On June 7, Jose Hernandez Lozano, Human Services major, gave a presentation about his spring semester independent study project, Chicanos: Forgotten in NYC. Working with co-advisors Professors Marcia Edwards and Valdon Battice, Jose interviewed 56 members of the Chicano community and took 43 photographs to document their community experience in America. Born in Mexico, this project inspired Jose to reconnect with his identity and culture by telling the story of Chicanos, who are often misunderstood and not well represented. Jose hopes the project will help to validate the Chicano community.
As part of the project, Jose developed a questionnaire to assess community needs. From the responses, he identified gaps in services and created a community resources brochure that he has distributed throughout New York City neighborhoods where Chicanos live. The project’s empathetic ethnographies and compelling portraits of an underrepresented community provide an important lens into the universality of all people.
