Renee Fajardo | |
---|---|
Born | 1958 Denver, CO |
Alma mater | Peru State College, University of Nebraska College of Law |
Occupation(s) | Author and educator |
Spouse | Glen Anstine |
Children | Kali Fajardo-Anstine |
Renee Fajardo (born 1958) is an author, educator, and activist in Denver, Colorado. She is currently a faculty in Chicano Studies at Metropolitan State University Denver. She is the mother of author Kali Fajardo-Anstine.
Elizabeth Renee Fajardo was born to parents in Denver, Colorado. She grew up in Curtis Park at her grandparents' house, before her family moved north into Adams County. Her parents divorced when she was young and they shared custody of Fajardo and her brother. [1]
She has Chicana/Native American, Filipino, and Jewish heritage. [2]
At 8 years old, Fajardo's family moved to Adams County in an all-white neighborhood. Fajardo faced racist backlash from her neighbors which resulted in the murder of her kittens. The family moved after that incident, and it influenced Fajardo's future anti-racist work. [1]
Her family faced racism throughout her childhood. They continued to move to different suburbs, and Fajardo's father enrolled her in karate classes. In middle school, Fajardo's mother got a job in Grand Island, Nebraska, and they moved. [1]
Fajardo was the first Hispanic person to be voted onto her high school student council. [1]
Fajardo attended Peru State College in Nebraska, [1] then graduated from University of Nebraska College of Law. [2] She became a lawyer in order to "be a champion for other people." [1]
After passing the bar exam, Fajardo moved back to Denver and spent her time supporting the community's legal needs instead of starting a law practice. She found a niche working with performers and artists. [1]
Fajardo was the director behind the Crossover Project, which provided multicultural entertainment for after-school programs. [2] [1] She continued and expanded the Cultural Concerts on Colfax series, and her portfolio of programs continued to grow. Fajardo worked at Aurora Fox Fine Arts Center and planned multicultural entertainment and education for school groups. [1]
She is chair of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC). [3]
Fajardo and Carl Ruby co-created the Tummy Tales books, [4] a series of children's books that explore culture through food. [1]
She is the co-founder of The Corn Mothers exhibition. [4] Fajardo was inspired by a book that her husband purchased, When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away. In Pueblo culture, Corn Mothers were givers of life and are synonymous with Mother Earth. [5] Fajardo worked with photographer Todd Pierson to recognize and celebrate women in the southwest that nurtured and supported their communities. Corn Mothers exhibit originally opened in 2009, and "Return of the Corn Mothers" opened in 2022, adding 22 more honorees. [3]
The project received a Colorado Endowment for the Humanities Award in 2009. [2]
She is the director of Metropolitan State University's "Journey Through Our Heritage" program since 2010. [4]
Fajardo got married when she was 17, before her senior year of high school. The marriage ended when she was attending college. They had one child together. [1]
Fajardo met Glen Anstine during law school, and they married in 1985. They have 7 children together including Kali Fajardo-Anstine. [1] [6]
Fajardo was the niece of Lucy Lucero. [6]
Fajardo received the MLK Peace Award in 2017 from Metropolitan State University Denver. [7]
Horace Austin Warner "Haw" Tabor, also known as The Bonanza King of Leadville and The Silver King, was an American prospector, businessman, and Republican politician. His success in Leadville, Colorado's silver mines made him one of the wealthiest men in Colorado. He purchased more mining enterprises throughout Colorado and the Southwestern United States, and he was a philanthropist. After the collapse in the silver market during the Panic of 1893, Tabor was financially devastated. He lost most of his holdings, and he labored in the mines. In his last year, he was the postmaster of Denver.
William Newton Byers was a founding figure of Omaha, Nebraska, serving as the first deputy surveyor of the Nebraska Territory, on the first Omaha City Council, and as a member of the first Nebraska Territorial Legislature.
Wendy Lucero-Schayes is a retired female diver from the United States, who competed for her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Clara Brown (1800–1885) was a former enslaved woman from Virginia and Kentucky who became a community leader and philanthropist. She helped formerly enslaved people become settled during Colorado's Gold Rush. She was known as the 'Angel of the Rockies' and made her mark as "Colorado's first black settler and a prosperous entrepreneur".
