EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Hispanic Heritage Month at Michigan State College comes with a celebration that is all about storytelling. It is referred to as Past Borders, led by award-winning creator and scholar, Frederick Aldama.
“We need access and space for the story to be seen and to be heard,” Aldama stated. “And at the same time, see how we can connect with other communities and their stories.”
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In partnership with the MSU Multicultural Heart, Past Borders is an interactive workshop designed to coach and supply sensible instruments for preserving private and cultural narratives.
“What we’re doing here with the museum, with others that have sponsored this event, Beyond Borders, is put a spotlight on the significance of story thinking, story making, especially Latino. Latinx,” Aldama stated.
He says the concept stems from his mom taking a leap of religion within the Nineteen Seventies, shifting from Mexico Metropolis to California.
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“My origin story is someone crossing a border, having family, me being born, then being brought back across a border, right,” Aldama stated. “In many ways, like education stories, my mom was a kind of role model.”
Aldama says a key ingredient of the expertise is oral storytelling.
“We’re not only conveying information. We’re giving it shape. We’re shaping it in a way that becomes engaging for others to co-create,” Aldama stated.
Aldama’s newest work, By way of Fences, brings the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to life by way of the lens of comics.
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“It’s focused on youth in the borderlands,” Aldama stated. “It’s our stories. It’s Latinos and the borderlands and all of the complex ways that we exist in that space.”
Aldama says for a lot of Latino households, recipes are the thread that ties generations collectively.
“A way to connect us deeply to our family, to our roots and our ancestry. Right through. Cooking through smells, through tastes,” Aldama stated.
Aldama says he hopes attendees keep in mind all the probabilities that include embracing and preserving tradition
