Glenview · Glenview, IL
Watch the 1973 documentary and explore the experiences of a Mexican American family navigating culture, identity, and belonging in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. Stay for a panel discussion with director Susan Stechnij, Professor Xóchitl Bada, and Brian Herrera as they reflect on the film's lasting relevance. In partnership with Building Peaceful Bridges. Susan Stechnij is an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker whose work explores the lived experiences of Mexican American communities in Chicago. While completing her master's degree in anthropology at the University of Illinois, she directed and produced Mi Raza: Portrait of a Family (1973), an intimate documentary following the multi-generational Navarro family in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood as they navigate cultural identity, assimilation, and the emerging Chicano movement. Stechnij previously worked as an applied anthropologist in Pilsen and Little Village, using film and video to document community life for both scholarly research and the communities themselves. Her thoughtful, collaborative approach to ethnographic filmmaking continues to influence conversations about immigration, cultural preservation, and community-centered storytelling. Xóchitl Bada is a Professor in the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Peasant Studies, Forced Migration Review, Population, Space, and Place, Latino Studies, and Labor Studies Journal. She is the author of Mexican Hometown Associations in Chicagoacán: From Local to Transnational Civic Engagement (Rutgers University Press, 2014) and coauthor with Shannon Gleeson of Scaling Migrant Worker Rights (University of California Press, 2023). Her areas of specialization include migrant access to political and social rights, migrant organizing strategies, violence and displacement, and transnational labor advocacy mobilization in Mexico and the United States. She is co-editor of the books New Migration Patterns in the Americas. Challenges for the 21st Century (Palgrave, 2018), Accountability across Borders: Migrant Rights in North America (The University of Texas Press, 2019), the Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Latin America, and The Routledge History of Modern Latin American Migration. Brian Herrera is the Community Engagement Manager at the Latino Policy Forum, where he works to expand equitable educational opportunities for Latino students and English learners across Illinois. Through bilingual workshops, presentations, and community partnerships, he supports families from early childhood through college with a focus on college readiness, access, and completion. A first-generation, low-income college graduate and parent, Brian brings both professional expertise and personal experience to his work. He has presented at conferences statewide and has been featured by Univision, Chicago Tribune, The Herald-News, and The Patch for his efforts to promote college access. He earned his bachelor’s degree from National Louis University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Northern Illinois University.
