Papagayo: Read-Ins, Fiestas, and Festivals

And at our Valle Verde campus, you will likewise find Papagayo headed by my colleague Charlie Miller. Comprised of students, faculty, as well as community members and former students, Papagayo is an EPCC organization that meets weekly to foster engagement in the humanities, such as literature, art, film, and philosophy, as well as the sciences, at times by removing the artificial silos that come between the two, and always by presenting material that might not otherwise be disseminated in a course.

For close to four years, I have served as Papagayo's advisor. As advisor, I reach out to colleagues or current members who might be interested in presenting, enlist new members through class raps, and mentor students so that they transfer to university and apply for scholarships. Outside of the formal classroom setting, I envision Papagayo as a safe haven from the pressure of being assessed, a place where students can be themselves, a room that equips students with confidence and experience conducting presentations, and a launching point for students to reach out to the community and promote literacy through read-ins, book drives, open mics, and literary judging competitions at nearby schools.

This past September, we hosted a very successful Writers & Músicos for Migrant Justice open mic at the Black Orchid Lounge in west El Paso, Texas, bearing witness to a variety of poets, musicians, and comedians who raised their voices when it comes to issues related to injustices suffered by migrants in order to raise funds for the nonprofit, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center (which I sit on the board of directors of). The event was MC’ed by El Paso Community College's own English professor Richie Marrufo, who holds open mics across the Borderland as part of the Barbed Wire Open Mic Series, a project originally started by Amit Ghosh (pictured on the far left of Figure 1).

Figure 1: Migrant Justice Photo

Another public event was our Latinx Heritage Month Read-In at the EPCC Rio Grande Campus. Along with Humanities Collaborative at EPCC-UTEP Undergraduate Student Fellow Vanessa Zuñiga, this event showcased students and faculty reading from a variety of different Latinx poets, philosophers, novelists, spoken word artists, and reflecting our border, reading in Spanish too. What was most impressive was that in some cases, students got the confidence to read more than once, and they even had the time to write some poetry of their own to share. What I enjoy the most from read-ins is the conversation that develops from reader to reader on issues that affect the Latinx community such as identity, xenophobia, and immigration. Read-ins like this are valuable in that they give students an open forum to share what Latinx Heritage Month means to them, and how they conceive of its significance within the current climate. This event was likewise a partnership between Diversity and Inclusion Programs at EPCC, and the Papagayo Project.


Figure 2: Vanessa reading at our Latinx Read-In

Along with the poetry readings, the Papagayo Project for the first time participated in Bike for Reading, a national event that promotes literacy in the community. Rendezvousing at the Mas y Menos Coffee Shop on a Friday morning, we met with cyclists from the biking organization Velo Paso, as well as local residents, stuffing our backpacks with books unpacked from boxes. We then biked as a group to Rosa Guerrero Elementary School. The ride itself took about 20 minutes to and from, and once there, we were met by a large contingent of students holding up signs and waving at us, giving us a chance to circle around them multiple times before letting them come to the tables and pick up some books arranged by grade levels. We were likewise joined by a couple EPCC Police officers, so we felt proud to be able to represent EPCC and Papagayo amongst a group of about 30 cyclists. A special thank you to Vanessa for helping arrange and coordinate this event. 


Figure 3: Bike for Reading

As mentioned in our earlier blog post, we started reviewing Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X in our podcast, Literally Literary (now available on Apple Podcasts along with the other major podcasting platforms). This last weekend of September 2019, we finished recording Part 3 of our review of Acevedo’s novel that aligns with Part III of the book, bringing in EPCC English professor Reyna Muñoz as a special guest to discuss, among other things, the audiobook version. In line with the podcast, Vanessa herself presented a workshop to Papagayo students at EPCC Rio Grande that showcased the novel’s themes, plot, characters, and strong poetic lines. Her presentation included several interviews of Acevedo, specifically where she expanded on her background, the origin story that gave birth to her first novel, and an example performance of her spoken word talent. 


