By Megan Ruge, Editor-in-Chief
Student members of the Latinx community at Susquehanna hosted a panel on April 10 in the Apple Meeting Rooms titled “The Labels That Define Us.”
The panel feature five Latinx students from all walks of life: sophomore Israel Collazo-Luciano, senior Aris Conception, senior Erik Contreras, sophomore Emily Lua Lua, and senior Genovee Dominguez.
The group spoke about their personal experiences with labels and how they use labels positively to define themselves.
Dominguez talked first about her experiences with racism. These things had caused her certain anxieties, but she was able to overcome them to bring about change in her community.
“If I’m in Starbucks…and I here something, I stand up and I say something,” Dominguez said.
She went on to say that she has noticed the impact she has made with the people around her, seeing that they are becoming more aware and more outspoken.
“My activism is very, very small, but it’s making ripples,” she continued.
The second testimonial came from Collazo-Luciano. He spoke about his struggle with colorism growing up. He felt like he had to go between two worlds, something he struggled with because he was light skinned and so he felt as though he wasn’t hispanic enough to fit into that group.
Though it took time, Collazo-Luciano identifies himself as Puerto Rican.
Collazo-Luciano also finds himself working to be a part of many diversity clubs on campus.
“That’s a goal of mine…because I know that I’m not as informed on a lot of other things as I should be,” he said.
Lua-Lua also found herself struggling with colorism at a young age. Her mother crossed the border when she was just pregnant with her. Her parents felt it was important that she knew where she came from, often repeating to her that she was Mexican.
Even though Lua-Lua heard her parents words, she often struggle with feeling like she was “too white” to be their child.
Other kids at school would comment on her complexion and question whether or not she is really Mexican. This made her feel like she didn’t belong in either group.
Concepcion struggled in a different way. She moved to the States as a child and was extremely optimistic, she would soon realize that everything wasn’t as good as she thought.
Concepcion realized that her Dominican identity wasn’t always seen positively. She often felt happy when people would mistake her for European, but she would grow to correct these people and be proud of who she is.
“I would like to improve my activism…and grow within it through video making,” Concepcion said.
For Contreras, learning to turn his labels around became a mission. He moved to New Hampshire from Mexico in 2008 and was stuck with labels that weren’t positive, but he took them as a challenge.
“I like to engage in conversations with people that have oppressive views of me, like one on one, so that I can challenge their logic, their morals, their values. And not only challenge them but understand them as well.” Contreras said.