Connecting Through a Medium of a Different Nature:

The Orishas Go Online

Miguel W. Ramos, Obá Oriaté

Florida International University, Miami FL

The discovery of iron by early human civilizations some 10,000 years ago permanently transformed humankind. Iron became fundamental in tool-making, but even more so in agriculture, with the invention of the plow. This new tool revolutionized agricultural production, and by extension human society, by exponentially multiplying the amount of food that people could produce. The technological advances that followed had a direct effect on human intellectual development by placing greater demands on the brain that allowed for the expansion of the existing knowledge base. Humanity crossed a major intersection.

Gilberto Cavazos-González, OFM

As a young man, I did a pen and ink drawing of the Sagrado Rostro de Jesús. It was basically a doodle, but I liked it and kept it with some of my other drawings. Much to my chagrin, whenever anyone saw it, more often than not, they would think that it was a drawing of Juan Diego. Upon learning that it was supposed to be Jesucristo, they’d exclaim: “I never thought of a Mexican Jesus before.”

Scripting Latinidad: Re/Defining Textual Selves and Worlds in the Age of MySpace

Jacqueline Hidalgo

Claremont Graduate University

In March of 2006, students throughout the Southwest attended rallies and protests in support of immigrant rights. The role of the online networking site MySpace (http://www.myspace.com) was one of the more remarkable aspects of this student mobilization.[i] MySpace bulletins were credited, in large part, with the protest organization across state borders and between students only loosely connected through networks of MySpace “friends.” Gustavo Jimenez, a high school student in Texas, organized a Sunday morning rally on March 26, 2006 after he saw the MySpace posting made by a student in California. On Monday, March 27, 2006, postings calling for a walkout led to fruition in Dallas where 4000 students, more than either Jimenez or the city had anticipated, walked out of area public and private schools.[ii]

Theologizing en Espanglish: The Imago Dei in the Vernacular[1]

Carmen Nanko-Fernández

Catholic Theological Union, Chicago IL

            Coming from a community that privileges teología y pastoral de conjunto, I would be remiss if I did not begin by acknowledging the collective influences en mi vida cotidiana. Present this evening are our theological padrinos y madrinas, those we honor this Colloquium, our founders, and many of the first generation of ACHTUS scholars. I am particularly indebted to mi padrino Orlando Espín, y mi madrina María Pilar Aquino and to Fernando Segovia, the president at my first ACHTUS meeting in 1994. Terrified by the erudite and exuberant conversation, flying furiously in two languages, I plotted my escape. Fernando’s words kept me in ACHTUS. “You will be joining us for the banquet?” Fernando queried. I hesitated and Segovia quickly added, “but of course you would be our dinner guest.” That was the last free meal ACHTUS would give away for the next fourteen years-since they elected me treasurer the following colloquium!

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On Sheep and Goats:

The Treatment of Foreigners according to Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46)

Aquiles Ernesto Martínez

Reinhardt College, Waleska GA