Butterfly Artwork for Parade
By Natalia Lancellotti
College of Southern Nevada students along with other volunteers from Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a non-profit organization, created colorful artistic butterflies as artwork for the Las Vegas Latino Parade on September 14 at Freemont Street. This parade was held in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month to shine light on immigration issues.
“The parade is a fun way to make people know information; we use butterflies to represent migration,” said Astrid Silva, PLAN’s coordinator. “A butterfly is a symbol used for immigration. They are free and migrate here.”
America has a rich diverse culture made up of immigrants, which the event focuses on.
“It is important to talk to our community about immigration because there are so many immigrants and this country was founded on immigrants,” Silva said. She experienced the hardships that immigrants face when she moved to the United States, which added to her passion to participate in this event.
CSN students Pablo Juarez and Selena Torres painted butterflies. Both students had first-hand experiences with the difficulties of immigration.
“My parents are here but I have family trying to come to the United States, but they can’t,” Torres said. She spoke about the hardships families feel when they are separated.
Juarez wishes his cousins could come to this country. He wants them to experience life here but says they can’t.
National Hispanic Heritage Month, established in 1988, runs from September 15 to October 15. Many events are taking place at CSN including movie viewings, panel discussions, student mixers and a forum for CSN’s President Michael Richards to discuss topics of interests for diverse groups at the College. The events are meant to celebrate cultures and contributions of citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South America.
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