The Southern Foodways Alliance will pay tribute to “El Sur Latino” at their annual Fall Symposium this weekend. 

Journalist, author and symposium presenter Gustavo Arellano says that having the entire SFA conference centered around Latinos in the South is “the culmination of a fever dream.”

“25 years ago there were next to no Latinos in the South, it was a very small community, now it’s increased,”Arellano explained. “Even in Mississippi, beyond the restaurants, you have communities now of immigrants that are raising their families, and Mexican-Americans moving to the South for better opportunities and they are changing the dynamic in the south.”

Arellano was first invited to speak on Latino migration at the SFA Symposium in 2013 and then again in 2015, and eventually was given a column in the SFA’s journal Gravy where he tackles subjects such as Taco Literacy- which was written conjunction with fellow presenter Steven Alvarez.

Alvarez, who is a Smith fellow has been invited to the symposium for the past two years and will present a paper this year about a place called Plaza Fiesta off of the Buford Highway in Atlanta.

“It’s just been a really dynamic group of folks that get together and really find new ways to think about food and the people behind it,” said Alvarez, who’s scholarly background is rooted in language and literacy but shifted more towards food after visiting the symposium for the first time.

Arellano’s work for Gravy also inspired the Saturday-night closing performance of the conference, which will feature California-based group La Victoria who will play traditional Mexican ballads called corridos, as well as their own original compositions.

“That came about from the column that I did we found the oldest known corrido about the South called ‘Enganche de Mississippi,’ which roughly translates to ‘The Mississippi Job’,” Arellano explained. This song, recorded in the 1930s is the oldest known corrido about work in the South. 

SFA Associate director Mary Beth Lasseter said that the singers will present in conjunction with Augustin Gurza. “The musical group is going to meet with some of the attendees of the event and they are going to write some original corridas and workshop them during the symposium,” she said.

According to Lasseter, the SFA usually welcomes around 350-400 people to the events. Lasseter said of that number 40-50 are locals, and 350 or so are out-of-town visitors. The 20th Anniversary of the symposium will be marked with a screening a film looking back at the conference’s last two decades. The SFA itself, which evolved out of the symposium, will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.

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This year’s menu features dishes from Tex-Mex brisket tacos to Venezuelan delicacies, spanning the diaspora of the Latino palate. 

“A lot of “Latinos” aren’t considered Latinos until they come to the United States,” Lasseter explained. “They aren’t Latinos and they aren’t Hispanics, they are Cubans or Venezuelans or they are Mexicans and then they come to the Southern United States and they get re-labeled.”

She hopes that the symposium will help highlight the diverse culinary traditions of several different heritage in the South. Presenting chefs include Houstonian James-Beard-award-winner Hugo Ortega, and Eddy Hernandez and of Taqueria del Sol with locations in Atlanta and Nashville. There will even be a Friday night trip out to Taylor for catfish, which has become a staple event of the symposium.

The event will be extended with a corresponding mixed-media exhibit at the Powerhouse which will be on display until the end of the month.

For the first time this year, the SFA is making provisions to share the conference with those who can’t make it to the conference through their website. “We can’t make the meals a virtual experience,” Lasseter explained, “But after the event, if there are any discussions that have interested people we will be posting the videos from those talks online throughout the week.”

On Thursday night Code Pink, the LGBTQ+ dance night hosted by  OutOxford, Proud Larry’s and the Sarah Isom Center, will return for its fall season with a party celebrating thrift store scores.

Code Pink coordinator Blake Summers is asking people to show up in their most heinous Goodwill finds and strut through the bar like a Fashion Week runway.

“For one night on the square anyone can be anything- or who they really are,” Summers said.

The University of Mississippi alumnus, who co-founded OutOxford with partner Jonathan Kent Adams, is focused on welcoming anyone who feels like they don’t have a space on the square, beyond just the LGBTQ+ community, to participate in a night free of material obsession and status symbols.

“It’s not what you have, it’s who you are” has become Summers’ motto in planning the event, which will feature multiple DJs from the local LGBTQ+ community.

Doors open at nine with a cover charge of $5 for anyone over the age of 18, a fact that Summers is excited about because it enables him all young adults who may be looking for community and representation. There will also be a best-dressed competiton.

“Some people don’t have the exposure or the opportunity to see a positive queer identity in the South, and that’s what we’re trying to promote with Code Pink,” Summers said.

Proceeds from cover go towards Proud Larry’s, the DJs, queens, and dancers; what is left goes toward the Isom Center and OutOxford. Code Pink plans to use this money to fund its forthcoming “blowout” Halloween party at Larry’s that is being dubbed the “Babadook Ball.”

