Central American Biographies
Giving Voice to
Our Overlooked Histories
The 100 Central American Historical Biographies Project
Latinx Heritage Month
Luis Dominguez is a NASA team member that helped pave the way for global space exploration. For young students of color who want to see themselves in this area, this engineer—who made history in 2020 with the launch of the Perseverance rover to Mars—makes time to serve as a conduit between the world of science and young impressionable minds. CAHAAS met with Luis to learn about and document his experience navigating cultures, his career, and his history-making achievements with NASA for the 100 Central American Historical Biographies project on August 29, 2021.
He is an experienced pathfinder who continues to forge new paths in science and for young students. He has mentored through the Adelante Youth Alliance program in Pasadena, and on his own, knowing that Latinx remain underrepresented in STEM workplaces. Only 8 percent of all STEM workers are Latinos. Representation is a "powerful way of getting kids to do stuff” and “exposing them to different ideas is key.”
Watch the interview here! You can also learn more about Luis Antonio Dominguez by requesting the full interview from the 100 Central American Historical Biographies collection. Contact us at team@cahaas.org
Our Voices, Our History
In 2018, the first stories of the Central American Ancestry Project launched on this site. They captured the untold stories and brief backgrounds of Central Americans in history and of the diaspora in California. The stories inspired us to build a library of biographies of historical importance and make them easily accessible online to learn about the many ways Central Americans have contributed to our society throughout history—the bios may be about known or unknown leaders and individuals whose achievements are overlooked.
Today, the project has evolved into the 100 Central American Historical Biographies campaign with a goal of completing 100 biographical profiles. Explore this community archive that includes video oral histories, virtual exhibits, stories, and web short documentaries. See below.
Do you know a Central American whose achievements have been overlooked?
You can submit their story here.
REQUIREMENTS:
-
The candidate must be from Central America or have at least one parent from Central America.
-
It can be someone in your family, a neighbor, a co-worker, or an ancestor that you feel has played a statewide and/or local positive role in American society.
-
It can be a less known historical figure from Central America; a writer, actor, poet, community leader, teacher, activist, sports figure.
Feel free to nominate a candidate and help us reach our goal. The nominated candidates will be reviewed and selected by an internal team.