The following was published on Sept. 29, 2010 in Assumption College's student newspaper "Le Procateur."
The author is Lisa Capozzo.
Assumption College is a school that prides itself on establishing a multicultural environment. On Monday, September 20, ALANA hosted a guest presentation entitled "Natives of Latin America." Speaking at this event was multicultural motivational speaker Bobby Gonzalez. Born and raised in South Bronx, Gonzalez resided in bi-cultural surroundings. Apart from being a motivational speaker, Gonzalez is a storyteller and a poet. He has presented stories at Carnegie Hall, the Museum of Television & Radio and the Detroit Institute of Arts. As a poet, Gonzalez has performed at the National Museum of the American Indian, the University of North Dakota and the Nuyorican Poets Café.
One of his current poetry books, The Last Puerto Rican Indian: A Collection of Dangerous Poetry, includes centuries worth of striking disturbances and brave achievements of Native People from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The knowledgeable presenter has spoken at many institutions across the country. From Yale University to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Gonzalez has shared his knowledge about the Native custom of Latinos. By learning about various cultures and being a motivational presenter, Gonzalez hopes to persuade people to take into account their culture and employ this awareness to produce a vibrant future.
From the beginning to the conclusion of the presentation, Gonzalez explained many interesting and surprising facts about native people. When many people hear about "Native Americans," they typically think of the Cherokee, Apache, and Navajo tribes. However what most people don't distinguish is that more than 90 percent of indigenous people originated from Central and South America and the Caribbean. What is also surprising to people is that in Mexico there are more than fifty languages in existence. The most common language is obviously modern Spanish. The remainder of the languages are all Native. Native American homelands range from Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
What is very engaging is that the natives of the Aztec, Maya, Inca, Taino and many other various groups constructed nations that have made many contributions to our contemporary civilization. From corn and chewing gum to tomatoes and chocolate, some of the most desirable foods in today's society stem from the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Another important concept is that the Mayans and Aztecs had very intellectual people who provided us with the idea of the number zero. They understood this concept countless centuries before the Europeans. Another significant achievement of these people is that in Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City); there was highly developed architecture and engineering.
Just like the Aztecs and Mayans, the Incan civilization made many wondrous contributions to society today. Existing in South America, the Incan Empire extended approximately as long as the Roman Empire. This empire consists of the modern-day countries of Peru and Ecuador and parts of Bolivia, Columbia, Chile and Argentina. From completing brain surgery to making the biggest highway system in the world during that time period, the Incan empire has exceeded far beyond greatness.
From the islands of the Caribbean, the Taino Empire was established. This empire showed other cultures rubber, the very first experience of consuming peanuts and pineapples, to people's first ever experience with tobacco. The Taino culture was the original civilization that gave us many key words that we use now. Some of these words include hurricane, canoe, barbeque, savanna and hammock. These cultures have definitely contributed to today's society.
Acceptance of other cultures is definitely important to changing our outlook on past and present society. Many students enjoyed the presentation and couldn't believe how much these cultures are still affecting people positively today, "We need to embrace our culture and where we come from," said Carolina Correa a sophomore at Assumption. Some historians claim that the Taino people don't even exist today. However, they do exist and are still embracing the world every day.
Bobby Gonzalez taught the audience to accept every culture. "Embrace diversity within you and without you, labels belong to boxes and not people."
