Dr. Barbara Sostaita speaks at ISU Latinx Heritage Month Event

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State University’s Latin American and Latinx Studies program is hosting a series of events with presentations from various speakers to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month. The celebrations run through Sept. 17 and Nov 1.

Barbara Sostaita, holds a doctoral degree in religious studies from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Sostaita is an Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her book “Sanctuary Everywhere: the Fugitive Sacred in the Sonoran Desert” shares moments filled with care and intimacy on the migrant trail.

In her lecture, Sostaita focused mainly on one chapter of her book, which follows Álvaro Enciso as he makes and plants crosses in the Sonoran Desert to honor migrants who have died in their attempt to cross the Sonora Arizona borderlands. As former undocumented migrant from Argentina, she shares her passion for telling migrant stories.

“I’m committed to making sure that the work I produce and the stories I tell center migrants, not as heroes, not as martyrs, not as one dimensional.” Sostaita said, “Migrants are much more than that, we are complex… we are restless.”

Additionally, she reflects upon the importance of sharing these stories at a predominantly white university, and creating spaces where migrant history and issues are central.

“It’s not just a story… it’s a way of seeing the world, of changing the world. These stories push us to think, to reflect, to change, and to push for change.” Sostaita said, “Hopefully, white students can also learn and take these themes seriously.”

Sostaita shared in her lecture the moment following the 2016 election, sharing that those feelings may arise again depending on the results of the upcoming election. Sostaita urges voters to be critical of both parties, and to take this as an opportunity to reflect on how migration shapes everyone.

She ended her lecture with a closing ritual in her book. The ritual was inspired by an experience at a Tuscon shrine called, “El Tiradito.” It is the only shrine in the United States for someone who committed a sin. The ritual where the names of 53 dead migrants who died in a tractor trailer in Texas were read aloud. Attendees then said, “presente” or present to honor the presence of the deceased migrants.

Sostaita had lecture attendees follow her in reading the names of unidentified and identified migrants who died in the Sonoran Desert. After their name was read aloud, attendees said “presente” to honor and to continue to speak migrant names even after their deaths.