Summers, who studied psychology and theatre while at the University of Mississippi, was brought introduced to Code Pink by co-founder Matt Kessler to do a performance art piece to warm up the crowd. As Code Pink began to evolve Summers followed suit in taking on a bigger role with the event.

“It got more theatrical, more interesting- it started to involve political aspects,” Summers said. “It just became a theatrical dance night and community project essentially at that point for the LGBTQ+ community and everyone else involved.”

His outfit plans currently consist of a handmade shawl of stuffed-animal leopard hides and a canary-yellow church-lady hat.

Associate director of the Sarah Isom Center Theresa Starkey said that Summers and Adams are examples of UM alumni leadership at work in the community who are committed to making inclusive community spaces through the arts.

“It fulfills a need,” Starkey said. “It is for LGBTQ students, queer Mississippians, and all are welcome.” The UM Pride network and Proud Larry’s owner Scott Caradine also serve as creative partners for the events.

Starkey said that attendance has grown over the years and that it will often surpass 200 people, especially when the event is in conjunction with Pride Weekend.

“Its routinely the busiest shift I work,” said Jesse Bassett, who has manned the bar at Proud Larry’s for almost every Code Pink since he began working at the restaurant more than a year ago.  His first round of the event came just four days after his first shift at the bar.

“At the last one we had a dance performance that moved from the back stairs through the crowd,” Bassett remembered. He said that Adams and Summers will often be in as soon as dinner service ends at Larry’s to set up for the night.

Bassett said he works a packed shift, serving lots of cocktails like walk-me-downs and Long Island iced teas, but thinks that Code Pink provides a service to the community that otherwise wouldn’t be found.

“[There’s] lots of glitter and confetti to get swept up at the end of the night, but everyone’s just having a great time,” Bassett said.

Members of the board of directors for the Oxford Civic Chorus met Tuesday night to plan the choir’s upcoming season packed with fundraising events, performances and community engagements. 

“We want to represent Oxford, we want to be a part of the Oxford community,” said board president and 19-year Oxford resident Stephanie Young, who joined the choir with her son five years ago. “We don’t want to be just a little auxiliary choir, we want to be more present and interactive.”

Auditions for the choir took place on August 21 and 28, and now the members are preparing for a busy holiday calendar. Their annual Christmas concert is slated for December 10, and they will also sing carols at the Oxford Christmas tree lighting and the Gertrude C. Ford Center’s Gingerbread Village.

Between Monday night rehearsals, the board is planning events to fundraise for the group’s “Angel Fund” which acts as a scholarship for potential members. “We want to make our choir more available for everyone to sing so that helps cover membership dues as well as performance attire,” Young explained.

“We want to make our choir more available for everyone to sing so that helps cover membership dues as well as performance attire,” Young explained.

Their first fundraiser will be at Chipotle on September 19 when 50 percent of the store’s sales will benefit OCC.

Young said that she hopes more students and young people will join the chorus, noting that the age range of members spans from 16 to well into the 60s. She understands that some students may have commitments preventing them from attending the weekly rehearsals, but she hopes to provide opportunities for students to sing for volunteer hours at places like retirement communities and hospitals.

Although general audition times have passed, those with prior choral experience can contact director Thomas Ardery at thomas.ardery@gmail.com to set up an audition consisting of scales and pitch matching exercises.

Ardery, who is also the choral director at Oxford High School,  is in his fourth year as a choral member and his third year as artistic director of the group. A native of Madison, Alabama he has been involved in music all of his life, a member of the chorus and throughout his time in school at Auburn University and during graduate school at the University of Mississippi. 

He said that the choir is a good option for students that may not have the time to commit to the choir at Ole Miss, and is an opportunity to meet people in the community that they would not normally interact with.”We have people from everywhere,” Ardery said. “It’s a great group of people, a very accepting group of people, definitely not an intimidating experience.”

“We have people from everywhere,” Ardery said. “It’s a great group of people, a very accepting group of people, definitely not an intimidating experience.”

He is hoping more voices will add to the choir this year, expanding the age range of the group that spans from 16 to 60.

“Every year we have a few graduate students but this is the first year that we’ve had a quite a few undergraduates as well,” Ardery said. 

For those that aren’t interested in singing, Young said that the Chorus is also in need of a couple of interns for marketing and fundraising roles for the upcoming year.

21-year-old Sarah Baker has joined the chorus for the first time this year as historian for the group to help with documenting performances and promotion on social media.

“I was looking for a way to get plugged back into the Oxford arts,” Baker said, “It was a great way for me to do my thing and help out with the community.”

Students who are interested in interning for OCC should email the group at OCC38655@gmail.com. They also have a Facebook page that will post updates on more fundraisers, performances, and community engagement opportunities as the plans become finalized.