Intended Audience
As part of the America Dialogue Series, this panel delves into diverse narratives of migration, examining how Haitian and Indigenous diasporic communities navigate their experiences of displacement through creativity and solidarity. Federico Cuatlacualtl, professor of studio art at the University of Virginia, and George MacLeod, associate professor of French and Francophone Studies at St Mary’s College of Maryland, will conduct the panel. After presenting their perspectives on migration, the panelists will start a dialogue and incorporate questions from the audience.
Federico Cuatlacuatl is an artist born in San Francisco Coapan, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. Cuatlacualtl's work is invested in disseminating topics of Nahua indigenous immigration, social art practice, and cultural sustainability. Building from his experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant and previously holding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Cuatlacualtl's creative practice centers on the intersectionality of indigeneity and immigration under a pressing Anthropocene. At the core of his most recent research and artistic production is the intersection of transborder indigeneity, migrant indigenous diasporas, and Nahua futurisms.
George MacLeod will present his work on the progress of a multisensorial ethnographic study of Haitian communities in Washington, D.C., and the Mexican border town of Tijuana. MacLeod collaborated with the anthropologist Natasha Swiderski on this study, which involves conducting interviews and visiting public spaces such as churches and restaurants. The study explores how people create communities in the transient border space and how the proximity to the border influences people’s sense of place and space. MacLeod has been conducting fieldwork in Tijuana, where he communicates in French, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.
The Amɘrica Dialogue project brings together critical voices and perspectives from scholars, activists, artists, and communities across the Américas. Our goal is to amplify (empower) underrepresented voices and experiences that reflect the different realities of this continent. We are committed to revealing and including the history, stories, and realities of diverse communities across America. This project seeks to consider the Americas as a broad system of exchange, movement, and influence that goes beyond national borders.