"NEOCHICANISMO"— ECCSF Winter Conference 2012 at Brown University

M.E.Ch.A de Brown invites you to the Winter 2012 East Coast Chicano Student Forum Conference, to be held the weekend of February 24-26 at Brown University.

As we witness an increase in visibility and representation of Mexicans in institutions of higher learning, M.E.Ch.A de Brown would like to reflect on the history, movements, and people that have made this possible. Therefore, the theme for our conference is "Neo-Chicanismo: Revisiting the Past to Write the Future."

If you have any questions feel free to email us at BrownMECHA@gmail.com

Itinerary, online registration, and details on speakers and workshops will be posted soon.

M.E.Ch.A. de Vassar Update

The wonderful MEChistAs at Vassar are very busy this semester and we would like to update you all on what they are up to this fall semester.

They are sponsoring two lectures

1)"On Being and Not Being the Wretched of the Earth" (Breeze Harper) (Nov) Breeze Harper is is the editor of “Sistah Vegan” (Lantern Books 2010) and a PhD candidate in critical food geographies at UCD. The Sistah Vegan Project focuses on how plant-based consumptive lifestyle is affected by factors of race, racisms, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and other social injustices within the lives of black females. Her dissertation (in progress) is titled Situating Racialization, Racisms, and Anti-Racisms: Critical Race Feminist and Socio-spatial Epistemological Analysis of Vegan Philosophy in the USA.

2)"El Barrio No Se Vende! ¡Se Ama y Se Defiende" (Mikey Velarde VC alum) (Dec) Movement for Justice in El Barrio was founded by immigrants and low-income people of color of East Harlem to fight for dignity and against neoliberal displacement. Movement operates on a commitment to self-determination, autonomy, and participatory democracy.

In addition they seem to be very involved in the campus life by joining the a few on campus events like:

"Smashing History: 150 Years of LGBTIQA Vassar" (Nov) A weekend conference celebrating the accomplishments of prominent alumnae/i who have distinguished themselves in service to LGBTIQA communities variously through activism, archival work and public history, the arts, community organizing and outreach, education, journalism, the law, and many other areas.

"Meet me in Poughkeepsie" (Dec) An event aimed at fostering/strengthening community ties between campus activist groups and community activists.

They also hosted the Dia de los Muertos event (Nov) which was not one but two separate events. One located in the community and the other on campus. Along with a traditional altar, 2 additional altars will be devoted to victims of social inequality (i.e Troy Davis) and unjust Immigration policies.

They were pitching in at local public schools in September and October by providing translator services during the Back to School/ Open House season. In addition, they participated in Occupy Wall St and Occupy Poughkeepsie demonstrations/organizing. (Oct/Nov) As well as doing some fundraising for scholarship fund

A documentary by Oscar nominated/Emmy award winning Filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman, is being done on one of the members of M.E.Ch.A de Vassar and their MEChA chapter has been featured.

Keep on making us proud M.E.Ch.A de Vassar!

ECCSF Fall 2011 Conference at University of Pennsylvania

The weekend of November 11, 2011- November 13, 2011, UPenn will be hosting ECCSF's fall conference titled "Sin Cadenas: Deconstructing Gender, Identity and Sexuality." The conference's focus will be to explore the taboo and undiscussed topics related to gender, identity and sexuality in the Latino community. The workshops will deal with these topics and create an environment where stereotypes and prejudices will be replaced by facts and tolerance.

For those that are attending UPenn has been kind enough to provide you with a list of essential items that you should bring to the conference

Here's a list of items we recommend you bring:

• Photo ID (very important)
• Sleeping bag
• Pillow
• Towel
• Toiletries
• Money for lunch
• Semi-formal attire for Saturday night's dinner

Regarding food: Complimentary breakfast will be provided on Saturday and Sunday mornings. A dinner reception will be held Saturday evening. As has been in the past, attendees are expected to provide their own lunch. You will receive a guide to some local restaurants with your materials. Please bring money and plan accordingly.

To those of you who have not made up your mind yet about attending; you can still register for the conference at http://upenn2011eccsf.weebly.com/registration.html

See you all soon!

MEChA de Yale: Organization Update For This Month

This month MEChA de Yale has been focusing on the Mexican Bicentennial of Mexican Independence Day and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution. For the past months we've held events celebrating the Día de los Muertos, setting up multiple altars and commemorating the loss of loved ones and of revolutionaries. We held a workshop on how to be a Modern Revolutionary, a viewing of Latin American art, a film screening of the narco-trafficking situation in Ciudad Juarez, etc. More is included in the flyer below. We're in the process of planning for the ECCSF winter conference in February. We are also having elections this month, and are turning over our group to a new e-board. 

Alejandro Gutierrez

Mezcla de Wellesley: Organization Update For This Month

Mezcla

During the month of October we had quite a number of events going on.We had a mixer with an MIT group. A professor luncheon in the middle of the month where we enjoyed pupusas and the company of select faculty. Personally, it's one of my favorite Mezcla events and we had positive feedback from both the members and professors. Basically a couple of professors and a large portion of Mezcla had a casual lunch where we all introduced ourselves and the professors talked about themselves in a nonacademic setting. It's a great way to connect and feel more comfortable with faculty. We also had a school wide pub night where we all bonded over good Latin music and sold homemade empanadas as a fundraiser. We also had two general meetings that went really well. Just this past Wednesday we had our annual Día De Los Muertos celebration which we co sponsor, that the Spanish dept and Latina advisor put on. There was a great turnout (and not just Latinas), great food and live mariachis. And yesterday we had a Big Sister/Little Sister dinner where we cooked delicious cuban food and bonded with our littles. 

Jessica Camacho

Class of 2013   

TCW

Mezcla

MEChA de Vassar: Organization Update For This Month

MEChA de VASSAR

We've done....
-DREAM ACT Demonstration & VIGIL
-DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION
*Altar demonstrations
-Sex education Fair:Collaborated with local Colleges/Non-profit groups/local High Schools on a event that focused on The prevention of Teen pregnancy through the arts.
-Pachanga Dance Party
-LONG ISLAND LEAFLETTING (Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act)

We plan to....
-rally for farm workers rights on campus, as well as in the surrounding town.

~Dennis Rivera-Cash

Yalies at the New Haven May Day March!