The 6 Latinos Winners of the Prestigious MacArthur “Genius Award” – El Tiempo Latino

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (or MacArthur Foundation) announced this September 28 the 25 winners of its prestigious “prize for geniuses” -as it is known colloquially- among which are six winners of Latin origin or Hispanic.

The foundation, recognized for its support to individuals, institutions and networks of influence that promote a “more just, green and peaceful world”, seeks with its award to highlight the originality, dedication and creativity of talented individuals in various sectors.

The winners, selected by a diverse and anonymous board, each receive US $ 625,000 – distributed in installments over 5 years – to be invested without any conditions in the development of their activity or person.

“As we emerge from the shadows of the past two years, this promotion of 25 award-winners helps us reimagine what is possible. Show that creativity has no borders“Stated Cecilia Conrad, executive director of the MacArthur Award, on its website.

“Once again, we have the opportunity to celebrate, recognizing the potential to create objects of beauty and admiration, advance our understanding of society and foster changes to improve the human condition,” he added.

A writer and radio producer, a couple of filmmakers and documentary makers, a sculptor and painter, a historian and a microbiologist are the six Latinos awarded this year.

Get to know them more thoroughly:

Daniel Alarcón – journalist, writer and radio producer

Born in Lima, Peru, Alarcón is the co-founder and host of Radio Ambulante, a program narrated in Spanish and distributed by NPR -the United States public radio- that explores the ties that connect Spanish-speaking communities throughout the Americas.

The episodes, produced with the contribution of journalists from all over the Hispanic world mix investigative journalism, interviews and storytelling to cover a range of topics from more than 20 countries in the region.

He is the author of several novels that, although written in English, cover topics relevant to Latin American problems, such as political violence, civil wars and migration. Among these stand out Lost City RadiO, At Night We Walk in Circles and The King Is Always Above the People.

He recently launched a weekly news podcast, El Hilo, in which he brings together reporters and experts to address the hottest topics in Latin America.

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Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera – filmmakers and documentary makers

Alex Ribera and Cristina Ibarra

Ibarra and Rivera are the first married couple to receive the MacArthur award.

Cristina is the daughter of a middle-class migrant Mexican family and grew up in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the two cities on either side of the border.

Your experience as a migrant and your interest and activism in Chicano culture and politics (the urban Mexican-American identity) are reflected in his film productions.

Set along the border, focused on Latino families, his films address generational conflict, displacement, labor struggles, and community violence.

Among his documentaries stands out The Marthas, from 2014, in which two young women and their families prepare for a debutante party in Laredo, Texas, with all the emotional, economic and identity tension that entails.

She recently collaborated with her husband, fellow filmmaker and media artist Alex Rivera, on The Infiltrators (“Los infiltrados”), about two activists who manage to be incarcerated as undocumented and once in prison educate inmates about their rights and organize them to fight against deportation.

Born in New York to a Peruvian father, Rivera also explores migration issues, but dabbles in globalization and technology issues from an activist stance.

It addresses exploitative labor practices, surveillance technologies, and migration policies in a mix of genres, from long and short documentaries, music videos, and multimedia installations.

His first full-length film was Sleep Dealer, a science fiction film about low-income Mexican workers who control robots in US factories using technology implanted in their bodies, to satisfy an insatiable market.

In collaboration with Ibarra in The Infiltrators, He deployed his artistic abilities to contribute to the dialogue on immigration policy and citizenship in the United States.

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Daniel Lind-Ramos –sculptor and painter

Daniel Lind-Ramos

Lind-Ramos was born and raised in Loíza, a coastal town in Puerto Rico with a vibrant tradition of African culture.

His art transforms everyday objects into sculptures that capture the social history, religious rites, and the natural and manufactured environment of your Afro community.

Tropical vegetation is a prominent theme in his art, particularly the parts of the palm, whose coconut oil used to play an important role in the town’s economy.

But also juxtaposes these organic elements with manufactured materials to create effects that alternate between happy and dark, humor and omen.

In one of his most emotional creations, María-María (2019), the artist incorporated the bright and blue canvases of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a symbolic evocation of the Virgin Mary opposed to the destructive effect of Hurricane María that it devastated the island in 2017, highlighting at the same time the failure of the US government to help the population.

Lind-Ramos has exhibited in museums in the US, Puerto Rico and France. He is currently a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, in Humacao.

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Mónica Muñoz Martínez – public historian

Monica Muñoz Martínez

Muñoz Martínez was born in Uvalde, Texas, to Mexican parents. He graduated in Ethnic Studies and Civilization from Brown University, United States, followed by a Ph.D. from Yale University and a post-doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin.

His areas of research include studies of Latino communities, immigration, and the history of violence and police. However, the focus of his interest has been on the history of anti-Mexican violence in the southwestern United States and the legacy it has left in the current population.

In his work, Muñoz Martínez combines traditional archival research methods with the compilation of oral histories and memorabilia of the descendants of the victims to incorporate them into the public sphere and inform the public.

In his book The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas (“Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas”), Muñoz Martínez delves into three cases of summary killings committed during a particularly brutal period, between 1910 and 1920.

With a group of historians, he co-founded the NGO Refusing to Forget, which organizes exhibitions and creates teaching materials on historical events of violence.

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Victor Torres

Dr. Torres graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, in Mayagüez, with a degree in Industrial Microbiology. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology at New York University.

His research focuses on multidrug resistant bacteria that cause disease and in identifying new therapies to fight and prevent infection.

The focus of his work is around the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA, a virulent and often antibiotic-resistant strain that is responsible for millions of illnesses and tens of thousands of deaths a year.

After complex experiments and studies, Torres discovered that the bacteria’s toxins overwhelm the immune system by attacking specific cells – instead of indiscriminately attacking the host – which contradicts the old models and has important implications for vaccine development.

Dr. Torres has greatly advanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of this bacterium and has developed several potential treatment strategies that will be critical in the battle against this global human health threat.



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