The Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz Justice Institute Launches with Virtual Event

Virtual Event EN LA LUCHA/THE STRUGGLE: What is The Struggle in 2022 for Latinas/For Us All? to be Held on October 6

Hartford - Charter Oak Cultural Center announced today the creation of The Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz Justice Institute dedicated to exploring and perpetuating the landmark work of this significant Latinx theologian and activist. Dr. Isasi-Díaz was a Cuban-American theologian who served as professor of ethics and theology at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey for 28 years. She was the creator of Mujerista theology, a theological approach based on the lived-experience of Latinas.

The Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz Justice Institute, created in partnership with Drew University, launches on Thursday, October 6 at 7pm with a virtual panel discussion entitled EN LA LUCHA/THE STRUGGLE: What Is The Struggle in 2022 for Latinas/For Us All? This free event hosted on Zoom features Dr. Melissa Pagán, Dr. Matilde Moros, Alina Zuniga Pardo and Rev. Dr. Damaris Whittaker discussing the impact, legacy and future of Isasi-Diaz's Mujerista theology. To register for EN LA LUCHA/THE STRUGGLE, visit CharterOakCenter.org/Events/. This event is supported in part by CT Humanities.

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz's system of theological ethics was centered on the wisdom of grassroots Latinas whom she interviewed, eliciting their views on such topics as God, redemption, revelation and then providing extensive excerpts of their responses to her questions in her books. Asasi-Diaz then shared the profits she earned from her publications with these women, demonstrating that their opinions matter, that their insights have value, that they are professional theologians, paid for their ideas.

Rabbi Donna Berman, executive director of Charter Oak, states,"This year marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz. The institute will ensure that her work lives on. Too often, as a result of the racism Latinas routinely still face, their work is undervalued and overlooked. Dr. Isasi-Diaz's pioneering approach to theology and ethics has particular relevance to our situation vis-à-vis the pandemic and the experience of 'essential workers,' many of whom are Latinas who saw and experienced firsthand the impact of the COVID. They witnessed the life and death struggles, the fear, the hardship, the courage and the fortitude of those inflicted with the disease and, despite tremendous hardship, carried on and kept our lives going during this terrifying time. Ada’s method will ensure that these women’s stories—and the values imbedded in them—will be heard and honored and serve as a guiding light as we re-think what the United States is and what it can and should be."

Each year, The Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz Justice Institute will host two lectures on the meaning and impact of Mujerista theology with scholars and activists whose work incorporates the theological method develop by Dr. Isasi-Diaz. In addition, Charter Oak will offer workshops to train Hartford Latinas in the Mujerista methodology so that they can go out and conduct interviews with other Hartford Latinas. From the material gathered, with the participants’ permission, a performance piece will be created and presented to the public and become the basis for a book that carries forward the theologian’s courageous work.

The Rev. Dr. Damaris Whittaker (Moderator) is the Senior Pastor at Fort Washington Collegiate Church and the President of the Collegiate Churches of New York. Born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Rev. Dr. Whittaker is a public theologian deeply passionate about social justice advocating for racial justice, LGBTQ equality, immigration reform, women’s leadership, universal healthcare, and affordable housing.

Dr. Melissa Pagán is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Religious Studies at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Dr. Pagán is a lay Catholic decolonial feminist ethicist. She holds a PhD in Religion, Ethics, and Society from Emory University. Her areas of research include analyses of the logics of global coloniality in the increasing militarization of both physical and ideological borders between persons and issues of race, gender, and sexuality in Catholic Social Thought. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS) and as a co-convener of the Latina/o Theology Consultation of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA).

Dr. Matilde Moros is a theological social ethicist working in the field of gender, sexuality and women's studies. The ethics of resistance and subversion of hegemonic world-views and narratives of power lead her teaching and learning toward a counter-narrative method of decolonial, transnational feminist ethics. Feminist social ethics must respond to sexual and gender violence and the multiple intersections of which race and its various social constructions have led to the exclusion from centers of power of many peoples including Latin American and Latinx communities. Dr. Moros; research on the communal and historical effects of organized resistance to gendered and sexual violence has led her to an approach to liberation ethics in which recovery of resistance methods has become the primary focus.

Alina Zuniga Pardo was born in Cali, Colombia. She holds a BA in Modern Languages and an MA in Spanish and Literature. She teaches Spanish at Southern Connecticut State University, Fairfield University and Capital Community College. She was the organizer of Hartford Immigrant Movement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and is co-founder of Latinas en la Resistencia and Colombianos en accion.

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About Charter Oak Cultural Center

Charter Oak Cultural Center, housed in Connecticut’s oldest synagogue building, is a non-profit, multi-cultural arts center committed to preserving the Jewish Heritage of their building, offering performances, exhibits, classes, free after school programs for inner city youth, lectures, initiatives to serve the homeless, and cultural programming. For more information, visit www.charteroakcenter.org.