Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome to Kendall speaks. I'm Dr. Brian Stewart, Kendall campus President, and we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month today. And I'm pleased to welcome the co chairs of our Hispanic Committee to talk about this year's celebration, the importance of honoring our culture and traditions and what Hispanic heritage means to them personally.
With us today are our guest, Dr. Eduardo Feeblest, Chairperson of World Languages. Welcome.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Thank you. Hello.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Glad to have you with us. Dr. Lisa Gonzalez, director of our gear up grant. Welcome.
[00:00:44] Speaker C: Hi, Dr. Stewart.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: And Yanisa Sierra, office specialist with Campus Administrative Services. Welcome.
[00:00:50] Speaker D: Thank you, Dr. Stewart.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: It's great to have you guys with us today. Let's get started by introducing yourself. And I know Lisa and Eduardo, you've been on the program before. But tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got to Miami Dade College and then we'll get on with the questions.
[00:01:04] Speaker C: Sure. I've been at the College for about 16 years. I've been all over education in different places, but I landed in higher education, and Miami Dade College has been my home for 16 years.
I run the Miami Gear Up Grant. It's a program that, that comes out of Kendall campus, and we provide everything that you can possibly think of to get a student to Miami Dade College or to any university. So we do provide tutoring services, we provide college tours, we help with our academic planning, we talk to their parents, we take the parents with us on college tours. So it's a whole different type of a college and career readiness program. Our program is in the fifth year of seven years. Yeah. So we got. We got two more years. And our students right now are in 10th and 11th grade.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: It's great to see them progressing at this stage.
[00:01:50] Speaker C: So thank you.
[00:01:51] Speaker A: And Dr. Fieblis, I'm going to take credit for hiring you.
[00:01:54] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: And so tell us a little bit about your background and your journey to MDC.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Dr. Stewart. Also, I'm Eduardo Fables. I'm the chairperson of the World Languages Department here at Miami Dade College at Kendall. And I've been here two years and change. And as you said, I owe you gratitude for bringing me here. In my previous life, I was a professor of French at Simmons College up in Boston University, and I was there for 20 years. I will tell you that to me, this has been a transformative experience to be here at Miami Dade College. I'm inspired every day for the work that we do here. So thank you for bringing me here.
[00:02:33] Speaker C: Great.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: Glad to have you. Yesenia, tell us about your background. I know you've worked at a Couple of other places. Campuses.
[00:02:39] Speaker D: Yes. Good afternoon, Dr. Stewart. My name is Yesenia Sierra. My role, my current role is office specialist in the administrative services department at the Kendall campus, which allows me to serve students, faculty, and staff.
I started at the college 18 years ago at the Wolfson campus in the college president's office.
I worked along with the president all those years until we got our new president and worked with her for one year and then transferred over to Kendall. And I've loved it ever since.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: We're glad to have you here.
[00:03:10] Speaker D: Thank you so much.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Before we get into the specifics of Hispanic Month, let's. Let's talk a little about each of your cultural backgrounds, because I think you each have a rich history that kind of helps shape our programs. And whoever wants to start. Ladies first. Gentlemen first.
[00:03:25] Speaker C: I'll start.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: So my dad came over from Colombia at 8 years old, and little by little, him and his parents, my grandparents, brought more family over until a lot of de Castros were in Miami.
But they first stopped in New York, then to Miami. So we celebrate our Colombian heritage in so many ways. But I'll tell you one way that I love to celebrate.
I love going to Carnival.
Barranquilla has the second largest carnival, and it's one of the funnest things. And I love our music. And, you know, we are a happy group of people. We will help you be happy. We will buy things to make. Yeah, we know how to party.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: So it's. It's a very welcoming community. And whenever you run into another Colombian, and there's so many parts of Colombia, but if they're apart from your city or your family city, you just stop and start talking. You go to last year's Carnival.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: What's the best restaurant to eat right now?
