{"id":1189,"date":"2017-01-19T23:14:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T23:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1189"},"modified":"2017-01-19T23:14:15","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T23:14:15","slug":"tstc-promotes-social-diversity-with-empowerment-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1189","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Promotes Social Diversity with Empowerment Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Student Support Services at Texas State Technical College will host its Third Annual Empowerment Conference on January 26 to increase awareness about Chicanos and the lowrider movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the conference is to provide a cultural awareness to the unfamiliar,\u201d said Patty Flores, TSTC Student Support Services coordinator.<\/p>\n

Past conferences have focused on Human Trafficking, and Gangs Next Door, aimed to educate a law enforcement, caseworker and advocate audience. This year\u2019s conference is open to the general public.<\/p>\n

The idea for this conference stemmed from a session held last year at TSTC\u2019s Humanities Symposium during which the Chicano history and the culture surrounding it was highlighted.<\/p>\n

According to Flores, response from students was impressive, so her department decided to take it to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople belonging to the\"Empowerment<\/a> lowrider communities are always facing stereotyping which has negatively affected this subculture said Flores. \u201cThis population in the RGV is large, making it time to show the positive impacts they have on the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are a number of lowrider car clubs across the Rio Grande Valley, resulting in the RGV Lowrider Council. In addition to cruising the cities and participating in car shows, many of the clubs are also fundraising for their communities.<\/p>\n

Flores said many lowrider car club members join forces to hold benefits, fundraisers and toy drives for the less fortunate, in addition to assisting local military veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is these positive contributions we want people to become aware of during our conference,\u201d said Flores. \u201cThis is a multi-generational lifestyle and the majority aren\u2019t troublemakers, like many may think.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help dissolve negative stereotypes, there will be several keynote speakers who will discuss the past, present and future of the lowrider community. Representatives from the RGV Lowrider Council; Boss Entertainment; Vatos, Rucas and Ranflas; and car clubs will lead discussions.<\/p>\n

Adan Hernandez, whose art was used for the 1993 movie \u201cBlood In and Blood Out,\u201d will also speak. A banner replica of Hernandez\u2019s famous \u201cCarnalismo Portrait\u201d and his art work will be on display during the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do we want to send out a positive image, but we also want students and our community to be exposed to different cultures and lifestyles,\u201d said Flores. \u201cThis will be an educational experience for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC students, faculty, staff and the surrounding communities are invited to attend this conference. It runs from noon to 5 p.m., and will conclude with a Show and Shine Car Show from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

There is no fee to attend the conference or car show.<\/p>\n

To register, TSTC Support Services has set up an Eventbrite page at http:\/\/bit.ly\/2gdp9bb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information call TSTC Support Services at 956-364-4525.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Student Support Services at Texas State Technical College will host its Third Annual Empowerment Conference on January 26 to increase awareness about Chicanos and the lowrider movement. \u201cThe purpose of the conference is to provide a cultural awareness to the unfamiliar,\u201d said Patty Flores, TSTC Student Support Services coordinator. Past conferences have focused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}