Elizabeth Robbins Stone was an American pioneer woman who was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1988.
Ellis Meredith (1865–1955) was an American suffragist, journalist, and novelist, known as the Susan B. Anthony of Colorado.
Emma Homan Thayer (1842–1908) was a 19th-century American botanical artist and author of books about native wildflowers. She also wrote several novels.
Elizabeth Piper Ensley, was an educator and an African-American suffragist. Born in Massachusetts, Ensley was a teacher on the eastern coast of the country. She moved to Colorado where she achieved prominence as a leader in the Colorado suffrage movement. She was also a journalist, activist, and a leader and founder of local women's clubs.
Mary Madeline "May" Bonfils Stanton was an American heiress and philanthropist. She and her younger sister, Helen Bonfils, succeeded their father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as principal owners of The Denver Post. However, May's elopement at age 21 with a non-Catholic salesman had forged a rift in her relationship with her parents and sister that worsened when Helen inherited the majority of their parents' estates. Following a three-year legal battle over the inheritance, the sisters cut off all communication with each other. May married twice but did not have children. Living a reclusive life, she invested her fortune into building and furnishing her 750-acre (300 ha) estate in Lakewood, Colorado – which included a mansion that was an exact replica of Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon château in Versailles – and into many philanthropic endeavors in the state of Colorado. The Bonfils–Stanton Foundation, established by her second husband after her death in 1962, continues to support the arts in Colorado. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985.
Helen Peterson was a Cheyenne-Lakota activist and lobbyist. She was the first director of the Denver Commission on Human Relations. She was the second Native American woman to become director of the National Congress of American Indians at a time when the government wanted to discharge their treaty obligations to the tribes by eliminating their tribal governments through the Indian termination policy and forcing the tribe members to assimilate into the mainstream culture. She authored a resolution on Native American education, which was ratified at the second Inter-American Indian Conference, held in Cuzco, Peru. In 1986, Peterson was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame and the following year, her papers were donated to the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives and they are now held at the National Museum of the American Indian.
Carlota D.d.R EspinoZa is an American painter, muralist, and activist in her Art. She is one of the early Latina / Chicana muralists in Denver with works in Cuba, San Francisco, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado.
Mexican-American folklore refers to the tales and history of Chicano people who live in the United States.
Kali Fajardo-Anstine is an American novelist and short story writer from Denver, Colorado. She won the 2020 American Book Award for Sabrina & Corina: Stories and was a 2019 finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Her first novel, Woman of Light: A Novel (2022), is a national bestseller and won the 2023 WILLA Literary Award in Historical Fiction. She is the 2022–2024 Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University and a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow.
Charlene Garcia Simms is a teacher-librarian from Garcia, Colorado. She and her husband founded El Escritorio Publishing which focuses on Southwest history and genealogy.
Shirley Romero Otero is a Chicana activist who co-founded the Land Rights Council in 1977 to regain the rights for heirs of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant. She is an educator and leader in the San Luis Valley region. She is the director of the Move Mountains Youth Project and sits on the board of directors of the Acequia Institute.
Deborah Martinez-Martinez is CEO of the publisher Vanishing Horizons and is an author who explores the history of the Southwestern United States. She worked in higher education admissions and recruitment for twenty years and advocates for more Chicanas in education.
Lucy Lucero was a Latina community leader in Denver, Colorado. Her home on Galapago St. was known as a haven for the Hispanic and Latino community, especially for young gay latinos who were ostracized from their own families. She was the great-aunt of author Kali Fajardo-Anstine.
Arlette Lucero is an American visual artist, educator, and illustrator.
The Corn Mothers and Return of the Corn Mothers: Inspiring Women of the Southwest exhibits are traveling exhibits honoring women in the southwestern U.S.
Jeanette Trujillo-Lucero is a dancer who has been recognized for her Spanish and folklore dances. She is the founder and artistic director of Fiesta Colorado Dance Company and Ballet Folklorico de Colorado. Her stage name is "La Muñeca" for her petite stature. Her dance background includes Mexican folklorico, classical Spanish dance, Flamenco, jazz, tap, and ballet.