Sitting down with Carlos Arango of Casa Aztlán

I recently sat down with Carlos Arango of Casa Aztlán at his office. From the moment I began speaking with Carlos, it became evident that he enjoyed the interactions with community members that his position allows. Several times during our meeting, you could hear young children—at Casa Aztlán for one of its many summer activities for kids—calling for ‘Carlos!’ It is a testament to the multiple generations impacted by the Alliance’s Core Members.

Casa Aztlán combines art programming and social services offerings for Mexican Americans in Chicago. Being situated in its current location on S. Racine for over thirty years, Casa Aztlán’s immediate vicinity has certainly had time to undergo great amounts demographic change. The area, however, is still predominantly inhabited by Mexican American immigrants. This community, then, geographically is situated well to take advantage of Casa Aztlán’s social service offerings—including ESOL and citizenship classes and pro bono legal consultations.

In addition to these programs, Casa Aztlán gives the Mexican American population to enjoy and experience the arts. Children in one of the organization’s many after-school and summer programs are exposed to tools of media communication and development. For example, one class of students developed their own radio program while learning technological, writing, and speaking skills.

It’s not just with the day-to-day programming that Casa Aztlán organizes artistic endeavors. Each year around Christmastime, Mexican Americans come together with the help of Casa Aztlán for a night of caroling and festive cheer throughout their neighborhood.

All of these events contribute to a lively and exciting atmosphere, one which Carlos Arango does his best to cultivate. We look forward to many more interesting developments at Casa Aztlán!

A chat with Rosa Cabrera from the Field Museum

On June 29, 2009 I sat down with Rosa Cabrera, Public Involvement Manager at the Field Museum in their department of Environment, Cultural and Conservation (ECCo).

ECCo works on research and implementation projects with an aim to integrate environment, culture and conservation. This is done through collaboration with community organizations in the City of Chicago or the Chicagoland region and in South America. These two diverse geographies are included because two different departments within the Field Museum, the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC) and the Environment and Conservation Programs (ECP), merged in January 2009 to become officially ECCo. ECCo works primarily with the Chicago Cultural Alliance to address cultural aspects of their mission and with Chicago Wilderness to tackle the environmental areas of their mission.

The CCUC, now ECCo, and Field Museum are particularly significant partners for the Alliance, which grew out of a program called Cultural Connections managed by the CCUC. Cultural Connections ran from 1998 - 2009, with an emphasis of connecting heritage to contemporary issues by comparing "Common Concerns, Different Responses" among Chicago's ethnic communities. At the urging of Chicago's ethnic museums, centers, and historical societies, the CCUC hired a consultant in 2005, with the intention of separating the role of Cultural Connections from the Field Museum, and the Alliance was officiallyincorporated as an independent organization in 2006.

ECCo brings a new model of integration and cultural understanding through facilitating collaboration between small and large organizations who normally would not have a relationship. They also try to draw the larger organizations into work on environmental conservation. Many of ECCo's goals are similar to the Chicago Cultural Alliance because they were born of the same ideas. Working with community organizations is a significant part of the work that both ECCo and the Alliance do because these organizations truly understand the needs of their communities, who make up a major part of Chicago's population.

For Rosa personally, the most rewarding part of her work with ECCo and the Field Museum has been to see the growth of the Alliance and to see the Partner Institutions expand their missions to include work on environmental issues. Rosa's background in is cultural anthropology, she received her master's degree from the University of Illinois - Chicago and went straight into working at the Field Museum, first as an intern in 1999, and later as a paid staff member in CCUC in 2000. In 2009, she earned her Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology, with a dissertation that focuses on Chicago's ethnic museums.

The mission of the Chicago Cultural Alliance is "effecting social change and public understanding of cultural diversity", an idea that Rosa sees happening as the Alliance helps Core Members expand their notion of heritage through addressing notions of identity. This in turn allows these organizations address contemporary issues in their community and helps them to fulfill their missions.

A chat with Lakshmi Menon from the Indo-American Heritage Museum

Lakshmi Menon, one of the board members at the Indo-American Heritage Museum, recently took time out to answer some questions about the Indo-American Heritage Museum (IAHM) and its relationship with the Chicago Cultural Alliance. Her answers are below:

The Indo-American Heritage Museum was just recently awarded 501(c)3 [a federal non-for-profit] status, and though shares the same space as the Indo-American Center, the Museum is a different organization. Their mission statement is to promote understand of the diversity, history and culture of Indian Americans. The museum serves the Indian American community as well as members of wider society, such as school groups, universities, and professional groups though the museum itself represents people who came from India to the United States and settles in Chicago.

