Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrates BIPOC Authors and Literary Freedom
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Cadena Cultural Center and the Fullerton College Library have partnered together to highlight banned books by Hispanic, Latino/a/x, and Chicano/a/x authors. The collaboration titled “Reclaiming our Titles” promotes literary freedom by highlighting eight books by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) authors, which are available through the Library’s online borrowing and curbside service.
“While the Cadena Cultural Center is unable to host our signature quad events and forums this year, we will continue to foster connectedness primarily through engaging and informational campaigns to educate and inform students about social justice and diversity-related topics,” said Cadena Cultural Center Director Cecilia Arriaza. “Students will begin to see a ‘Reclaiming Our Titles’ social media campaign that uplifts diverse narratives and promotes literary freedom.”
The first book in the series titled How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez is a coming-of-age story told in reverse. The book follows four sisters beginning with their adulthood in the U.S. and ending with their childhood in the Dominican Republic. The book was banned in 2007 at Johnson City Schools in North Carolina for sexual content even though a review committee voted to keep the books in libraries and classrooms. In addition, the school district began using lists of challenged books to weed out potentially offensive material.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is available in e-book and hard copy at the Fullerton College Library.
The Cadena Cultural Center will share new titles and brief summaries on each of the titles each week on Instagram until Oct. 15. Some additional titles in this series include:
- Message to Aztlan, selected writings by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
- 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
- Bless Me Ultima by Rodolfo Anaya
- In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
- 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures by Elizabeth Martinez
For more information visit the Cadena Cultural Center Website.
Visit the Library website for more information about curbside pickup.
