Activist Rosa Clemente Speaks at Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month Closing Event

Publish Date: Nov. 17, 2022

SBCCD invited award-winning organizer and speaker Rosa Alicia Clemente to speak as part of the closing event for Hispanic Heritage Month. Clemente is a prominent Bronx-born, Black-Puerto Rican, scholar- activist combating anti-Blackness within the wider Latinx community.

Clemente’s presentation covered a variety of topics on racial justice but centered around the recent racist remarks in leaked audio of L.A. City Council members. The remarks are a reminder to the Latinx community to support Black Diasporic people. She stressed that electing government officials who say they support your best interest is not enough. One must ensure racial and social justice movements will help all and call out racism wherever it exists. Viewers Activist Rosa Clemente Speaks at Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month Closing Event were typing comments to express their excitement as well as gratitude for putting into words what they felt but could not communicate appropriately.

Members of the audience asked questions about decolonizing higher education, resisting Indigenous erasure, defending intersectionality, and the importance of higher education for minorities. Not all the questions about remedies for social inequity had an answer as there is no definite solution to some problems, but there was a renewed hope that actions will lead to change and increased cultural equity.