[00:04:16] Speaker A: So it's about food and partying and having a good time. Dr. Fiblis.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Yes. So my history is interesting because my parents are Cuban.
So both my parents, my mom and my dad, my mom passed away several years ago, but my dad is still alive. He's here in West Palm beach, so I'm taking care of him.
But they left in the 60s. They were kind of the early exiles in 61, and they went to Puerto Rico. So I was actually born in Puerto Rico of Cuban parents. So I have the luck of having really two cultural heritages, my Cuban heritage and my Puerto Rican heritage. And then we moved to the Virgin Islands, to St. Croix Virgin Islands. So I've had those. So we've been going down the Caribbean. As I said, we were going down the Caribbean islands. So that's kind of my cultural background.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Has your dad seen the Freedom Tower? Has he been to the.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: You know, he hasn't yet. He's 80. He's gonna be 89 in two weeks. And I want to take him as one of my, you know, wishes. So maybe for his birthday, I'll take him, you know, because he's gonna be an emotional.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: I think it would be. I think it'd be very. It'd be cool to hear what his perception of it is.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Well, I hope you can do that.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah.
[00:05:28] Speaker D: My parents also came here in the late 60s. My mother was a teenager. My dad was 8 years old. So they practically went to school here and everything.
But when they. When they came to the United States, they were very seasoned in their culture. Very seasoned in their culture. And they raised my siblings and I and in a way, to understand our Cuban roots and, you know, the Cuban food, the Cuban parties, you know, make sure everyone gets together during the holidays for every birthday. You know, food brings people together.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:06:01] Speaker D: And Cubans love to cook, and that's something that has helped shape who I am today.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: Very good, Very good. Well, all three of you have a very good perspective. And so let's talk about the Hispanic Heritage Month a little bit. Dr. Fiblis, tell us what it means and what it means to different people. And what does the celebrating your Hispanic heritage mean to you personally?
[00:06:22] Speaker B: So, you know, as I was explaining earlier, you know, since I have this journey through my parents and my own personal journey in Puerto Rico, you know, and now I'm living here in South Florida, this means really remembering and respecting my past and how I got here. You know, I know that I would never be here without my parents resilience and their traditions. Also, to me, it's a very personal kind of celebration. I also think, as we were saying earlier, that, you know, we talk about the food, we talk about the parties, we talk about carnival. These are all really great things that we bring. But there's also something very in our DNA almost about respecting where I come from. And I think that that's what it means to me personally.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: That's great. That's very good. Well, let's talk about Hispanic Heritage Month specifically. Let's and whoever can jump in here, talk a little bit about what's going to go on in the month. I know we have some really great things planned. Lisa, you want to start?
[00:07:16] Speaker C: So we have a great lineup of so many different activities, and there's something for everyone on this list, our kickoff is going to be the Las Banderas event that will take place next Wednesday afternoon. And we're celebrating the diversity of the students and the faculty and staff on the campus. And we have some Latin bites. We also have a dj and so there'll be some music. And that music will be preparing or warming everybody up for Salsa Social. Salsa Social is coming up on October 7th.
It's welcome to all, all ages, all levels of salsa dancing. It's a lot of fun.
We also have the Hispanic Heritage Literature display that's going to be in the library for the entirety of the month. We have two Latin composers that are to come and speak to us. Dr. F, can you talk a little bit more at that?
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. I'm very excited about this concert. Yeah. Kirk Whipple and Marilyn Morales are going to be performing in dual piano. So there are going to be two pianos and they have a lineup of music. I already looked at the program. They're going to have tangos, they're going to have Roombas, they're going to have a piece by Lecua, which is one of the most important Cuban composers. And so that's going to happen October 14th. So mark your calendars. October 14th, noon to 1pm Building 8, room 8122. So that's going to be one of
[00:08:43] Speaker A: the, you know that's one of our music studios, right?
