Visitors can expect dancing, traditional foods and an amplitude of information about Latin American culture at the El Color de Nuestra Tierra event Saturday.
Movimiento Activista Social (MAS) will host the 7th annual El Color de Nuestra Tierra, which translates to “the color of our land,” from 5-8 p.m. Saturday in the International Ballroom located in the Bruce Pitman Center.
MAS is a student organization focused on securing human rights and raising cultural awareness, said Elena Perez, a member of the organization.
Perez, a junior studying sociology, international studies and Spanish, said MAS is not structured like most organizations because there are no elected positions, such as president or secretary.
“We are just a group of people who are passionate about the same issues,” Perez said. “That makes us unique because one day you”ll just be a regular member and another day you”ll be running the meeting.”
Perez said the members of MAS consider themselves social activists and El Color de Nuestra Tierra is another way they can raise awareness of Latin American cultures.
This event will consist of workshops, a free dinner and student performances, Perez said. She said the theme for this year will be food.
Starting at 5 p.m., Perez said she will begin her workshop on potatoes. She said she hopes to get people to see the food industry from a different perspective.
“We can connect (food) to almost anything: equality, economics, politics and lots of other issues,” Perez said.
Mikayla Sievers, a junior at UI and member of MAS, said the workshops will range from face-painting to learning more about traditional Latin American cuisine. She said students can partake in the free dinner, which will consist of carnitas and tamales, and then walk around to various workshops that interest them.
“I”m really excited because this event is going to show (UI) the different cultural aspects of Latin America,” Sievers said. “A lot of people think that Latin American is just this poor place south of the U.S. and that”s just not true.”
Perez said the performances will showcase cultural dances and she will perform with the Sabor de la Raza, which is a Mexican folklore dance group at UI.
“We try to educate and keep the culture alive through dancing,” Perez said.
Victor Canales, who works for the College Assistance Migrant Program at UI and is also an adviser for MAS, said he was one of the students who started the organization when he was still a student at UI in 2008.
“We wanted some sort of event for Hispanic Heritage month and we wanted it to be not only about culture, but also about social justice,” Canales said.
Canales said the performances are his favorite aspect of the event and he enjoys watching students exhibit their poetry, songs and dances. Though Canales said this event will be entertaining for students, it will also be an opportunity to learn more about issues going on in Latin America.
“Students should stay open-minded and try to take something away from the event,” Canales said. “It will be a lot of fun but it will also be very informative.”
Jessica Gee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jaycgeek