My name is Stephanie Bravo Lopez and I’m from New York City. I attended and graduated from Little Red Schoolhouse and Elisabeth Irwin High School. My parents were born and raised in Mexico and emigrated to the United States; therefore, I was raised with a strong emphasis and pride on my culture. My culture and my parent’s immigration story is something that has largely influenced my passion social justice and has allowed me to work on the front lines of the immigration and the farm worker justice movement. However, in doing this work I realized the lack of knowledge I had regarding Latino history in the United States. One of my personal, continuous, goals is to educate myself more on Mexico and Latin America’s history as I grew up solely learning about European and American history. Decolonizing my history has allowed me to learn more in depth about the history behind Mexico’s culture and traditions. This is combination with dancing ballet folclórico has expanded my knowledge of Mexican culture and has allowed me to learn the prehispanic history of Mexico through dance. Through this class I hope to learn more about the effect of Hispanics in Hartford and the greater Connecticut community and its influence over the culture and government.