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Correct. So yeah, and we're going to have a little bit of something to eat after to celebrate with the performers. So that's something coming up. And if I may talk about the we're also on the next day, so mark your calendars for that Wednesday and Thursday, October 15th, we're going to have the privilege of bringing one of our alums from here from Miami Dade College, Nicole Viloria. She's going to be presenting her film Peachy about her experiences with Venezuela and she's an amazing person. I think that this is shows MDC at its best. Nicole Viloria is a Venezuelan writer, director and she studied Comparative literature and film at Yale University after coming after leaving Miami Dade College and she has written, directed and produced award winning short films for festivals like the Yale Student Film Festival and the Eleanor Rose International Film Festival. And she'll be here talking about her film. It's a short documentary that's going to happen Thursday, October 15th at 10:00am Building 6 at the Auditorium and we'll be showing the film and talking to the director.
So please do not miss those two highlights of the Hispanic Heritage Month events.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:10:06] Speaker C: I wish you could see Dr. Phila's face.
[00:10:08] Speaker A: He's very excited.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: He is beaming. He loves to talk about these two events, and they're so important for students to see beyond the classroom and then also to see themselves also be successful and come back and talk to the place where you were.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: You know, I have to tell you, I've only been here a short eight years plus, but coming from Texas and seeing the salsa dancing and all the music, you guys know how to dance here, and it's pretty impressive when you
[00:10:33] Speaker B: have seen me dance.
[00:10:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: Well, when I was at the medical campus, anytime we had music, people were dancing. The music just got them moving. And so as we've done these months here, that's what impresses me, is how many people love to get up there and dance and that kind of thing. That's not how we do it in Texas. We like the two step, but not Yesenia. Tell us a little bit about. For a student who may not come from Hispanic background, what would you want them to experience and learn by participating in Hispanic Heritage Month?
[00:11:02] Speaker D: I think it would be very important for them as students to capture each other's culture, each other's history and experience because it helps them feel valued, it helps them feel seen, and it helps them connect with each other. Representation promotes a sense of belonging and it builds confidence and encourages students to embrace each other, each other's identity while learning from their cultures.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Very good. Very good.
Dr. Fiblis. You've kind of talked about this next one, but I just want to make sure our audience, whether it's students, faculty or staff, are able to participate in the activities. Talk a little bit about that where the information is. Any other help you can give them to make sure they can be a part of Hispanic Heritage Month.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: So first of all, thank you for giving us this platform actually to, you know, basically publicize our events. We want everybody to be there. We want to be inclusive. We want our faculty, our students, our staff to really celebrate with us. And, you know, Miami Dade has an incredible network of media administration that helps us, you know, to publicize. So look at the TVs. We put it on the website.
We are going to use all of our networks to make sure that this is publicized so that that's how we're getting the word out there. If I may, for the flag event, for the bandanas event, we're going to ask athletes, student athletes are going to be their honor students are going to be there, presidential scholars. So the students are getting really involved in this event. And that's the type of event that we want to sponsor where it brings everybody together.
The theme this year is Together we are more. That's the theme. Unidos somos mas. So this really encapsulates that.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: I think the other thing, as you just mentioned, all that you think about the different groups you mentioned, from the athletes to the Honors College, this is streamed through all of those groups. And we have a lot of months that are important. All of them are important. But this month seems to really impact the whole campus in a lot of unique ways.
[00:13:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, people love coming to these events, too, because it's a great time for them to connect. And you don't have to be Hispanic. But appreciating the Latin culture really is fun, Whether you're eating it or dancing or meeting someone new or talking about the last country you went to. I think we all have a common vein that we want to learn from the rest of the world and just happens. Latins bring a lot of it, too.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: One of my favorite things about graduation is when we do the flags, the numbers vary. But I think last year the number sticks in my head. We had 123 different countries.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: It's amazing.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: And, you know, we're unique in that here at Miami Dade. I mean, that's just. And this is an event that I think touches a lot of those countries you guys have mentioned.
