Feminist and women’s rights activist to visit Kent State Wednesday

Matthew Merchant

The Wick Poetry Center will host author and poet Daisy Hernandez Wednesday. Hernandez is a Latina advocate for feminism, racial equality and queer identity.

According to her biography, growing up in New Jersey gave Hernandez the real world experience dealing with racial and minority discrimination. As an author and poet, she has spoken against racial stereotypes and helped promote female equality.

The presentation will be held in the Kiva from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m and is co-sponsored by the Spanish and Latino Student Association and Wick Poetry Center.

“We live in a world where violence against women is very much a part of life,” said Hernandez in a speech at Sonoma State University in 2009, which is available on her website.

In her video, Hernandez recalls how she “brought to (her) feminism a very personal experience,” while reporting on minority issues and domestic abuse stories as an intern at the New York Times.

In 2002 she co-authored the book “Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism,” a collection of emerging writers that addresses issues of women’s rights and ethnic heritage.

According to its website, Bitch magazine, a non profit feminist media publication with a mission to “encourage an engaged, thoughtful response to mainstream media,” said in a review of the book, “Maybe it can help ensure that race is an integral element of feminist dialogue and keep women from leaving the women’s studies classroom when discussions of race begin.”

Contact Matthew Merchant at [email protected].