Across Mississippi and the Southeast, agriculture continues to thrive, in part thanks to the labor, skill, and knowledge of Latinx immigrants. Their contributions extend beyond the soil, shaping the cultural and economic fabric of our rural towns and regions, even amid legal, economic, and social systems deeply rooted in the South.

In this talk, Juan Quinonez Zepeda will explore the South’s historical and ongoing reliance on immigrant labor, the contributions of Latinx workers and producers to our region, and the systems that keep communities, farmers, and our food in a constant state of limbo. This talk is co-sponsored by the Latin American & Caribbean Studies program.

Juan Quinonez Zepeda is a young scholar and Mississippi rancher with a degree in Geography from Dartmouth College. Lectures are free and open to the public.