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Earlier, we wrote about the planning of the Iowa Latin@ Conference[1]. Every year for the past thirteen years the conference has occurred in a different town across the state – it was Muscatine’s turn in 2011. In just about the same span of time (about 10 years), Iowa’s Hispanic population has doubled, still totaling just 5 percent of the whole[2].

The selfish urgency to attend to an increasing Latin@ population for the greater good of the majority is a notion I increasingly see in a lot of public messaging as Latin@’s populations increase in many places across the US. But, that was not the message behind this conference.

The conference convened over 200 Iowa youth and adults over two days to learn about the importance of uniting, becoming informed and advocating for the good of [our] people who are dispersed across Iowa’s changing communities. West Liberty, Iowa City, Dubuque, Waterloo and other Iowa towns were represented at the Youth Development Summit portion of the conference and individuals came from as far as Michigan to attend the Professional Institute portion.

Two sophomores, Joanna and Areli from West Liberty High School attended the conference for the first time with one of their teachers and some of their classmates.

One thing Areli, originally from New York, enjoyed about the Youth Development Summit was the opportunity to meet new, Latin@ youth. Both she and Joanna agree that being Latina in Iowa is something they appreciate and embrace– recently their West Liberty place of residence (also located in Muscatine County) was recognized as the first Hispanic majority town in Iowa.

With an offering of a variety of workshops – from a showcase of indigenous dancing by Omeyocan Dance Co. to a session on trading Gang affiliation for Academia and a screening of the film, “abUSed: The Postville Raid,” there was much to take in.

The girls’ favorite part of the Youth Development Summit; however, was its Keynote Speaker, Michael Benitez Jr.

Benitez Jr., a doctoral candidate at Iowa State University engaged the over 150-student audience during his 45-minute speech and encouraged them to become young activists. He urged them to be willing to listen to and believe in the stories their elders (“wisdomkeepers”) told them. But, he also asked the same of the wisdomkeepers – that they take the time to hear what young people (“wisdomseekers”) have to say, even if it isn’t stated politically correctly.

What Joanna and Areli took away most from Benitez Jr.’s speech was the significance of being  bicultural; that we must adapt to and continually learn from our Latin@ identity in the United States (and Iowa). In other words, while understanding American culture, “we have to be proud of our culture, [too]” Joanna said.

One example Benitez Jr.’s used to illustrate this notion took place in his classroom experiences, long before his doctoral candidacy days—“I got all A’s in my classes except for in Social Studies, History…because I didn’t see myself [in the books].”

Much like the duality of cultures, American History cannot be considered without considering Latin@ History, too. They are one in the same. Unfortunately, though as Benitez Jr. sought a raise of hands from the audience, asking what pertinent Latino history—i.e. the 1930 Lemon Grove, California desegregation case and the Bracero Movement of the 1940s, they have learned (as high school students) in their classrooms, few hands were raised.

The conference was successful for bringing Iowa Latin@s face-to-face with each other and for giving them a rare chance to embrace their impact on the state. Those who were there to learn also were given a thorough picture of what it means to be Latin@ in Iowa today. As such, we look forward to supporting the conference again in the future.

Click the respective links to read more about Muscatine’s first time hosting the conference and Benitez Jr’s keynote.