В музее «Трех колоний» отметили 50-летие центров поддержки латиноамериканцев и афроамериканцев

On Aug. 31, El Centro and the Black/African American Cultural Center came together to celebrate their 50th anniversaries by highlighting how their stories are intertwined. The “Echoes of Home” event was a tour of the Museo de las Tres Colonias that provided a way to recognize the historical advocacy against segregation, housing discrimination and the inequalities that ultimately led to the development of Project GO and the cultural centers themselves. When visitors entered the museum, they found themselves transported into a traditional, authentically preserved adobe home that echoed the richness and history of the intersectionality between Latine and African American communities. “T he focus of today is about the history of housing segregation   because it’s deeply rooted in the Hispanic Latino community within the city of Fort Collins,” said Aaron Escobedo Garmon, the interim director of El Centro. “ But it’s also a really big part of the story and the legacy of the Black (and) African American community in the city as well. ” Escobedo Garmon said he found there are multiple historical aspects and memorable details people can continually observe. The museum provided authentic insights many aspects of the 20th-century experiences of Latine culture, including the ways people cooked, children’s toys and clothes, stories of working in the sugar beet industry and the impact of the altar in showcasing the family’s religious values. The event also held a panel with community members, including Juliet Chavez and Debra Bueno, as well as mediators Ray Black and John Miller IV. Bueno and Chavez shared stories of growing up in Fort Collins and their own personal experiences with educational inequalities, segregation, family life and humorous connections. The audience engaged alongside them, asking questions and listening attentively. “E specially for students, you who can experience some of those things just by   leaving campus, … t he more informed you are, the better off you’re going to be, ” Bueno said. Escobedo Garmon said he hoped the event gave the panel leaders an opportunity to share their stories. He said people can still learn from them on a deeper level and recognize how present they are in the community. “ L ongtime residents, who have lived here for  generations, can  speak about what it was like, being  in a part of the   city where discrimination and segregation were a little bit more prevalent,” Escobedo Garmon said. “W e’re going to be able to talk back and forth and be in conversation with people who’ve lived through it. ” Miller mentioned the value of hearing these stories and recognizing how CSU is connected to spaces outside of the campus. “We have to continue to tell   the story so that people see that these stories exist,” Miller said. “A nd there’s not this automatic assumption   that other folks of color haven’t existed in the area.” Miller said the event and the museum help bridge the gap between African American and Latino communities around their complex histories in Colorado. “There is  blending of culture that naturally happens in the ways communities of color, particularly in Fort Collins, have   always come together to be able to create spaces of protection, safety  and spaces of the excellence that they are, ” Miller said. Escobedo Garmon said he appreciates how families and descendants of these communities have been continually choosing to preserve and care for this land. He and Miller both said they hope individuals can recognize history is still alive and that it is a joy to be able to celebrate all they have accomplished together. “ We tell these stories so that we then reremember who we are, how we’ve been in such close community with each other and how we can continue to change the world because this is the way that we live, ” Miller said. Reach Sananda Chandy at [email protected] or on social media @RMCollegian.