In this unique, innovative, and visionary book, Latin@ Voices in Multicultural Education: From Invisibility to Visibility in Higher Education, Obiakor and Martinez highlight the visible voices of Latin@ teacher-scholars, professionals, and leaders. The authors agree with many Chican@ / Latin@ scholars (Cantú & Fránquiz, 2010) by using the term "Latin@" for the book as an all-inclusive label instead of "Latina/o" to de-emphasise the cisgendered "o/a" and uneven "Hispanic" terminology regarding individuals of Latin American heritage. These voices come from personal narratives of Latin@s in the United States (US) higher education. While their narratives expose different viewpoints and come from different personalities, institutions, and geographical locations, the complexities of their journeys have similar elements of true survival in unfamiliar Eurocentric terrains. In their respective chapters, they share their stories with veracity, acknowledge their remarkable contributions to their profession, and demonstrate that it is possible to be seen and heard in academic environments that have historically tried to silence their voices. Because of their pride, dedication, energy, resiliency, and courage, they are worthy of emulation; and all individuals, in spite of their culture, race, and national origin, can learn from them. Clearly, Latin@ Voices in Multicultural Education is a book for this day and age. It is intended for use by both undergraduate and graduate students, multicultural education scholars, faculty and staff in teacher preparation programs, higher education administrators, policy makers, and internal and external stakeholders in higher education. Hopefully, this book will motivate its readers to think and act differently, and to a large measure, shift their paradigms on how they treat and interact with individuals who appear different and atypical. Finally, this book will help everyone to value human differences; nurture multicultural dispositions and contexts; and navigate successfully through the mazes of bilingualism, multilingualism, multiculturalism, nationalism, and globalism.
Festus E Obiakor, Ph.D., is Professor, Early Childhood and Special Education, Dewar College of Education and Human Services, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia. A teacher, scholar, and consultant, he has served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at a variety of universities. He is the author of more than 150 publications, including books, articles, and commentaries; and he has presented papers at many national and international conferences. He serves on the editorial boards of reputable nationally and internationally refereed journals, including Multicultural Learning and Teaching (MLT) in which he serves as Executive Editor. Dr. Obiakor is a leader who has been involved in many landmark scholarly works in the fields of general and special education, with particular focus on African American and other culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners and he continues to prescribe multidimensional methods of assessment, teaching, and intervention for these individuals. Based on this premise, Dr. Obiakor created the Comprehensive Support Model (CSM), an intervention model that values the collaborative, consultative, and cooperative energies of students, families, teachers/service providers, communities, and government agencies.
