Natividad

Critical Thinking / Pedagogy / Metacognition

Trenzas ~ Braids: Weaving a Tapestry of Diasporic LatinX Self-Affirmation by Jorge Chinea
ByJorge Chinea September 19, 2026September 22, 2026

“. . . we owe some of the more iconic works of LatinX literature to pioneering emplumados and emplumadas who transformed these oral traditions into written narratives. As Ethnic and Cultural Studies scholars have rightfully observed, much of their literary production can be read as autobiography or as cultural ethnographies.”
* Jorge Chinea Distinguished Service Professor – Academic Director, Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies – Wayne State University

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Poetics and Poems

“Imagine the Angels of Bread” by Martín Espada
ByMartin Espada September 6, 2026September 9, 2026

“Martín Espada’s Imagine the Angels of Bread is a fascinating blend of anger and compassion, horror and dream. The speaker imagines a worldwide release from oppression through a series of near-apocalyptic revolutionary reversals—inverting long-standing injustices by dreaming of liberating the poor and the victims of discrimination.”— Heather Zadra, Modern American Poetry Society

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Life Long Learning

Life and Literacy ~ Poetry and the Whole Person
ByRoger Frank September 3, 2026September 10, 2026

This past year, All Saints Literacy Center piloted a supplemental program called “Whole Person Literacy” focused on spiritual and cultural literacy based on concepts of knowing, understanding, and self-development. We had monthly activities that were carried out in pairs or in groups. Learners and tutors participating in the program gained knowledge and created meaning individually and socially as they took part in the activities. The needs of the whole person were explored through an alternative lens of literacy.

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Poetics and Poems

Trenzas ~ “¡Yo soy!”
ByJorge D. H. Prosperi June 24, 2026June 25, 2026

Trenzas ~ “¡Yo soy!” came to life during my youth, watching my grandmother washing, brushing and braiding my mother’s hair and my mother passing on the loving strokes to my aunts. A time to teach and learn.

Spanish followed by English version

*Artistry by figurative painter Charissa Cota (Gutiérrez) of Cha Gutiérrez – “Seven Sisters of Sonora

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Poetics and Poems

“La Mirada ~ The Look” Poetic from Trenzas-Braids
ByJorge D. H. Prosperi February 1, 2026February 16, 2026

A look can carry the weight of intention in silence.

It all happens in an instance as eyes meet to deny or affirm humanity.

A coded-decoded nuance when diversity of other and difference is looked upon.

The poetic “La Mirada” (The Look) provides such internalized interpretations and translations ~

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