Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley Fights Pandemic: An Interview with Victoria Montero

Victoria Montero is the director of the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley (HCLV). The Hispanic Center has been a central leader in providing Latinx community members with support during the Covid-19 pandemic. Southsider interviewed Montero to learn about the important work of HCLV in rising to the challenges presented by the pandemic. HP: To…

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Women of Bethlehem Steel: Spotlight on Judy Hoffert by Hannah Provost

Later in life, Judy Hoffert would learn how dangerous her husband’s job was working the blast furnaces. The one time she was able to visit his work, she recalls the space being freezing cold and very dangerous. During his time at the Steel, there had been an explosion at the blast furnaces that killed two men, though Jeff had not been there at the time. Another time, Jeff had witnessed a man almost killed when he got run over by a truck. As more and more of these incidents happened, Judy says her husband became increasingly reticent, keeping these traumas to himself so that she did not have to worry about him, or ask him to change jobs.

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The Construction of Race and How Racism is Maintained: A Conversation Facilitated by Linda Wiggins-Chavis

On July 14th, BAPL began a series of workshops about race and racism facilitated by Linda Wiggins-Chavis. This series, called “Dialogues on Racial Justice: An Introductory Workshop Series on Issues of Systemic Racism in the United States,” continues the much needed work of grappling with racism in our communities in order to facilitate necessary institutional…

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BAPL Feature Movie of the Month: A Review of “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”

Joe Talbot’s debut film, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” is a whimsical love letter to Talbot’s childhood friend Jimmie Fails and Talbot’s home, the San Francisco Bay Area. Closely mirroring the life of Jimmie Fails, who played himself in the film, the story takes up considerations of male friendship, toxic masculinity, identity, home…

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Iso/Nation Presents: A Radio Play by Touchstone Theatre

As part of their digital events series during the Covid-19 period, Touchstone Theatre is offering “deep listeners of the Lehigh Valley and beyond” an absurd, hilarious, and suspenseful radio play called “Iso/Nation Presents.” The radio play is part of Touchstone’s “Fresh Voices” program and is made by Sean Patrick Cassidy and Adam Ercolani, Touchstone Theatre’s…

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Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Reading Group Discusses Roxane Gay’s “Hunger”

This featured photo, “Roxanne Gay – Montreal – 2015” by Eva Blue is licensed by CC. BY 2.0. On Tuesday, June 16th, Bethlehem community members worked through the brutally honest reflections in Roxane Gay’s memoir Hunger. The Queer Memoir Reading Group discussion was hosted by Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, and supported by Lehigh University Humanities…

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