"We're Finally Getting Justice": The Creation of the Latin American Council's Educational and Cultural Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1968-1977

In her paper, "'We're Finally Getting Justice:' The Creation of the Latin American Council's Educational and Cultural Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1968-1977,” Delia Fernandez examines the ensuing Latina/o schooling... [ view full abstract ]

In her paper, "'We're Finally Getting Justice:' The Creation of the Latin American Council's Educational and Cultural Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1968-1977,” Delia Fernandez examines the ensuing Latina/o schooling activism in 1970s Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the 1970s, Latina/os in Grand Rapids claimed that decades of neglect and discrimination from the City of Grand Rapids left them a vulnerable and oppressed population. In this presentation, Fernandez argues that as a part of Latina/os defining their identity as one marginalized group, they created an alternative educational institution that provided its students the resources they were being denied in mainstream high schools in the area. Through the creation of a Neighborhood Education Center students had culturally relevant pedagogy and Latina/o teachers.

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