This spring, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Edwin Mayorga gave a talk, La Política Desde Abajo/Politics from Below: U.S. Latinx Politics Following the 2016 Election.

In 2010, President Obama noted that the future of public education and the nation in general was inextricably linked to the future of U.S. Latinxs. Despite becoming the largest minoritized group in the U.S., Latinxs are often misunderstood and invisible until it is politically convenient. In his lecture, Mayorga discusses ways that Latinxs have already been engaging in a “politics from below” and what direction these efforts might take in this new presidency.

Mayorga identifies as a parent-educator-scholar-activist, and his work focuses on examining the intersections of education policy, urban development, critical pedagogy, and Latinx communities. He works through a critical participatory action research framework that he applies to varying degrees in a number of projects, including the Education in our Barrios Project #BarrioEdProj; the Community, Schools, College Partnership study; and the Ethnic Studies Philadelphia project (#EthnicStudiesPHL). He works with his students to manage #CritEdPol, an undergraduate online journal of Critical Education Policy Studies. Mayorga is also a participant of the Caucus of Working Educators in Philadelphia, a member of the National Latino Education Research & Policy Project, and a community advisory board member of the Participatory Action Research Center for Education Organizing.

This talk is part of the Second Tuesday Cafe lecture series, which this academic year focused on the 2016 presidential election and its significance. Co-convened this year by Richter Professor of Political Science Carol Nackenoff and Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies Sa’ed Atshan '06, the talks provided interdisciplinary perspectives on critical issues underlying the campaign and the likely consequences of the election on domestic and foreign affairs. Sponsored each year by the Aydelotte Foundation, these monthly talks are geared for individuals with no formal background in the subject being discussed. The only requirement is curiosity.