Mixed Media
Maria Hinojosa on gender equality
Most National Public Radio listeners know well the name and voice of veteran journalist Maria Hinojosa, executive producer and anchor of the Peabody-winning program distributed by NPR. This Tuesday, Feb. 27, Hinojosa is the guest speaker for a five-year celebration of newmexicowomen.org, the statewide women’s fund dedicated to gender equity. The anniversary event, “Standing Fierce for Five! Women at the Heart of Gender Justice in New Mexico,” will be held at 5:30 p.m. at SITE Santa Fe (1606 Paseo de Peralta, 505-989-1199), and includes an opening appearance by the young poets of Albuquerque’s Native American Community Academy and former Albuquerque poet laureate Jessica Helen Lopez.
The event celebrates women who stand up to what newmexicowomen .org sees as the lack of gender equity in society and in the state. The group advances opportunities for women and girls, encouraging alliances and collaboration among nonprofits and other sectors, and leveraging philanthropy in programs that serve women of color and those in rural, low-income communities.
An advocate for immigrant rights and immigration reform, Hinojosa was born in Mexico City, became an American citizen in the 1990s, and was raised in Chicago. She founded and leads the Futuro Media Group, an independent nonprofit media organization that produces communitybased journalism.
Hinojosa widely covers the cultural and political landscape. Among the topics she has recently reported on are the lack of due process in immigration arrests and their effect on American justice in general, Venezuela’s struggling LGBT community, Brazilian women rising up against sexism and racism, PTSD and undocumented immigrants, rampant sexual harassment among upstate New York farm workers, whether Latinos cry at a different rate than other ethnicities, and the recent earthquake in Mexico. Hinojosa is the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Chair of Latin American and Latino Studies at DePaul University in Chicago.
There is no charge for admission to “Standing Fierce for Five!”, but space is limited. Visit newmexicowomen.org or call 505-750-1732 to check on ticket availability. — Patricia Lenihan