Immigration, health care and Latin music are just a few of the topics that will be featured during this year's Hispanic Heritage Month.
The event begins at 4 p.m. today with an opening reception in the Baker Theater Lounge.
This is the 12th year that Hispanic Heritage Month has been celebrated at Ohio University and each year the programming deals with current events that affect Hispanic Americans, said Winsome Chunnu, assistant director of the Multicultural Center.
This year, the Multicultural Center is sponsoring a lecture by Barbara Martinez Jitner, a director and human rights activist whose research on the murders of more than 400 women in the Mexican town of Juarez inspired the Jennifer Lopez movie, Bordertown.
In her speech, La Frontera: Femicide on the US/Mexican Border
Jitner will discuss immigration and issues surrounding the border such as NAFTA factories, Chunnu said.
It's an election year so we thought she'd be perfect she said. When bringing in a speaker we are always looking for the bigger issues.
Other events scheduled for Hispanic Heritage Month include a panel discussion on health insurance and how it affects Latinos on Oct. 8, which is sponsored by the Latino Student Union. Sigma Lambda Gamma and the Black Student Cultural Programming Board are sponsoring Tio Louie, a Latino mentor and educator who will speak about issues related to the Hispanic population, on Oct. 14, Chunnu said.
Other programs may be added to the schedule and Chunnu said students should look for posters advertising events.
Today's reception will feature a performance by five members of the Columbus band Yumbambe. The salsa band performed at last year's Hispanic Heritage Month Reception, Chunnu said.- Paton said, adding that yumbambe is a Cuban phrase used in drum dancing and songs.
The reception will be held in the lounge outside Baker Theater so students who are walking by can participate in the celebration, Chunnu said.
We really appreciate playing for dancing audiences
Paton said. They say in Cuba they applaud with their feet and we'd like to see people dancing.
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