As part of the community’s Latino Heritage Month activities, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc, the Latino Community Coalition and Hispanic Center of Western Michigan will host a screening of Project Ñ (Enye), a documentary film that aims to empower and inspire first-generation American born Latinos living in the U.S. Demographers project this group will emerge as the core of the Latino population in the next few decades.

The event occurs at 6:30 PM Monday, October 10 at GVSU’s Loosemore Auditorium (401 Fulton Street West) and will feature Latina filmmaker Denise Soler Cox who will introduce the documentary and lead an audience Q & A following the ~40 minute film. Click here for more event details.

In the film, Soler Cox draws on her personal struggles growing up between two cultures to chronicle the shared experiences of 16 million first-generation American-born Latinos or Enyes (ñs). Their home culture reflects the heritage and traditions of their family’s country of origin and is often in conflict with the mainstream American culture they experience beyond those four walls. Many ñs don’t feel fully connected to either culture – not “American enough” among Americans and not “Latino enough” among Latinos. This leaves many ñs feeling like they don’t truly belong anywhere; but by driving awareness of this shared ñ experience, and giving it a name, Project ñ aims to transform this source of alienation into a source of empowerment, belonging and cultural awakening.

In addition to her work on the film, Soler Cox is a regular blog contributor to Huffington Post Latino and a syndicated content provider for AOL.com. She has been featured on several media outlets, including CNN Money, NBC News, Fox News Latino and Telemundo.

The presentation is cosponsored by Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Celebration! Cinema, The Rapid transit authority and WGVU Public Radio.

For more information on the Enye generation, please see this demographic portrait prepared by the Pew Research Center.

For additional information please contact me or Julio Cano (julio.cano@spectrumhealth.org) with the Latino Community Coalition.