LSA President’s Greeting

I am grateful and humbled by the responsibility our membership has conferred upon me. I am particularly grateful to our past Presidents (Frances Aparico, Rafael Pérez-Torres, and Ana Patricia Rodríguez) and to all of the past Executive Council Members who have dedicated their time and energy to the growth of LSA. In this time of great upheaval, it is wonderful to be stepping into the stable and generative environment of the LSA.

I don’t need to explain to our membership that we are operating in a time that will challenge our professional and personal lives. For many of us the attacks on the core of what we do as Latinx Studies practitioners is under existential threat by the unprecedented, (many times) illegal, and immoral actions of the current power structure. As scholars who study the broad dimensions of Latinx peoples and cultures, many of us are on the front lines of the attacks on our lives and our people. But already I am heartened by the response our Executive Council (Marta Caminero-Santangelo, Natalie Lira, Sujey Vega, Frances Aparicio, Monika Gosin, and Salvador Herrera) has demonstrated in the face of the current political crisis. Although I can’t promise an end to the current set of political and social demands, I can promise each and every member that we as an Executive Council will work tirelessly to advocate for our field and for our members.

In this tumultuous moment, I ask two things of our members. First, I ask that you all do the very best you can to take care of yourselves and your communities. Without our home bases, we cannot sustain the energy that we’ll need for the fights that are sure to come. Second, I ask that you think about how LSA can be of service to you and to our many communities. We are here to serve and support you, our membership. How can we help to make the work that you do more visible? Please feel free to reach out to me or to any member of the Executive Committee. Our work is a labor of love—and that love is for each and every one of you.