Reform @ 50: Colombian Migrations and Identities in NYC since Hart Celler Act of 1965

The Hart-Celler, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, fundamentally changed the demographics of our nation. Still the foundation of immigration law today, the legislation brought in tens of millions of people from Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean, phasing out the 1920s quota system, which had sealed the borders to everyone but northern Europeans. This program focuses on musical migrations post-Hart-Celler to note cultural contributions by Colombian musicians and how they illuminate the current discussion of immigration reform. A lecture by ethnomusicologist and FolkCOLOMBIA Musica y Danza project director Dr. Jorge Arevalo Mateus (Center for Traditional Music and Dance) will be followed by a performance by Afro-Pacifico Colombian master musician and marimba de chonta player Diego Obregon. Programmed in partnership with Queens Museum. At Queens Museum, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Admission is free.