THE SANTA FE INTERNMENT CAMP (1942-1946) IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS
Presented by Nancy Bartlit
The former Santa Fe Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was converted to a camp for 4,555 civilian men of Japanese descent from 1942 to the spring of 1946. Initially, men of Japanese descent who were brought to the camp had been denied U.S. citizenship even though they had worked in America for two decades or more. Their age averaged 52 years. They were removed from the West Coast because their leadership roles in their communities had a perceived potential to support the enemy, yet they were innocent of wrong doing. This talk describes, through archival photos, how the internees spent their waiting hours while being separated from family while some had sons serving in the U.S. Army.
*Please note that this event is being held at a school for the students and is not open to the general public. However, Nancy Bartlit is available to schedule for your own public event.
THE POWER OF INDIGNATION: RICHARD WRIGHT, BLACK AMERICAN NOVELIST
Darryl Lorenzo Wellington recreates the life and times of preeminent Black novelist, Richard Wright.
Richard Wright (1908-1960), the author of the novel Native Son (1940) and the autobiography Black Boy (1945) pioneered an influential school of protest literature. He became the first Black writer to pen a bestseller that overtly criticized racism and white supremacy. Born into dire poverty and oppression in segregated Mississippi, his journey to international success was so unlikely that upon meeting him the most famous sociologist of the 1940’s asked, “How in hell did YOU happen?” Following his success, Wright grew disillusioned with the United States, and, in 1947, relocated to France. Before his death in 1960, at age 52, he coined the phrase “Black Power” in support of African anti-colonial revolutions. Darryl Lorenzo Wellington recreates Wright’s final days, looking back on his career, while delivering a lecture to an American audience in Paris.
LA LLORONA: THE WAILING WOMAN
Presented by Rosalia Pacheco
This famous ghost from Spanish folklore is known throughout the world for her eerie, spine chilling cries as she searches for her lost drowned loved ones, her darling children. Early Spanish settlers knew of her. Her folk story was ancient in European mythology, but in New Mexico it is said she lived next door, or that an ancestor actually knew her. All music performed in this presentation is in the public domain (written/published before 1929) or was written/published by the performer.
THE HISTORY OF FLAMENCO
Presented by Nicolasa Chávez
This presentation traces the history of Flamenco in music and song. The presentation begins with flamenco’s origins in Medieval Spain through the present, concentrating on its arrival in the US and New Mexico. This dynamic duo will share the history and meaning behind the music and songs along with personal stories as flamenco performers in New Mexico.
THE SANTA FE INTERNMENT CAMP (1942-1946) IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS
Presented by Nancy Bartlit
The former Santa Fe Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was converted to a camp for 4,555 civilian men of Japanese descent from 1942 to the spring of 1946. Initially, men of Japanese descent who were brought to the camp had been denied U.S. citizenship even though they had worked in America for two decades or more. Their age averaged 52 years. They were removed from the West Coast because their leadership roles in their communities had a perceived potential to support the enemy, yet they were innocent of wrongdoing. This talk describes, through archival photos, how the internees spent their waiting hours while being separated from family while some had sons serving in the U.S. Army.
*Please note that this event is being held at a school for the students and is not open to the general public. However, Nancy Bartlit is available to schedule for your own public event.
THE PRE-CIVIL WAR COMPLICATED LIVES OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
Presented by Sherri Burr
Join Professor Sherri Burr, the author of Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865, for a discussion on how the arrival of Africans changed the Virginia colony and the country into a multi-racial community where legal rights were advanced and restricted. Unbeknownst to most Americans, Africans and Indians possessed rights to own land (which was never stripped) and to vote (up until 1723). Slavery evolved in a convoluted legal manner that was challenged after the Revolutionary War as prominent slaveholders contemplated how they could continue to hold humans. Instead of slavery being eliminated following the colonists’ successful fight for their liberty from Britain, several events increased its hold on the county, including the outlawing of the international slavery trade and the Louisiana Purchase. This brought pain to Native Americans who were dispossessed of their land and to enslaved Africans sold to the Deep South. This history of race progression and regression has repercussions for today.
THE WANDERING BALLAD
Presented by Johanna and Scott Hongell-Darsee
People have sung stories since times immemorial as a way to memorize and record history and myths. A kind of stone age database. The songs we today call medieval and traditional ballads have their roots among Nordic epic sagas, French romantic lays, Celtic lore and World mythology. As the songs have traveled, they have metamorphosed and melted into various musical traditions, weaving a world of fantasy and mystery. Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee are a duo who perform early traditional ballads, songs and tales from Scandinavia, The British Isles and other parts of the world. Their performances blend both modern and traditional instruments in unique, original arrangements. Their wanderings have led them from Finland and Iowa respectively – through Europe, Scandinavia, India, and North America. On the way they have picked up tales and songs that they perform together with the stories behind them, in particular exploring the links between these story singing traditions.. All music performed by Johanna and Scott dates from the medieval period or early modern period and is in the public domain.
*PAST* MARTIN L. KING, JR.’S DAMNING LETTER FROM JAIL
In honor of the Martin Luther King holiday, Chris Ulloa Chaves, ED.D. of the University of New Mexico and member of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society invites you to participate in a 1.5 hour Zoom-based discussion of a literary masterpiece titled Letter from Birmingham Jail. Written while in jail, King responds to Birmingham area white religious leaders’ criticism that he is an outside agitator for accepting an invitation by civil rights leaders in Alabama to apply non-violent pressure against segregation laws in the city. In the letter, King makes a reasoned and passionate case for civil disobedience against unjust laws; unjust laws are biased and harmful policies enacted by a majority, and that only apply to minorities. King uses ideas based in philosophy, theology, history, psychology, sociology, political science, and ethical theory to make a strong case against racial discrimination policies in society. The Letter from Birmingham Jail was a key source that would inspire the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Bring an open, respectful attitude and desire to learn from all participants’ knowledge and experience relating to this issue. Registration is required and can be accomplished by emailing your RSVP to the following email address: litdialogues@gmail.com