The Intercultural Engagement and Inclusion program kicked off Latinx Hispanic American Herit-age Month by educating students about Hispanic culture durng a reception on Wednesday, Sept. 14.
The program began with the slam poem entitled “But All Lives Matter” written by sophomore sociology and politcal science major, Genesis Rivera. The piece described how, despite the progress made towards equality, there is still injustice towards groups like blacks, Latinx and women.
“I pledge allegiance to a segregated state of America,” Rivera said. “And to the capitalists for which it stands, one nation, under God, crippled by lack of liberty and justice for all.”
Keynote speaker, Sulma Arzu-Brown, author of “No Pelo Malo No Existe” (Bad Hair Does Not Exist), discussed the challenges she faced as a Latina woman.
“I felt that there was something missing inside of me because there was just this one little inkling saying ‘Sulma there is more to you than this, you were meant for greatness,’ and I kept hearing that voice,” Arzu-Brown said.
Arzu-Brown found that what she was missing was knowledge of her own background, saying that a school project lead her to research her Garifuna culture, as well as the discrimination they face.
She recalled a time when her daughter’s babysitter asked Arzu-Brown if she could style her daughter’s hair, calling it “pelo malo,” or bad hair. The babysitter explained that the phrase was a colloquial term from her culture; however, this incited Arzu-Brown to write her book, teaching women that there is no such thing as bad hair.
The book portrays illustrations of young girls with diverse types of hair recognizing the beauty in themselves.
“Hair can tell the story of you, your roots and where you come from. Hair is directly connected to your essence,” Arzu-Brown said.
She is currently working on a follow-up to “Bad Hair Does Not Exist” entitled “My Hair Comes With Me.”
Arzu-Brown expressed hope for younger generations to tackle discrimination and promote unity.
“It’s important for the younger generations to learn more about themselves first,” Arzu-Brown said. “Once you know this and respect yourself, it’s a lot easier to see that as human beings we all have something in common. You have a history. You are a human being. Once we have that dialogue, it’s easier for us to get along.”
Gillian Atkinson, associate director of Intercultural Engagement and Inclusion, explained how Arzu-Brown’s platform is important to highlight during Latinx Hispanic Heritage Month.
“There’s been more and more talk of people of Latinx heritage struggling with coming to grounds with their African ancestry,” Atkinson said. “That’s when I thought that this might be a good topic to bring to Hofstra. I think that anybody who is going from one chapter of their life into another kind of has a struggle with defining their identity.”
Estefania Ramirez, a sophomore psychology major and vice president of Hofstra’s Organization of Latin Americans (HOLA), said “There were several points that Ms. Arzu-Brown made that were really great. I completely agree that we should all take time to learn about each other’s cultures.”
