This new Hamilton network is out to change Latin American studies, while supporting students

As the only Latin American and Caribbean student in her MA program when studying in the United States, Stacy Ann Creech de Castro said she always longed for academic connections with people who shared her background.

The feeling continued as she started her doctoral studies in the department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University, which she has now nearly completed.

A new network co-founded by Creech de Castro and fellow McMaster academic Rodrigo Narro Prez is now out to foster those kinds of connections in Hamilton.

"For years, I didn't have any of this," said Creech de Castro, who is from the Dominican Republic. "So to have something like this and to be a part of it is, to me, everything."

The network called the Latin American Network at McMaster University, or LANMU is composed of faculty, staff and students with ties to Latin America. A group came together with the idea last year and this past summer, they gave the network a name. It launches formally with a virtual event on Tuesday.

The group aims to celebrate the Latin American and Latinxcommunities different terms people from the region identify with at McMaster, as well as serve as a centre for research and teaching related to Latin America and its diasporas, according to Narro Prez, who arrived in Canada from Lima, Peru, when he was 10 years old.

We needed to engage with decolonial movements and part of that means we have to highlight and centre Blackness in Latin America.- Stacy Ann Creech de Castro

Some of the topics LANMU wants to highlight through events, courses and an eventual new minor include migration journeys, Indigeneity in Latin America as well as how African ancestry is woven into the culture.

"We identified early on that in order to move forward as a network, we needed to engage with decolonial movements and part of that means we have to highlight and centre Blackness in Latin America," said Creech de Castro, who identifies as AfroLatina. "I think it's important for students to get that representation."

Creech de Castro began to teach a course at McMaster earlier this year called Black Caribbean and its Diasporas and said the content of the course is also out to highlight underrepresented Latin American stories, specifically those from Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries.

"I looked all over for how these courses are taught about the Caribbean," she said, "and I don't think it's any surprise that when you talk about [it], people think about only the English-speaking Caribbean."

The course will be included in what Creech de Castro hopes will be a projectof the new network: creating a new, interdisciplinary minor in Latin American and Latinx studies at McMaster.

The 'right time' for a network

Canada celebrates Latin American Heritage Month in October, which makes great timing for LANMU's introduction, and for McMaster University to extend their support for the network.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2016, Spanish was the third most common non-English or French language in Hamilton, after Italian and Arabic.Meanwhile, McMaster has recognized Latin American students as an "equity deserving group" on campus.

"It is the right time for McMaster to support, empower and elevate LANMU and the work Latin American scholars are doing at McMaster," said Narro Prez.

He added that whileLANMU will continue its work, itis also "looking for institutional funding and support in the coming years and we are in discussion with the university to see how that happens."

The potential minor is also just a start, he added.

"I would like to see LANMU as the start to a research and teaching centre," he said, "That would be awesome, why can't we have a Latin American Studies program? Not just a minor but an actual program."

Reaching Hamilton's Latin Americanyouth

Another of LANMU's goals is to support the Latinx and Latin American community outside of McMasterin Hamilton, which is why they have partnered with Asociacin Fraternidad Hispana (AFH),a non-profit organization based in the city.

AFH and LANMU held a series of monthly online events earlier this year called The Stories of Latin America and AFH treasurer Veronica Sola said they are hoping to expand those events to reach high school students in Hamilton, strengtheningthe bonds between the Latin American communities atMcMaster and within the city.

"It's difficult for [Latinx students] to believe in themselves and believe they can continue studying and be successful professionals in this country," she said.

"I think it's important they see many Latin American people get into university and work there," she added.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check outBeing Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.