Jimmy Santiago Baca: 12th Annual Cesar Chavez / Dolores Huerta Lecture | Apr 27, 2016

Apr 27, 2016
6pm - 8pm
Social Sciences 122, 1126 E 59th St

MEChA de UChicago presents: Jimmy Santiago Baca 

Author of the acclaimed book A Place to StandJimmy Santiago Baca will give this year's Latinx Heritage Series Keynote Lecture. Baca will discuss his previous literary work, his life experiences, and the Latinx identity. He will draw upon his knowledge to address the issues faced by Chicanx communities and the ways in which narrative has the power to transform and shape the future. 

Schedule of Events:
Lecture: 6-6.45
Q&A session: 6.45 - 7
Dinner reception 7-7.30

This is the second event in MEChA's 2016 Latinx Heritage Series titled “Arte Popular: Narratives of Change.” Arte popular is art created and consumed in mass by the people in opposition to higher academic culture. The speakers we have invited to this year’s series produce their work--from novels to documentaries to comic books--to give voice to largely untold stories in an effort to effect change in the world around them.

About A Place to Stand:  "Jimmy Santiago Baca's harrowing, brilliant memoir of his life before, during, and immediately after the years he spent in a maximum-security prison garnered tremendous critical acclaim and went on to win the prestigious 2001 International Prize. Long considered one of the best poets in America today, Baca was illiterate at the age of twenty-one and facing five to ten years behind bars for selling drugs. A Place to Stand is the remarkable tale of how he emerged after his years in the penitentiary -- much of it spent in isolation -- with the ability to read and a passion for writing poetry." - author Jim Farrow

El Movimento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A) is part of a larger national movement and our specific M.E.Ch.A chapter is both an activist and culturally recognized student organization, that uses community service, political involvement and education as a means for change. M.E.Ch.A is not only open to Chicana/o or Latina/o students, but also to anyone who identifies with and commits themselves to promoting culture, history and higher education as devices for change.

Presented by MEChA de UChicago with support from the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture.