‘Cambio’ comes to St. Louis

By Cristina García
Adelante staff writer

Soon after the startling results of the 2000 Census, MU’s Hispanic and Latin American Faculty and Staff Association began planning its response: the March 2002 Cambio de Colores (Change of Colors) conference. It drew such a positive response that it quickly became an annual event and a gathering place for community leaders, politicians and scholars of every discipline from across the Midwest.
The conferences focus on issues related to current Latino immigration to the Midwest.
With its third conference now under its belt, the planning committee will soon start planning for next year.
“Cambio de Colores: Gateway to a New Community” was held in St. Louis March 10–12. The conference addressed change and well being, civil rights, education, health, youth families and communities.
“I hope the message was the same for both Latinos and non-Latinos,” said Domingo Martínez Castilla, co-chair of the Cambio de Colores executive committee. “The immigration process brings both economic growth and opportunities for all, but also new demands in social services, and difficulties in cultural relations.”
The conference welcome included remarks from UM system President Elson Floyd. Along with thought-provoking panel discussions, such as the “Perceptions of Health Care Quality” and “Civil Rights: Workers Issues,” there were dances and music representing different cultures and countries of Latin America.
According to Martínez Castilla, the conference helps bridge the gap between Latinos and the majority population with regards to knowledge, labor, salary and social services. He sees the long-term benefits of the conference as knowledge and the sharing thereof.
“Even though Latino professionals have been very visible and much responsible for Cambio de Colores, the annual conference is not a ‘Latino conference,’ but rather a meeting of people in the state working on and concerned about the demographic changes,” Martínez Castilla said.
The conference includes mini-workshops and a session to explore the lessons learned and the items that could be marked as issues needing further action.

Adelante was at press at the time of the conference. For more detailed coverage of the conference, please see www.cambiodecolores.org and the April edition of Adelante.