Deeply rooted: 'Voces de Latinidad' unveils the history of Hispanic identity in New Mexico

“Voces de Latinidad” explores the diversity and complexity of the many cultural aspects that shape identity in some of New Mexico’s oldest communities.

The original documentary film will premiere at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Saturday, Nov. 9. Refreshments and music will kick off the event at 6 p.m., with the film screening at 6:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion.

Deeply rooted: 'Voces de Latinidad' unveils the history of Hispanic identity in New Mexico

“This was (done with) a grant that was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for the purposes of creating a documentary film,” said Noël Bella Merriam, NHCC artistic director. “The call for proposals had to do with the project celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Constitution of the United States of America. And I got the opportunity right after I came to the NHCC in January of 2022. I thought, the Barelas neighborhood is 300 years old, where the NHCC is, so what a great story to tell when you’re thinking about the passage of time within the United States and how it relates to Hispanic culture.”

The film is directed by Merriam and Alicia Lueras Maldonado.

“I think one of the things that we learned is that there is a really strong desire for folks to share their own personal stories, to have places to come together and share their own histories, stories about their culture, their communities and being able to just provide the space for that,” Lueras Maldonado said. “I think what we also learned is that the idea of identity, particularly in New Mexico, is unique to New Mexico. And as Noël mentioned, communities like Barelas are older than the United States of America, and many families in New Mexico have been here long before it was part of the United States.”

Lueras Maldonado said a couple of other communities that the documentary focuses on is Atrisco, which is also one of the oldest historic communities in the area, and the greater South Valley.

“The takeaway is that identity is fluid, that it constantly changes,” Lueras Maldonado said. “The way you felt about your identity in your younger years might be very different as you start to age and to do more self exploration and self discovery. And that was a big takeaway, I think, for us, just the start of what we hope can be more conversations like this.”

Merriam said another thread that came through very strongly, as she and Lueras Maldonado were talking about families and history and identity within Barelas and Atrisco in the South Valley, was something that resonates with people who are Hispanic or Latinx or Chicana/Chicano throughout the United States.

“That is the ebb and flow of Spanish language across generations and throughout families,” Merriam explained. “I think it’s expressed in very beautiful ways by all of the participants, the storytellers who were willing to give their time to be a part of this project, people from the community, and then I think also the intersectionality of identity in a place like New Mexico.”

Merriam added that the project is very much rooted in place.

“One of the things that is very special about this part of New Mexico and throughout New Mexico is also that there’s intersectionality,” she said. “Hispanic identity is interwoven with Indigenous identity, and we were very fortunate to be able to have some of our community listening sessions at places like the Gutiérrez-Hubble House as well as the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, to involve more people from the community who might not necessarily engage with the NHCC and help them to find connection.”

Merriam said there are a lot of those histories that are hidden, and a lot of our identities are situational.

“What we share depends upon who we’re with,” she explained. “Like Alicia was saying, our identity is very fluid, and it can change over time, and it can change depending on who we’re in community with. I think that all of the participants in the film expressed it so beautifully.”

This film was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support was provided by the DEI United Fund of North Central New Mexico United Way and the Albuquerque Community Foundation.

“The structure of the grant was that we had six community listening sessions in the summer of 2023 and Alicia was the project manager for this. She and the assistant project manager, Antonio Marquez, who’s also a filmmaker, helped to bring together an amazing group of scholars and culture bearers and people from a variety of different backgrounds,” Merriam said.

The six sessions were led by Damián Vergara Wilson, who is a professor in the Spanish as a Heritage Language Program at the University of New Mexico; Joanna Keane Lopez, who led an adobe making workshop; Loida Maritza Pérez, who is the executive director of AfroMundo; Mónica Sánchez, who is a theater professor; Antoinette Rael, who’s in the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at UNM; and Gregorio Gonzales, who was working as the tribal liaison for the Department of Cultural Affairs.