[00:13:39] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: Dr. Gonzalez, let's talk a little bit about what message you would like to share with students in the MDC community.
[00:13:45] Speaker C: As we celebrate the message, it really aligns with the theme, which it doesn't have to be that you're Latin or Hispanic. It's just together, we are more, and we can all celebrate together. And there's reasons to celebrate all the time. To celebrate our colleague, to celebrate people in our family. And the way that we do that is very unique than other parts of the world. And I'm so glad to see that Kendall campus helps to take advantage of that and that we get to do that here because it's a really nice thing to see students and faculty and staff come together for an event. And it's always smiles. It's always just a good feeling that I wish we had more of. And our committee has been great in helping us to try to nail down those dates and get things moving forward.
But there is a space for everyone on this campus. We just bring it out a little bit more.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: I think we know how to party.
[00:14:36] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: Yesenia, what would you say that you would want the community and People to know.
[00:14:41] Speaker D: After this month, after this month, I would love for the community, the college community, to understand that together we are more. And that there is a sense of unity in our campus. There is a sense of unity in our community. You don't have to be Hispanic.
Just have to be there. You show up and be part of
[00:15:00] Speaker A: us, and you guys are being commended. You have music, you have art, you have literature, you have food, dance. I mean, you. You kind of hit all the genres. So to our audience, there's got to be something this month that interests you. So. So let's end with something fun. Complete the following sentence. You know, you grew up Hispanic household. When.
[00:15:19] Speaker C: I love this question.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: Okay, well, you get to start.
[00:15:21] Speaker C: I didn't know where to start, but I'll just give you one example. If you're Hispanic and you grew up in a Latin household, you have a bag of bags, and you just keep collecting bags forever. Nobody ever throws his bag out. It moves from different rooms.
Sometimes when you move to another location, you take the bags with you.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: Is it like suitcases or.
[00:15:40] Speaker C: No, it's Publix bags.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: At first I thought it was a great recycling effort on the part of my parents, but it's not. It's just saving more bags. It's a bag of bags.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: The bag of bags. Wow. Dr. Fiblis, you knew you grew up Hispanic and household win.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: Yeah. I also like this question a lot, and I was thinking about it in my office.
I'm going to do two. Two answers, if I may. So one of them is when everybody talks at the same time, yet everyone understands the conversation that happens at every family gathering. You, you know, but you understand all the conversations, and everybody's talking at the same time. And the second is when we're eating, we're talking about food, constantly commenting on how good Abuelita's arro compoyo is. The tostones that Tata made, the ropavieja that Tia brought. And then we're thinking about dessert. So it's all about food.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: And as you talk, you guys use your hands a lot to.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: As I was just doing, which I love.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: That's great, Yesenia. You know, you grew up Hispanic household when.
[00:16:43] Speaker D: Well, you know, you grew up Hispanic in the household. When your parents take you out and you're in an outing and you misbehave. Oh, and they tell you, which means you're in trouble, wait till you get home. You could be punished.
So that's. That was traditional in my household.
I have not followed that tradition.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Okay, good for You.
[00:17:08] Speaker D: But yeah, definitely. And I also like to reiterate on Eduardo Fables comment, when everyone is talking at the same time at any gathering, but yet we all know what we're all talking about. And. And at the end, everybody's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and. And it's great. It's wonderful.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: I doubt you got in trouble.
That's for another day.
Well, I appreciate you guys being here. We always like to end our broadcast by turning the microphones on me. We started this way back with our first broadcast. And by the way, this is our third season for Kendall Speaks, and so we're honored to keep doing this. But one of the very first groups we had was our student government association at the time, and it was unscripted. They asked, can we ask you a question? And so we've had that on every broadcast. And so I'll turn the microphone and turn it over to you guys to ask me whatever you'd like.
[00:18:00] Speaker C: Okay. So, Dr. Stewart, we want to know where's your favorite Latin food spot in Miami?
