Hostos and Mott Haven Community Partnership Celebrate Pride and Caribbean Heritage at the College

On Thursday, June 27, Hostos Community College proudly hosted the Mott Haven Community Partnership’s (MHCP) general meeting and panel discussions commemorating Pride Month and Caribbean Heritage Month. Now in its fourth year, the event was designed to spark conversations that contribute to how organizations conduct outreach to diverse community members and facilitate intersectional change within different sectors. 

The College’s Savoy Multipurpose Room, where the event was held, was awash in beautiful rainbow colors and Pride Flags, and centerpieces at each table featured flags from different Caribbean countries, reflecting and amplifying different facets of LGBTQIA+ and Caribbean pride and identities.

Hostos President Daisy Cocco De Filippis warmly welcomed guests and expressed her immense delight in joining the MHCP for such an important event. “Hostos has long supported, encouraged and celebrated the glorious diversity of its students attaining an education and seizing the opportunities in life [that] education makes possible,” she said during her remarks. “It’s not a matter of one size fits all. There are a thousand different paths to success in the classroom and in the world beyond the College doors.” 

President Cocco De Filippis went on to reflect on how programs like the Office of Health and Wellness’ Family Empowerment Program (FEP) provide wrap-around support for our student-parents’ unique needs, and she shared that Hostos “upholds CUNY’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by offering a variety of LGBTQIA+ classes to our students.” 
She also shared her belief that the future of the Bronx is bright, and the people gathered in the room with her were among the reasons why. “This is why having the Mott Haven Community Partnership here means the world to us and the College opens its doors to be part of the conversations with the community and celebrate you all,” she said. 

Christeen Francis, Hostos’ FEP coordinator and the College's Representative in the MHCP, was instrumental in bringing the event to the College. “Annually, we host the Mott Haven Community Partnership program, and all of our collaborators come together in June — it’s Pride Month, but it’s also Caribbean Month, so we combine them so that we can invite our partners so that they can learn from each other and celebrate,” she shared. 

The morning’s program was moderated by Dan J. Montas Tran, MHCP Program Director, and included remarks from Ronald E. Richter, CEO and Executive Director of JCCA, who reflected on the importance of representation and community for LGBTQIA+ youth and adults in helping them live authentically and reminding them that they are “just right” as they are. Justin Sánchez, Chief of Staff to State Senator Nathalia Fernández, 34th Senate District, also delivered remarks in which he touted the work and expressed his appreciation for LGBTQIA+ staffers working in government and who are often doing important work behind the scenes that lead to significant intersectional change. 

The program continued with two panel discussions. Jomil Luna, Pharmacy Sales Rep at AHF and LGBTQIA+  Advocate, moderated the first panel featuring Nicholas Matthew Stanton, Chief Program Officer, Drive Change, Inc.; Dr. Carmen Oviedo Hilario, Board-Certified Internist and Medicine Department Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Program at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln; Jaden Vasquez, Senior Planner in Topography and LGBTQIA+ Taskforce Co-Chair, Bronx Borough President’s Office; and Steven Gordon, Director of LGBTQ Equity Strategies, Equity Strategies Office of the First Deputy Commissioner/Administration for Children’s Services. Together, they discussed LGBTQ+ resources and accessibility, touching on topics such as what Pride means to them and why LGBTQ+ inclusion is important in the workplace, LGBTQ+-inclusive community outreach, and more. 

 
The second panel was moderated by Mario Colón, VP for Special Initiatives, Hispanic Federation, and included insight from panelists Joshua Yellen, Community Outreach Coordinator, Neighborhood Association for Intercultural Affairs (NAICA); Sage Rivera, Chief Strategy Officer, Destination Tomorrow – The Bronx LGBTQ Center; Ramdat Singh, District Leader, 81st Assembly District, teacher and advocate; and Mohamed Q. Amin, Founder and Executive Director, Caribbean Equality Project. They discussed the importance of organizations and their impact on the community.