The IAHM serves the community by helping document the experiences of the early immigrants from India. Their cultural outreach and educational programs promote understanding of the community and appreciation of the culture. The IAHM's work with schools and with tour groups helps to raise awarness of other cultures and enhances the image of Chicago as a global city that welcomes diverse tradition. The IAHM also nutures interest in the artistic expression of the immigrant experience by organizing programs featuring the work of Indian American artists.

For Lakshmi personally, the most rewarding part of her work with the Indo-American Heritage Museum has been the opportunity to interact with people from a variety of other cultures, other walks of life and of all ages. Their work is creating a positive impact on their interests and in acceptance of persons of Indian origin in this country.

The relationship between the Indo-American Heritage Museum and the Chicago Cultural Alliance is important because the Alliance allows the smaller museums to share resources and knowledge and widens the reach of these museums. The IAHM shares the ideals of the Alliance to to create public understanding of cultural diversity.

The relationship is growing further with the two representatives from the Indo-American Heritage Museum being training in dialogue facilitation is conjunction with the Chicago Cultural Alliance Talking Im/migration programming.

A Chat with Maria Drell from the Brazilian Cultural Center of Chicago

The next interview in our series is with Maria Drell, founding member and volunteer board member of the Brazilian Cultural Center of Chicago (BCCC), one of the Alliance's core members. In December 2001, Maria was one of a group of friends who decided to plan a “Brazilian Night Celebration” at a local gallery. Two hundred people, including Brazilians and members of other Chicago communities, were in attendance at the Dara Tribal Village, where they enjoyed live Brazilian music, artwork, books, and artifacts, and sampled Brazilian cuisine. This event underscored the need for an organization to promote and disseminate Brazilian culture in Chicago, and a few months later, the Brazilian Cultural Center of Chicago became a reality.

As their mission states, the BCCC is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes and disseminates information about the diverse peoples of Brazil. The BCCC also aims to foster understanding and appreciation for Brazilian culture, music, art, and dance. One of the organization's goals is to provide resources to the Brazilian community in Chicago, such as educational programs, social events, and cross-cultural exchanges. For example, in March the BCCC hosted a cocktail reception to celebrate Women's International Month and to honor Brazilian writer Frances de Pontes Peebles, who recently published her first book, The Seamstress: A Novel. And on Saturday, May 16, the BCCC, in collaboration with another Alliance member, the Indo-American Center, will present Transplanted Sports as part of Cultural Connection's Bodies in Motion series. Events such as these serve both Brazilians and friends of Brazil, a community that is spread throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Eventually, as Maria notes, the BCCC plans to obtain a physical space where this community can meet.

For Maria, one of the most rewarding aspects of her involvement with the BCCC has been the opportunity to grow closer to Chicago's Brazilian community. This work is a true labor of love; unfazed by organizational limitations or a busy schedule (she holds a full-time job in addition to her board member duties), Maria embraces opportunities to spread the word about the BCCC. In fact, joining the Alliance has been a significant way for the BCCC to gain exposure, in particular through the Alliance's website. And by facilitating participation in a series of SmARTscope workshops, the Alliance has helped the BCCC to grow its organization and improve its operations. Beyond this, Maria values the Alliance's mission and commitment to cultural diversity, specifically the opportunities it provides for core members like the BCCC to tell their own stories from a first-voice perspective.

A chat with Jay Luthra, Executive Director of the Indo-American Center

On April 17, 2009 I sat down with Jay Luthra, Executive Director of the Indo-American Center (IAC)to discuss his work with the IAC and its relationship with the Chicago Cultural Alliance. As a part of our interview series we get to look at the relationships that the Alliance is building with Chicago's ethnic communities. The Indo-American Center is located in Rogers Park, and its primary goal is to help South Asians integrate into American life and culture, though they don't turn anyone away (they are currently working with citizens from over 20 different nations). The IAC represents one section of society that contributes to the "melting pot" that is Chicago's cultural diversity. The Alliance mission is to "effect social change and public understanding of cultural diversity", and Luthra believes that this is an important to the IAC because we are working to make sure all different ethnicity's are recognized and treated with tolerance and respect.

