Co-Sponsored by College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Women
and Gender Studies, Sociology/Anthropology, Diversity Center, and Gender
and Sexuality Student Services
Diana Solís, who grew up in the heart of Mexican Chicago in the
1960’s & 1970’s, will lead a discussion on the history and struggles
of Mexican immigrants in Chicago through her own experiences and
engagements. Solís will share her travels and experiences participating
in and documenting early Latina feminist organizing with Mujeres Latinas
en Acción (Latina Women in Action), as well as her search for
acceptance and community as a Latina lesbian in the 1970s.
Diana Solís is a long-time educator, community
leader and artist who is deeply rooted in the Pilsen neighborhood, the
heart of Mexican culture and activism in Chicago and the midwest. Her
many many honors and awards include the first solo exhibition at the
National Museum of Mexican Art (1987). Solís has traveled extensively as
an artist and activist, helped found the first lesbian feminist space
in Mexico City, and circulated with preeminent Latina and Mexican women
writers, thinkers, and artists of the late 20th Century including
Sandra Cisneros and Elena Poniatowska.