Ahdanah

Leticia will use field recordings and photographs that will tell the stories of Philadelphia-based Mexicans who were born in Huejotzingo, Puebla.  Huejotzingo is the cradle of the centennial Carnival, a festival commemorating the 1892 Battle of Puebla. For the past eight years, Mexicans living in South Philadelphia have recreated the celebration here. This multimedia project will serve to document the emerging Mexican immigrant community, share their traditions and their experience with displacement as they create ways to preserve their culture. 

Using the power of photography, written word, and moving images, Ahdanah will create a book of oral stories and photo essays documenting the Mexican community in South Philadelphia. It will serve to bring a multi-layered dimension to the language of families, women, and regional differences of Mexican immigrants in South Philadelphia. Through the inclusion of these voices into daily life, alternative ways of speaking, writing, and self-expression will contribute to their empowerment as a community. To complement this book, she will produce a short documentary that serves to educate and inform this emerging community about their human rights as immigrants.