El Día de Los Niños

El Día de los Niños (Children’s Day), originated in 1925 after the first World Conference for the Well-being of Children and is observed throughout Latin America. It is now adopted by schools and libraries throughout the United States, as April 30 marks a special day to remember and honor the joys and wonders of childhood and acknowledge the importance of books. I remember celebrating April 30 when I was a child, and I think everyone should acknowledge the importance of children in this world. The Latino Institute at the City of Phoenix held their annul Día de los Niños celebration at the Margret T. Hance Park in Central Phoenix today. During my high school years, I would volunteer my entire day to this great event. I think cultural diversity is of great importance in todays society and I love to share and gain knowledge of other cultures. So, in case you were or were not aware of El Día de los Niños ... lets all celebrate our greatest asset tomorrow, the children.

If you would like to learn more about El Dia de los Niños, please visit the National Latino Children's Institute website.


-Elenia : )

Heart of the City Tour

On Tuesday night I went to an awesome concert: The Heart of the City tour!! Jay-Z and Mary J Blige co-hosted this amazing concert!! I had class until 7:30pm and that was the exact time that the concert was set to begin. I ran back to my room, ate as quickly as possible and left with my friend Aaron as we basically sprinted to the concert. The opening act was The Dream. We arrived just as he began his last song, which was followed by an intermission. Mary J Blige and Jay-Z then came on stage together. The crowd went crazy for these two music legends! Mary J then sang many of here song, which I think I knew pretty much all of them. Jay-Z came on for another hour or so and rocked the crowd. He is astounding performer and had everyone at the US Airways Center on their feet. This is one of the most hype concerts I have ever been to (with Mariah Carey’s concert being my favorite, of course). The most wonderful thing about all of this was that we walked over to the US Airways Center not having to worry about parking! It honestly took us a few minutes and we were there. I love living Downtown where all of these wonderful amenities are within walking distance!

Downtown Tunnel of Oppression

Yesterday March 31, the organization that I am vice-president for named Downtown Tunnel of Oppression had its grand event. This event had a year in the making. Check out our story that was featured on the front page of the State Press yesterday - Through a Dark Tunnel, Enlightenment. The organization helps to promote awareness of oppressions that still exist in this world today. The actual event was a sensatory experience that informed you about social justice issues and put you in the shoes of the oppressed. This year we focused on racial, socio-economic and gender injustices. The Tunnel event was set up between four rooms, which were divided off into sections. Our first room was an auditory room where very oppressing and derogatory words where said, which followed by a privilege walk. Then you would enter and navigate through sections in the following three rooms which included skits, media clips, a vigil, monologues and the opportunity to express your emotions and reactions both by writing on our wall and a dialogue with Intergroup Relations Center facilitators. I really think that it is a great event that forces you to spark questions about what is happening around the word and in our own back yard. Which will then hopefully lead to participants finding their inner social advocate. This will be an annual event so please look for it next spring! If you have either a myspace or facebook page and would like to stay up to date with the organization, please look us up!