  t o  t h e  u n i v e r s i t y ' s  a c a d e m i c  e n d e a v o r s .  T h e  t i e s  d e v e l o p e d  w i t h  t h e  c o m m u -n i t y  s t i m u l a t e d  i n c r e a s e d  a c a d e m i c  f o c u s  o n  t h e  L a t i n  A m e r i c a n  p o p u l a t i o n  o f  t h e  U n i t e d  S t a t e s ,  o n  L a t i n o s .  T h i s  f e a t u r e  o f  L a t i n  A m e r i c a n  s t u d -i e s  w a s  a l w a y s  a  p a r t  o f  t h e  L A S  P r o g r a m ,  b u t  t h e  c o n f e r e n c e  e n c o u r a g e d  a  b i g g e r  i n t e l l e c t u a l  i n v e s t m e n t  i n  t h e  i s s u e .  O u t  o f  t h i s  h a s  g r o w n  a n  o n - g o i n g  c o m m u n i t y  r e s e a r c h  p r o j e c t  c a l l e d  " L a t i n o s  i n  W e s t  M i c h i g a n , "  i n  w h i c h  s t u d e n t s  t y p i c a l l y  i n t e r v i e w  l o c a l  L a t i n o  r e s i d e n t s  a b o u t  t h e i r  e x p e r i e n c e s .  S e v e r a l  " l i f e  s t o r i e s "  p r o d u c e d  b y  s t u d e n t s  h a v e  b e e n  p u b l i s h e d  o n  a  s t u d e n t -d e s i g n e d  w e b s i t e  ( w w w 4 . g v s u . e d u / l a t i n o s ) .  I  a m  p l e a s e d  t o  r e p o r t  t h a t  n e x t  f a l l  M a r t h a  G o n z a l e z -C o r t e s ,  e x e c u t i v e  d i r e c t o r  o f  t h e  H i s p a n i c  C e n t e r  o f  W e s t  M i c h i g a n  a n d  A B D  i n  A n t h r o p o l o g y  a t  S t a n f o r d  U n i v e r s i t y ,  w i l l  t e a c h  t h e  c o u r s e  a s s o -c i a t e d  w i t h  t h i s  p r o j e c t ,  L A S  4 7 5 ,  L a t i n o s  i n  W e s t  M i c h i g a n .  T h i s  o u t g r o w t h  o f  t h e  c o n f e r e n c e  h a s  a l s o  l e d  t o  i n c r e a s e d  p r e s s u r e  t o  d i v e r s i f y  t h e  G V S U  f a c u l t y ,  a  s l o w  b u t  p o s i t i v e  p r o c e s s ,  r e -c e n t l y  a d d r e s s e d  i n  p a r t  b y  h i r i n g  D r .  D a v i d  S t a r k ,  a  p u e r t o r i q u e n o ,  i n  t h e  h i s t o r y  d e p a r t m e n t .  M o s t  p e o p l e  i m a g i n e  t h e  c o n f e r e n c e  s e r i e s  t o  b e  a n  a n n u a l  e v e n t  b u t  t h e  C o n f e r e n c e  o n  t h e  A m e r i c a s  i s  a c t u a l l y  h o s t e d  e v e r y  t h i r d  s e m e s -t e r .  T h u s ,  t h e  s i x t h  c o n f e r e n c e  i s  s c h e d u l e d  f o r  F i g h t i n g  I n v i s i b i l i t y  l z s  Clif!Welch Saturday, February 9, 2002, mid-way into the Winter 2002 semester. Like the first confer-ence, each event is organized around a theme. Selecting a theme that is transnational and user-friendly for community and academic participants can be challenging. Last October's con-ference theme-"Fighting Invisibility" -came to coordina-tor Dr. Gabriela Pozzi after some other ideas failed to excite com-munity support. With the support of conference co-chairs Dr. Jeff Lamb and Dr. David Alvarez, the theme became a vehicle for approaching the ways scholars and activists con-front the stereotypes used to obscure Latino and Latin Ameri-can reality. While many portrayals of Latinos and Latin America emphasize gangs, drugs, war, and folklore, confer-ees used the theme to show how gangs build community, how the drug trade would disappear without consumers in the U.S., how war-victims in Central America have built rich partici-patory democracies, and how folkways contribute to an em-powering sense of common identity among Latinos. By its very existence, the conference fought the invisibility of Latinos and Latin America. The articles published here were se-lected from the "Fighting Invisibility" conference to make concrete some of the enduring qualities of the Conference on the Americas series. Among them are works written by scholars from throughout the region, such as MSU's Bill Van Lopik and Northeastern Illinois State's David Leaman; studies by community activists Jeff Smith and Robert Dodde; and contributions from the arts and literature by Bob Mayberry and Walter Foote. The issue also features a poem by key-note speaker Espada. Each work approaches the theme differently-from Mayberry's play to Smith's media analysis-demonstrating the rich intellectual variety the conference always engen-ders. I am grateful to each of them for preparing their conference presentations for publication so quickly. I am also grateful to editor Dan Royer for urging us to help him put together a special Latin American Studies issue of the Grand Valley Review, and to Alvarez for pulling together anum-ber of loose ends. The issue provides an unexpected occasion to showcase the considerable achievements of the Latin American Studies Program and its Confer-ence on the Americas series. I hope you enjoy reading these pieces and that we can count on seeing you at the Eberhard Center in February 2002 for our sixth conference! ' "Sword it the Mach An Introductio Born in New Yorl< Jewish parents, l manifold parts. ) ford, Connecticut, Espa Spanish-speaking immi lords and xenophobic jt at the University of Me: ened students to the 1 traditions of Latin Am Furthermore, as an ac1 tual, Espada has fought championed the cause dence. Espada's represe the classroom, and the c of a single, multi-facetE advocacy of the emanci peoples to the south an and the Rio Grande. Es1 guage in the service of limited to exposition < Interwoven with thest Espada's poetic sensibi unifies his wide-rangin activities. For Espada-Spanish word for "swo: of truth-telling poet w would banish from the republic, and the kind < latter-day Platonists v pages and airwaves of 1 But Espada's vision measures, such as the personal and the publi and the political. Nord 

Fighting Invisibility, the Fifth Conference on the Americas

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Fighting Invisibility, the Fifth Conference on the Americas

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