Time

Thursday, Nov. 03, 2022
5 - 7 p.m. PST

Location

Zoom

Who is Invited

Campus Community, Alumni & Public

Stanislaus State will celebrate the 8th annual Day of the Dead event online on Thursday, November 3, 5-7 PM. This virtual event is free and open to the public.

Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) is an indigenous Mexican holiday when people remember and honor their deceased loved ones. Unlike the spooky tone of Halloween, the atmosphere of the Day of the Dead is colorful and festive as the lives of those who have passed on are celebrated.
When the Chicana/o/x community popularized this holiday in the United States during the 1970s, cultural and social politics became central to the celebrations. Thus, this year's virtual event will feature altars (or altars) that honor ancestors while creatively bringing attention to social justice issues.

Register Here for Zoom

About the Speakers

Dr. Mathew Sandoval

Dr. Mathew Sandoval is a Senior Lecturer at Barrett the Honors College at Arizona State University. He is also a Faculty Fellow at ASU’s Social Transformation Lab. He holds a PhD in Culture & Performance from UCLA, an MA from NYU, and a BA from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is currently writing a book titled A Transcultural Pop History of Day of the Dead: From Heritage to Hollywood and Back Again, which examines how Dia de los Muertos has transformed in Mexico and the United States over the last century via pop culture, mass media, and commercialization. As a performer and storyteller he also writes about the way Day of the Dead intersects with his cultural experiences as a working-class mixed-race Chicano.

Jesus “Chucho” Ruiz Vai Sevoi – Eudeve (Opata) Tlamanalcah

Son of Leonor and Juventino, partner of Maria Molina Vai Sevoi, and father of six children. Over the past 20 years, Chucho has transformed the lives of countless youth through a La Cultura Cura approach through grassroots organizing and youth engagement and later as an employee of Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC). Additionally, Chucho has served as a central facilitator of la tradición through his affirmation and maintenance of Nahua cultural practices and way of life, commitment to social justice, and obligation to the Tucson community. Chuchohas served as a central facilitator of la tradición Nahua within the Calpolli Teoxicalli, a constellation of Nahua familias in Tlamanalco.

Chucho has always answered the call to meet the needs in of the Chicana community as cultural advisor, authentic community leader, and “barrio intellectual.” Chucho has worked to create indigenous solidarity by building intertribal relationships with indigenous communities across Turtle Island. In the last seven years, Chucho has been intentional in engaging men and boys through his work, implementing A Call to Men’s Live Respect Coaching Healthy Manhood curriculum in several local high schools and also collaborating with local organization Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse, and specifically with Emerge’s Men Education Program, as a co-facilitator. Chucho founded the CHANTLACAH O.G. (Homies, Original Gente) talking circles and camp/gathering for young men/male-identified youth of color to discuss healthy masculinity. Chucho is the lead facilitator of A Call To Warriors, a monthly virtual community conversation series for Indigenous Men.

Salma Valeria Torres (they/them/el)

Growing up as a queer xicanx student in Los Angeles, Salma has a lifelong passion for social justice, education, and activism. Coupled with an insatiable intellectual curiosity, they seek knowledge of the world around them through any lens possible. Salma has a Bachelor’s degree in Intensive History with an emphasis in Asian and Islamic studies from UC Santa Cruz and a single-subject teaching credential in social science from UC Merced. This has enabled them to bring culturally sensitive and trauma-informed teaching to the elementary and high school classrooms that they serve. Salma now works for the Central California LGBTQ+ Collaborative as the Training and Education Community Manager. They work with everyone from clinicians to foster parents in an effort to educate and advocate on behalf of queer issues in the Central Valley.

Maria C. Molina

skull with mandala