Filmmaker and author Paola Mendoza to speak at Iona College
Filmmaker and author Paola Mendoza to speak at Iona College to mark 50 years since the college began admitting women into the full-time student body.
Seth Harrison/lohud, The Journal News/lohud
- The monthly series kicks off on October 10 with author, artist, and organizer Paola Mendoza coming to Montclair for two programs.
- The next event in the series is a talk on November 13 with Montclair resident Cleyvis Natera.
Paola Mendoza emigrated to the United States at the age of 3 with her parents and older brother from Colombia. She would rise from that humble beginning to become the author of two acclaimed books centered around undocumented immigrants, a co-founder of the 2017 Women’s March, and director of several award-winning short and feature films.
Mendoza is coming to Montclair on Oct. 10 as the first performer in VOCES, a monthly series of events designed to amplify the stories and voices of Latino leaders, spark dialogue, inspire action and strengthen the community, said Natalia Espejo, president of Latinos of Montclair, which is organizing the series.
Latinos of Montclair is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating Latino culture, fostering community connections and building opportunities for cultural exchange through events, education and advocacy.
Mendoza will take part in two programs. The first is a free interactive student workshop from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Montclair State University that Mendoza will lead on immigration, solidarity, resistance and art, where participants will explore how to channel their emotions into art, dialogue and collective action. They will also examine stories of undocumented immigrants like those in her 2020 novel, “Sanctuary,” and receive free copies of the book.
The second is a ticketed conversation with Mendoza from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Watchung Booksellers, 44 Fairfield St. in Montclair, where she will discuss “Sanctuary.” RSVP for both at latinosofmontclair.org.
“Now more than ever, as our immigrant communities come under attack, we must lift up stories of dignity and humanity of our immigrant neighbors,” Mendoza said in a statement to NorthJersey.com about speaking in the VOCES series and the series itself. “Artists must be the visionaries of a world where everyone belongs — and the people must be the force that fights to make that vision real.”
Next to be featured in the VOCES series will be Montclair resident Cleyvis Natera, an assistant professor at Montclair State, who will discuss her new fiction novel, “The Grand Paloma Resort,” on Nov. 13. On Dec. 14, Pulitzer Prize-winner Junot Diaz, who grew up in Middlesex County, will speak about his acclaimed novels and essays. Tickets for these events will be available soon and can be purchased at https://www.latinosofmontclair.org/voces.
Espejo said VOCES is an expansion of a former series the group called “fireside chats.”
“We wanted to be a bit more expansive and provide a platform for other voices to come in — artists, business leaders, and government leaders. How do we expand the voices that we put on for these conversations?” Espejo said. “Our board decided this could be an exciting concept for us to bring to the community, and we decided to brand it as VOCES.”
Espejo said the plan is for the monthly VOCES series to lead into a week-long event in the spring, which will bring Latinos from various disciplines.
She said she hopes the people attending the upcoming VOCES events will take away different things from them.
“I hope the Latino community takes away a sense of inspiration from these different voices in our community,” Espejo said. “As for the broader community, I hope that they see that [Latinos] as a community show up for content that speaks to us.”
Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter/X: @ricardokaul