FEATURING: Camilo Montoya
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Often the Latinx community are made to feel they need to forget and erase the culture of their country of origin and speak English fluently in order to be seen as a “real American.” The Latinx community contributes so much to the U.S. economy while being paid substandard wages, and yet are treated as if they do not exist.
All of this negatively affects how the Latinx community are perceived and diminishes their sense of belonging. Our next speaker, Camilo Montoya (he/him/el), spent many years feeling he had no community to rely on, and began making films in order to connect with the immigrant community here in the US. His films have also helped him re-connect with his community back in Nicaragua by sharing his appreciation and respect for the struggle of the Latinx community as a whole.
In this Making-Visible webinar, Camilo will share his perspective of the the impact of misrepresentation of latinos in the media. He will also share the role that art and creative expression plays in healing generational trauma.
Camilo is a multimedia storyteller from Managua, Nicaragua and came to Silver Spring, MD with his family in 2013 when he was 12 years old. He is best known in the DMV area for his original spoken word performances, performed at the Strathmore and the Kennedy Center.
Back home in Nicaragua, he has made a name for himself working with the Nicaraguan Freedom Coalition (NFC) and the Alianza Democrática Nicaragüense (ADN). Shortly after his nomination for best director at the National Student Production Emmy’s in 2020, Camilo founded Slice4Life Productions, a video production company committed to racial justice and community building. He partners with non-profit organizations and businesses that directly benefit the Latinx community.
We are excited to learn much more about Camilo’s experiences and how he has found community through activism. We hope you will join us.