Figure 4: Vanessa at her Papagayo The Poet X Workshop

Outside of our campus, we also participated in the Last Thursday’s event flyer below) that was organized by Professor Reyna Muñoz from the Pasos Program. The Pasos Program at EPCC emphasizes culturally relevant literature, transferring from community college to university, and mentoring students by offering public events that engage them and their families. At this downtown gathering, students went on a scavenger hunt where they looked for clues from a loteria card, and used social media to walk or bike around local businesses to score slots on the card and ultimately win the game. Afterward, students enjoyed pizza, socializing, and another open mic nearby. As a Pasos instructor, I do plan to partner with the Pasos program for other events such as bringing in invited authors for our EPCC Spring Arts Festival, and hosting similar opportunities that promote student retention and a positive learning environment. 



This month of October, as part of the Diversity & Inclusion programs committee I am a part of honoring Latinx Heritage Month, we are excited to host our annual Mentor’s Dinner. This year, we welcome to our ASC campus Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space and former director of the Johnson Space Center, along with honoring attorney Ouisa Davis, and Ruben Garcia, the director of the Annunciation House, which has been at the forefront of the humanitarian crisis on the US-Mexico border due to Central American migrants requiring housing and transportation. At the dinner, we also give out scholarships to students who have applied to our committee’s application and essay prompt. Due to this year's celebration of EPCC’s 50th anniversary, five students won based on a panel of EPCC faculty and staff judges.


Figure 6: Poster for Mentor's Dinner

Now that we finished The Poet X, the next book we are reviewing on our podcast is Black Klansman by local retired police officer Ron Stallworth. The book details his life undercover investigating the Ku Klux Klan through a fellow officer who was white. Last year, the memoir became an Oscar-winning film directed and adapted to the screen by the well-known filmmaker Spike Lee. Aside from discussing the different between both art forms, we plan on hopefully sitting down with the author himself and interviewing him about his memoir, and getting his thoughts on the adaptation, as well as how relevant he considers his story to be in the twenty-first century.



Moving from the big screen to the big stage, at Papagayo we are very fortunate to partner with Theatre Professor Adriana Dominguez from The University of Texas at El Paso Department of Theatre and Dance to host two actors who are part of an upcoming stage production of Real Women Have Curves taking place at UTEP’s Wise Family Theatre. Aside from getting to ask the actors about auditioning for their roles and rehearsals, this workshop presents our students with an opportunity to learn about the skills required to be a theatre actor.

   
After the UTEP student-actors visit our Rio Grande campus, we plan on attending the UTEP show as we have done in the past for other UTEP-produced plays such as Bless Me, Ultima and Oedipus: El Rey. Suffice it to say, these kinds of extracurricular activities present students with culturally relevant material that hopefully inspires them while at the same time teaching them about struggles they might relate to. In the spring, we plan to do the same with the UTEP play adaptation of Luis Urrea’s novel, Into the Beautiful North.  

After watching the play, our Papagayo students are also helping out at our annual Literary Fiesta held at our downtown public library. Aligning with our podcast book of choice for this month, at this event we'll be screening BlacKKKlansman for free, along with giving out free books to attendees. Following the screening, Vanessa and I are particularly excited about interviewing Mr. Stallworth in front of the audience, as well as allowing time for audience members to ask him questions and sign his book.

     

To round out our eventful month, we are thrilled to attend this year’s Texas Book Festival to be held in Austin, Texas. Long-term, we plan on attending this annual festival to network with authors we could potentially bring back to speak in El Paso. We want to bring back a small part of that grand experience that is a book festival. Short-term, there are so many diverse panels we marked on our calendar. I myself am honored to be moderating a panel on fiction from the border featuring authors Sergio Troncoso and Gabino Iglesias discussing their newest books: A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son, and Coyote Songs, respectively.  

Taken together, our eventful month allowed Papagayo to partner with our Hispanic Heritage Committee, the Literary Fiesta Committee, the national Bike for Reading organization, the Barbed Wire, the Pasos program, and UTEP’s Department of Theatre and Dance. As we look ahead in our calendar of events, it is through these partnerships that we are able to show students the value of collaboration that is so intrinsic to the humanities. In turn, we show our border community that, even if they gravitate toward the STEM fields, so long as they subscribe to this experiment we call society, there is no way to opt-out of the humanities. At Papagayo, we just find new and creative ways for students to make this grand experiment possible.

For more information about the EPCC Papagayo Project, please visit our Facebook page for all of our upcoming events.

Written by Jorge Gomez, El Paso Community College
Faculty Fellow, The Humanities Collaborative at EPCC-UTEP

(Blog images courtesy Jorge Gomez.  Header image courtesy Vincent C. Martinez.)