On June 20th, 2020 Quebec’s National Assembly declared the month of October Hispanic Heritage Month. This coincides with Canada’s Latin American Heritage Month Act, which was sanctioned by Parliament in 20198. Both acts recognize the many contributions of both Hispanic and Latin American individuals to the social, economic and political development of the province and the country. The McGill Library is joining the celebrations with our October book display, which features books and films written by Hispanic and Latin American authors. You can view the physical display on the main floor of the Redpath Library or check out our online version.
Hispanic and Latin American: Is there a difference?
While many people tend to use terms like Hispanic, Latin American, Latino/a, or Latinx interchangeably, they represent different cultural or ethnic origins. Here is a quick primer:
Hispanic: A person of Spanish or Spanish-speaking origin or ancestry. This includes Spain as well as Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
Latin American: A person from the Latin American region regardless of language.
Latino or Latina: In English North America, a person of Latin American origin or ancestry living the USA or Canada. The term was adopted by the community as a rejection the word Hispanic for the latter’s connection to Spain and Spanish colonization.
Latinx: A gender-neutral option for Latino and Latina.
There are even more descriptors individuals in these communities may prefer to use. Some would rather identify with their country of birth or ancestry and choose to use terms like Boricua (from Puerto Rico) or Chicano (Mexican-American). Others choose descriptors that reflect the intersection of their ethnic and racial identities like in the case of Afro-Latinas, Afro-Caribbean, Latinasians (Latin Americans of full or partial Asian descent) or Indigenous Latin Americans.
Below is a video that better explains the complexities on these identities:
This year McGill celebrated its 10th annual Indigenous Awareness Weeks, from September 13th – 24th and we are also marking the 20th anniversary of the First Peoples’ House Pow Wow, which took place virtually on September 24th, 2021. On Thurssday, September 30th, Canada is recognizing the first-ever National Day of Truth and Reconcilitiation. In honour of these events, the Humanities and Social Sciences Library held a physical book display in the Redpath Library for the month of September to celebrate Indigenous voices. We have now moved that display to our online Redpath Book Display space for all to enjoy.
This display was created by Librarians and Staff in our Indigenous Issues Interest Group, we recognize that McGill University is located on unceded territory and this list was put together by workers who are settlers and grateful guests on this land. If anyone has any comments or suggestions to improve this display, please feel free to send us an email at hssl.library@mcgill.ca.
One Drum draws from the foundational teachings of Ojibway tradition, the Grandfather Teachings. Focusing specifically on the lessons of humility, respect and courage, the volume contains simple ceremonies that anyone anywhere can do, alone or in a group, to foster harmony and connection.
Tanya Tagaq explores a world where the distinctions between good and evil, animal and human, victim and transgressor, real and imagined lose their meaning, but the guiding power of love remains. Haunting, brooding, exhilarating, and tender all at once, Tagaq moves effortlessly between fiction and memoir, myth and reality, poetry and prose, and conjures a world and a heroine readers will never forget.
Being Together in Place explores the landscapes that convene native and non-native people into sustained and difficult negotiations over their radically different interests. Using ethnographic research and a geographic perspective, this text shows activists in three sites learning how to articulate and defend their intrinsic and life-supportive ways of being – particularly to those who are intent on damaging these places.
A Clan Mother’s Call articulates Haudenosaunee women’s worldview that honors women, clanship, and the earth. Over successive generations, First Nation people around the globe have experienced and survived trauma and colonization. Extensive literature documents these assaults, but few record their resilience. This book fulfills an urgent and unmet need for First Nation women to share their historical and cultural memory as a people. It is a need invoked and proclaimed by Clan Mother, Iakoiane Wakerahkats:teh, of the Mohawk Nation.
On Friday, March 13th, 2020, many of us left campus unsure of when we would be back. Only a day later the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, announced the province had entered a public health emergency set to last only ten days. The McGill Library closed its doors over the weekend and began shifting to remote services. In the early days of the pandemic there was a lot of confusion and uncertainty. There was a lot of fear. But from that fear a light emerged, and people came together (albeit apart) to form new and resilient communities. Here’s what you missed since you’ve been gone.
Collectivity we took up new hobbies like baking, which caused the sale of flour to increase by over 2000%. Some of us got a little too into baking and began naming our sourdough’s, but it’s okay, we forgive you. We looked to crafts like knitting and making homemade masks to help fill our days. Jigsaw puzzles were nearly sold out across the country, and sales worldwide went up by over 300%. And when that wasn’t enough, on March 20th we became obsessed with the Netflix true crime documentary series Tiger King. In the first ten days of the show’s release, it was watched by over 34.4 million households. That’s 34.4 million households who have a lot of questions about Carol Baskin’s husband.
Tiger King wasn’t the only thing we streamed. On July 3rd, Disney+ released a filmed version of the Broadway hit musical Hamilton. Over 22 million households watched and soon everyone was singing. But we all know we will never be satisfied… which is why on October 23rd, 2020, when Netflix released the mini-series The Queen’s Gambit,over 62 million households streamed the show, making it the most watched series in the entire world (the show is an adaption of the Walter Tevis novel of the same name and is available in the McGill Library)! The show sparked a wave of people purchasing chess sets (sales increased by over 1000%) and millions of people signed up to Chess.com. And on December 25th, just when we thought we couldn’t watch anymore television, Netflix released Bridgerton. Over 82 million households rushed to binge the series (though if your parents ask, you skipped episode six), making it the new most watched show in history.
For most of the summer and fall of 2020, the world was captivated by the United States Presidential Election. From Presidential Debates to the counting of the mail-in-ballots, many were glued to their screens waiting to find out who would be the 46th American President. History was made (although not from the number of viewers) as the first ever female Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris – a former resident of Montreal – was elected.
Despite all the ups and down and trivial moments of the past 18 months, perhaps nothing has loomed quite as large as two of the biggest civil rights movements of our time. On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police office, Derek Chauvin. Shortly after footage of the killing was released, protests began to break out across the United States. The public was in an uproar after not only Floyd’s death, but the deaths of many Black individuals at the hands of police. Other countries also saw mass protests occur, despite the pandemic. A wave of support for the Black Lives Matter movement grew online and created a huge push for communities to #DefundThePolice and provide patronage to local Black-owned businesses.
Canada was forced to face its own trauma inflicted upon Indigenous Peoples during colonization as in mid-May 2021, the remains of 215 children were found buried at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. These discoveries continued throughout the summer with 1,504 graves found as of August 2021, with thousands more likely to be discovered. This genocide has brought global attention to the horrors committed by the Canadian government, the Catholic Church, and numerous others involved in the implementation and running of residential schools. For those looking to read more about the impact of residential schools on Indigenous Peoples, we have several materials available at the McGill Library to help you learn.
Over the course of a year and a half, we witnessed major civil rights movements, we were anxious and scared over an uncertain future, and we struggled to find our place. Yet, within all of the confusion, we managed to find light and laughter in our days. And while this pandemic is not yet over and there are many questions left to be answered, the McGill Library has finally reopened its doors. We are excited to have students back in our spaces, though we urge people to get vaccinated and tested for COVID-19 in order to keep our community safe.
The Since You’ve Been Gone Redpath Exhibition will be available during the month of September 2021. Questions or comments can be directed to hssl.library@mcgill.ca.
