Why, how, and where did Latinxs build a freedom movement in the sixties?  

How did it intersect with the civil rights, black power, and other movements of the era?  What conditions and historical contexts propelled the movement? How did it expand the meaning of democracy for all? Who are Latinos? What are their origins in the US? 

Join us in New York at CUNY’s Graduate Center for a two-day conference that will bring together veterans of the Latinx Freedom Movement of the 1960s, graduate students, faculty, archivists, and the public. 

Thursday,
April 9

Illustration of a raised fist with a bouquet of colorful flowers emerging from it, symbolizing empowerment and resistance, on a teal background.

Voices of the Movement 

From Aztlán to Borikén

The Struggle for Educational Equality 

Coalition Building in Chicago

Labor and the Humanization of Farm Workers

  • Thursday, April 9, 2026

    9:00am – 9:20am 
    Opening Session 

    Welcome, Johanna Fernández and Felipe Hinojosa 

    9:25am – 10:00am 
    Poet Kaila Paulino: Open with music, drumming/poetry performance, acknowledgement of who is in the room, invocation, honor the sacrifices of those who are not with us

    10:00am – 11:30am

    Plenary 1, Proshansky Auditorium: 
    Voices of the Movement

    Panel with leaders who joined the movement at the height of the Vietnam War – at a time when Latin America was a major theater in the Cold War – From Guatemala and Cuba to the Dominican Republic and Chile

    What did this mean then? And what are the lessons of this history for today?  What was at stake then? What is at stake now?

    Facilitators: Stephen Pitti, Yale University

    Panelists: Carlos Montes, Mita Cuaron, Gilbert Colón, Omar Lopez, Estela Vasquez 

    11:30am – 1:00pm 
    Lunch

    • Book corner

    • Film screening in the auditorium (the First Rainbow Coalition)

    • Record reactions to the first session

    • Picture booth

    • Identify the book that rocked your world

    1:05 – 2:05pm
    Keynote: Juan González

    2:30pm – 4:00pm 
    Breakout Sessions I: 

    1. From Aztlán to Borikén: The Imperial Origins of Latinos in the U.S. 

    2. From Mendez to Walkouts and Community Control

    3. Labor and the Humanization of Farm Workers

    4:00pm – 5:00pm   
    Closing Reception 

Friday,
April 10

Decorative geometric pattern with a central orange circle, radiating lines, scrollwork, and floral motifs in yellow and green on a red background, enclosed within a yellow border.

The Chicano Movement in the Southwest

The Health Campaigns of the Young Lords

Denver 1969, The Chicano Youth Conference

From Salsa to Spoken Word

The Movement in New York

Town Hall: The Shadow of ICE – What It Means for Latinos and for America

  • Friday, April 10, 2026

    9:00am – 9:30am

    Opening Session 

    Welcome, Johanna Fernández and Felipe Hinojosa 

    Musical Performance, Poetry reading

    9:45am – 11:15am
    Breakout Sessions II: 

    1. The Chicano Movement in the Southwest

    2. The Movement in New York

    3. Coalition Building in Chicago 

    11:30am – 1:30pm 
    Lunch 


    1:05pm - 2:05pm
    Keynote: Martha Cotera


    2:30pm – 4:00pm
    Breakout Sessions III:

    1. From Salsa to Spoken Word: The Art, Poetry, and Soundtrack of the Movement

    2. The Health Campaigns of the Young Lords

    3. The Chicano Youth Conference, Denver 1969

    4:00pm – 5:00pm 
    Closing Reception 

    6:00pm – 8:00 pm  

    TOWN HALL

    The Shadow of ICE: What It Means for Latinos and for America

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Photo credit: Juan González shows a copy of Palante to a rider on the New York subway, February 1971, Photograph by Michael Abramson; courtesy of Haymarket Books.