Semana de la Raza – a weeklong cultural and education program around the Cinco de Mayo observance of the Mexican defeat of the French in 1862 – begins at 11:30 a.m. today, May 4, at the Free Speech Area at California State University, Fresno.
The event runs through Friday, May 8, with each day dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Chicano and Latino history and culture, said Kristina Hernandez, spokesperson for MEChA, the Fresno State student organization that coordinates the observance.
All events are free and open to the public.
This year’s observance also features a unity theme with the Black Student United club and other cosponsors – the Associated Students Inc. and the Chicano and Latin American Studies Program on campus. Hernandez said Semana de la Raza has been structured to cover five main areas.
“The first day is dedicated to the indigenous influence in the Americas,” she said. “The remaining days focus on the estudiante (student) and the Chicano/a student movement then and now; the Zapatista movement and autonomy of sustaining culture and tradition; la mujer (the woman) and her struggle in a dominant patriarchal society; and the youth of our community and their struggles for higher education.”
From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, Day of the Indigenous will spotlight Aztec dancers and a guest speaker on indigenous culture, Mazatzin, an expert on the Aztec/Mexica calendar history and culture. Mazatzin will speak again at 7 p.m. in the Engineering East Building, Room 191.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, in the Pit outside the University Student Union, the celebration will include a speaker and entertainment by Los Danzantes de Aztlán, Fresno State’s Mexican folkloric student troupe. The Fresno State Mariachi, also made up of students, will entertain.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, a panel discussion of “Stories of Our Barrios” will examine 40 years of Chicano/MEChA history in the region. The two-hour event will be at the University Student Union, Room 314.
On Wed., May 6, an open mic poetry jam with students from the Black Student United club begins at 7 p.m. at The Bucket Grill and Pub in the University Center, just south of the Student Union.
Dia de la Mujer is 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at the Pit.
Dia de la Juventud (youth day) is Friday, May 8, when about 60 students from Roosevelt and Sunnyside High Schools in Fresno tour the campus and hear a presentation at noon in USU 312-314 on college-making decisions by Raul Moreno, coordinator of the University Migrant Service Program.
For more information, contact Kristina Hernandez: 559.305.2779 or mechadefresnostate@yahoo.com.
