Central Americans for Empowerment at UVA is the first East Coast chapter of Central Americans for Empowerment and the first chapter to be outside of California. The organization aims to serve as the representative body for Central Americans at UVA and empower student voices through collective and direct action, cultural exchanges, and political and social education.
CAFE aims to create an inclusive space for Central American folk in an effort to increase visibility and representation of the diversity within the Latinx community at the University of Virginia. CAFE works to gain a collective voice and foster empowerment through civic engagement as well as political, social, and cultural education and advocacy while simultaneously building solidarity with other marginalized communities.
Fall 2018
Johanna Moncada Sosa
CAFE was founded around the time the Central American caravan that departed from Honduras attracted attention from the media. The organization was founded because of a lack of Central American representation on Grounds. The organization’s Declaration of Existence states, “We’ve [Central Americans] been reduced to a week on a syllabus sheet, to a short Facebook post celebrating our Independence Days - we are simply moments. We are whispers within a larger, louder conversation of Latin American. We can no longer rely on others to be represented. Thus, this is our declaration of existence. We are here.” Members felt as though existing organizations barely acknowledged Central America as a whole, from the cultures to the issues each country faces, and this organization was created to change that.
CAFE is comprised of a President, Vice President, Financial Chair, Public Relations Chair, Recruitment Chair, Outreach Chair, Secretary, two Research Chairs, and three delegates. These individuals come together to discuss, organize, and plan their next steps as an organization on a weekly basis.
Information collected through an interview with Johanna Moncada Sosa (C/O 2020)