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, that's a tough question. So I have to tell you a little story, and you're going to have to help me with the name of this one. There's a restaurant across from the Palms. It's on the corner. Starts with a C. La Casita.
[00:18:16] Speaker D: La Carreta.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: Yes. So when I first came here back in 2018, and my wife and I came here and we had to find an apartment, we had to go shopping, so we had to do everything. So we went to a rooms to go, and I think it was near one of the malls. And what's the name of the restaurant?
[00:18:32] Speaker D: La Carreta.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: That's the first place we ate.
[00:18:34] Speaker C: You say it, Dr. Stewart.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: No, my Spanish is more Tex Mex.
And so we ate there, and we had no idea what we were eating. So fast forward to last Thursday.
We got invited on a double date for the couple that we met. And I told my wife that we were going to this restaurant. She goes, there is no way we're going to this restaurant. There's got to be nicer than this, because these people have been here forever. Actually, they actually met at Miami Dade College 30 years ago.
[00:19:01] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: And so the place we went to is in the Palm Shopping Center. You guys know where Dick's Sporting? Good. There's a little road there. At the end of the road, you can see Tap 42 and Chef Adrian. But on the right, there's a Cuban restaurant called La Canita.
Have you been there?
[00:19:17] Speaker C: I haven't no.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Unbelievable. I felt like I was in Lucille Ball, Ricky Ricardo back in the Cuban days, that there is a band playing that kind of music. It's unbelievable. Restaurant. And so we sat there and maybe had an adult beverage or two. And it was an amazing. We just had the appetizers, but that's the most recent place I've been to.
[00:19:36] Speaker C: Good to know. I was hoping you would tell me something I didn't know.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: I'm going to take a couple of friends there in the next week or so, but I highly recommend it.
But it was a really great place.
And so that would be my answer today. But I am.
I love trying new restaurants and almost everybody I meet says, hey, have you been here? Have you been there? And no. The answer is no. So I'm not very experienced in restaurants here.
[00:20:01] Speaker C: We'll send you some names.
[00:20:02] Speaker A: Okay, I'll take them.
What else? Other questions anybody wants to ask?
Y' all gonna let me out that easy?
[00:20:09] Speaker C: Question. I'm gonna ask if you're gonna be at the salsa social, I will, but
[00:20:13] Speaker A: I'm not gonna dance with you.
[00:20:14] Speaker C: That's good enough for sure.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: When is it? Remind me the date.
[00:20:18] Speaker C: It's going to be October 7th.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: I know all those are on my calendar, so I'm looking forward to them. That's one of the things that this campus does exceptionally is the months and everything. And you two are being commended and you also on the committee.
I think it's going to be a proud and great month. So I appreciate all that you do.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: So thank you for your support.
[00:20:37] Speaker C: Dr. Stewart, there is one thing I want to mention. We didn't.
There will be a Cafecito and Domino's event.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: You, you know, play dominoes.
[00:20:45] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:20:46] Speaker C: Come and play dominoes with us. That's gonna happen October 21st.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Do we slam them here?
[00:20:51] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:20:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:52] Speaker C: That's the only way. You have to slam.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:54] Speaker C: And then we. We're also gonna host a Hispanic poetry slam for our students.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:58] Speaker C: So most likely in. Outside of Starbucks.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Okay, that's a great.
[00:21:03] Speaker C: But more details to come. But this. This information will also be sent college wide through emails.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: Yeah, you got a great month. Because the weather starts cooling, you can do some of these events outside and that makes it really great. So. Well, thank you all three for being here today and talking about Hispanic Heritage Month. I want to thank you guys for being our first guests on Kendyl Speaks this season. I also want to thank our head writer, Christina Saenz, Paul Klein, our executive producer, and Alex Bellows, our producer. Thank you for joining us today. And goodbye for now.
[00:21:32] Speaker C: Bye.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Bye.
[00:21:32] Speaker D: Bye, Sam.
