Millennial Latinxs Reconnect with Ancestral Wisdom

podcastOPTalksSpiritNations
Written By Open Plaza

Dr. Lauren Frances Guerra and Stephen R. DiTrolio Coakley get to the roots of the matter

Photo: Luz Mendoza

Photo: Luz Mendoza

 
 

In this Open Plaza Podcast, Stephen Rocco DiTrolio talks to Dr. Lauren Frances Guerra about how millennial Latinxs attempt to decolonize their spiritual lives through Curanderismo, Santería, and Brujería. Young Latinxs have rediscovered and reconnected with ancestral wisdom through a broad range of spiritual practices. While many Latinxs feel a continued sense of ambivalence towards organized religion, the desire for spiritual connection and community remains. This movement highlights the complexity and syncretic nature of Latinx faith.

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Stephen Di Trolio Coakley

Stephen R. Di Trolio Coakley is a PhD student at Princeton Theological Seminary in the Department of History and Ecumenics (world Christianity and history of religions). He worked and taught in Buenos Aires, Argentina before moving to Princeton, New Jersey. His research interests include Pentecostalism, Latin American history, political theology, and decolonial theory. Di Trolio Coakley is currently a Louisville Institute Fellow.

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Lauren Frances Guerra

Dr. Lauren Frances Guerra is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. She is of Guatemalan-Ecuadorian descent and an active member of the Roman Catholic Church. She earned her doctorate in Systematic and Philosophical Theology from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. Her research interests include U.S. Latinx Theology, Theological Aesthetics, and Ethnic Studies. She approaches the theological task with the complexities of race, class, and gender in mind. Popular Religion and community-based art inform her theologizing. Her long-term goal is to serve as an advocate for the U.S. Latinx community through her academic work.

 
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