Writing is a passion to Chicana Pat Mora. She is a writer of books, essays, poems, children's books and memoirs.

“I am as happy as can be, just me and my computer for hours at a time,” Mora said.

“Language liberates us. We feel less lonely,” Mora said in her lecture given on March 1 at Buffalo State College, presented by the Barnes and Noble College Bookstore.

Mora visited the college to for a celebration in National Women of Color Day, with a speech and a book signing.

“I am as happy as can be, just me and my computer for hours at a time,” Mora said.

Female Minorities

When asked why she was a writer, Mora answered: “I am a writer because I was a reader. Books help us to connect to certain parts of ourselves.”

She means people can't simply be classified in one box. For example a woman is also:

• mother
• daughter
• sister
• wife
• hobbies
• occupation

Día de los Niños

Mora is a part of “El Día de los Niños.” It is a day for children and reading. It is a literacy project that was started in the 1920s in Geneva, Switzerland, for the well-being of children. Each country picked a day to celebrate, and Mexico picked April 30.

El Día de los Niños/ El Día de los Libros,” was started in 1997. In Mora's lecture, she tried to encourage all people to join in with the Mexicans on April 30 in our own communities, just by doing something small, like trying to get bilingual books into local libraries.

America is rich in language. Mora said: “One in five residents speak another language than English at home.”

Although America has such diversity, many languages are endangered. People tend not to be able to be themselves if they speak a different language than the official language of the country they are in. Languages are stigmatized. Foreigners everywhere feel as though they do not belong. They are inferior. People laugh at them.

Mora noticed something interesting in her years of lecturing. It is all an issue of class. Private schools have children who have money. There, the students are English-speaking and then learn Spanish, either from school or their Spanish-speaking maid, and have Spanish as a plus. But, students from public schools, who are poor and grew up speaking Spanish, have Spanish as a minus.

Lack of Role Models

Despite what many may think, Mora said, “There can be brilliant Mexican women,” as well as Asian, African, Puerto Rican and Indian women. Many people think that is just an oxymoron.

Because of this, Mora never grew up with Mexicana / Chicana authors. All her literary role models were American names, like Emily Dickinson. She missed out on authors from Chicana literature.

The lecture was free and open to the public held on the college campus. Most of the people there were English students receiving extra credit, as well as other students, professors and collegiate outsiders who came to listen to hear Mora speak. After the lecture, many of the listeners stayed around to try and talk to Mora, and get her autograph on the various books that were sold prior to the lecture.

E-mail: Shiele95@mail.buffalostate.edu