Monday, October 12, 2020

LACS Virtual Panel Discussion: Monumental Injustice in the Americas

4:30 PM to 6:00 PM

Moderator: Erin L. Thompson, John Jay College, CUNY
Panelists:
Andrea Queeley, Florida International University
Olivia Chilcote, San Diego State University
Ana Lucia Araujo, Howard University
Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, Arizona State University

As a joint effort between LACS (Latina/o Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies) and the Latina/o Studies Program, this panel brings together scholars whose work helps us think about past and present efforts to topple physical monuments to historical figures across the Americas. As the United States recognizes "Hispanic Heritage Month," we push for thinking that cuts across borders. We highlight the hemisphere's interconnected histories of racism, colonialism, conquest and slavery that are at the center of both efforts to memorialize certain figures and stories, and efforts to upend these commemorative structures and the narratives they support. Public discussions around contested symbols of injustice are themselves opportunities to remake historical narratives, and we anticipate this panel will add a rich and important discussion.