The Indo-American Center is a community based organization that runs programs that flow from it's core mission principal of integration. They offer a multitude of classes in English, civic testing, and citizenship preparations. The space also serves as a area to help seniors and youth through after-school programs and free social ethnic lunches, health topics and exercise. Luthra explains their senior work in more detail, illustrating the challenges that face many South-Asian immigrants who have followed their families to American but feel lost when they arrive. The IAC aims to assist them by holding classes on how to get CTA Seniors Passes, library cards and other benefits that require going through many agencies. They also offer their space as a social gathering to meet people of similar backgrounds and comforts from home. The recent introduction of job training skills has become all more relevant during this economic hardships. The IAC offers classes that help people to build resumes, to interview for positions, and to talk to potential employers over the phone. However, Luthra notes that the IAC's shortage of space and funding means they have to turn people away from their classes and training.

For Luthra, years of working in the for-profit sector made him yearn for non-profit work. He has been the Executive Director of the Indo-American Center for a year and a half and in that time has been proud to see the center grow. With an increased budget of 30% since he started, and numerous new programs, the IAC has been able to offer more programs to its community. Luthra finds this growth rewarding as the center offers meaningful help and resources to the South-Asian community. While the relationship with the Chicago Cultural Alliance continues to grow, the Alliance has helped the IAC Board and staff members get on track through the smARTscope, a capacity building program that strengthens organizations' management capacity. With space and funding problems being all too real to many of our members, hopefully the Alliance can help lessen the effects of the current financial crisis through shared services and staff. Luthra sees social networking sites as a way to reach a whole new generation for the South-Asian community, and perhaps this is something else where the Alliance can assist.

A Chat with Jamie Bender from Center for International Studies at University of Chicago

Kicking off the CCA blog’s brand new interview series is a discussion with Jamie Bender, the Outreach Coordinator at the Alliance’s partner institution, the Center for International Studies (CIS) at the University of Chicago. As stated on their website, CIS “sponsors and coordinates a wide variety of activities related to research, teaching, curriculum, and public outreach on global and international topics” through a range of lectures, conferences, and events aimed not only at university audiences but also at the broader Chicago community. A key component of CIS’s mission is to work with Chicago-area schools, which involves coordinating classroom visits from distinguished experts on a wide range of international topics, implementing teacher education workshops, and helping to build curricula.

At the helm of these K-12 teacher outreach programs is Jamie Bender, who before joining CIS taught anthropology and biology for eight years. What she loved about teaching is similar to what she loves about her current position at CIS: as a teacher, she could show her students how exciting other cultures can be and inspire them to move, both literally and figuratively, outside of their own communities. Her desire for students to have increased opportunities to learn about world events, as well as her personal motivation to learn more about the world beyond Chicago, drew her to CIS initially. Among the many aspects of her job as Outreach Coordinator that she finds rewarding are the opportunities to bring international topics presented by first-rate academics to the broader public for free and to develop teacher workshops and enrich curricula in order to continue inspiring students as she once did in the classroom.

One of the major benefits of their partnership with the Alliance that Jamie has seen is the chance to bridge the gap between CIS and Chicago’s cultural centers and ethnic museums. Establishing these deeper connections has led to increased awareness of what Chicago’s various cultural groups, by way of the Alliance’s core members, have to offer. In practical terms, this translates to mutually beneficial opportunities for both. CIS aims to create events with Alliance members, work together with them to develop lesson plans, and perhaps even attract more diverse audiences to CIS lectures. They also look forward to working individually with member groups to help them better reflect their world communities in general, and specifically, to better understand the impact of events abroad on their communities here in Chicago.

In addition to the important work of linking together cultural communities, being an Alliance partner also represents a small but significant step toward the achievement of more profound goals. A key component of the Alliance’s mission is “to effect social change and public understanding of cultural diversity,” which echoes Jamie’s own ardent belief that greater mutual understanding of cultures not only strengthens communities, but is the first step toward peace between all cultures. It is crucial, in her view, for engaged citizens to be aware of one another and to remain informed about what is happening elsewhere in the world. When students are encouraged to learn more about other cultures, differences that may have at first seemed frightening or weird become exciting. In Jamie’s words, “Small steps together change the world.”