March is ‘Women’s History Month,’ a time to honor the many contributions women have made in history and society. As a way to celebrate the month and raise awareness of the current climate across the nation facing women, New Mexico State University will host a talk/live recording by the stars of the podcast, “Bitter Brown Femmes,” Ruben and Cassandra, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 at O’Donnell Hall, Room 111. The event is free and open to the public.
The podcast, which started in 2018, tackles social, political, emotional and community issues. With more than 30 episodes available online and 175 thousand followers on Instagram combined, Ruben and Cassandra use their platforms to speak up against systems of oppression. Ana Lopez, a doctoral candidate in the Special Education Department and an avid listener of the podcast suggested they visit NMSU.
“I personally have learned so much from them, from dissecting the concept of Latinidad and its many complexities, privileges, and more,” Lopez said, “I am so excited for them to come to campus and share a little about their important work.”
Judith Flores Carmona, an associate professor and faculty fellow in the Honors College, planned the event along with Lopez.
“I knew that the targeted audience, borderlands peoples and millennials were all right here,” said Flores Carmona. “They will talk about the issues – transphobia, xenophobia, what does it mean to exist in the borderlands region. Students need to hear them.
“Critical awareness is necessary for these spaces, for the populations we serve. We are a Hispanic Serving Institution. They need to see themselves reflected. What does it look like to be resilient, to speak up, to speak out, to talk back to systems of oppression and to have the courage to do that? They will get to see themselves reflected in Ruben and Cassandra.”
Flores Carmona and Lopez hope this event is the first of many and that soon more courses will be offered challenging topics like nationalism, transphobia, xenophobia, systems of oppression and more, so raising awareness isn’t just left to International Women’s Day.
This event is sponsored by the Honors College, the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Dialogue Series, Chicano Programs at NMSU, the College of Arts and Sciences Stan Fulton Endowed Chair, and the College of Education Stan Fulton Endowed Chair and ASNMSU.