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As a student-led organization, La Fuerza Unida (LFU) works to foster the unity of Latinx students at Bard High School Early College Queens and raise awareness about Latin American cultures. As emphasized by our motto - Unidos Somos Fuertes - we believe in coming together to create a movement that brings tangible change, and creates an equitable, accepting and uplifting society. 

 

We provide students with the resources and tools needed to develop their professional careers and to address the challenges the Latinx community faces today. At LFU, we encourage our members to be proactive in addressing the needs of the Latinx community and organize diverse workshops in the professional field. 

 

Since its founding in 2017, La Fuerza Unida (LFU) has been host to numerous cultural, scholarly and social events. These events include fundraisers (i.e. Empanada fundraisers, Movie Nights, etc.), college scholarship presentations (i.e. Questbridge, POSSE, etc.), Latinx performances (i.e. International Night, Extravaganza, etc.), insightful guest speakers (i.e. spoken word artists, financial aid experts, etc.) and presentations celebrating the diversity in the Latinx community (i.e. Afro-Latinidad, Colorism, etc.) For the past years,  La Fuerza Unida has served as a safe and empowering space for the Latinx student body at BHSECQ and a source of student-community interaction and enrichment for the BHSECQ community as a whole.   

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Our Story/ Nuestra Historia 

 

Our founder, Angel Navarrete, strongly believes that “youth need to be empowered, believed in, and given the resources to reach their highest potential.” This philosophy led her to found La Fuerza Unida (LFU) as a Y1 at BHSECQ, which creates a supportive and uplifting environment for the Latinx student body at Bard High School Early College Queens (BHSECQ). Since the beginning of the club’s founding, the BHSECQ Spanish and Latin American Literature professor, Graciela M. Báez has served as the LFU club advisor. 

 

Although LFU was initially led solely by Tatiana, the leadership committee expanded to three LFU members upon her graduation in 2019. It was then that Angel Jose Salcedo, better known as AJ, assumed his LFU leadership role as a Y2. Likewise, Nicole Méndez and Daniela Cabrera Mendoza assumed their leadership roles as Y1s. Upon AJ’s graduation in 2020, Jayline Febles became the fourth LFU co-leader as a Y1. 

 

In the years since La Fuerza Unida has grown and supported the BHSECQ Latinx students while serving as a resource for the entire BHSECQ community. Students from all backgrounds across all grade levels are welcome to join the LFU family and attend our events throughout the academic year. LFU meetings occur every Wednesday @3:45 PM. We host events on BHSECQ Annual Black Lives Matter Day of Action, Mental Health Day, Symposium Day, International Night, etc. Additionally, LFU holds a section on the BHSECQ Immigrant Voices Magazine, addressing the experiences of Latinx immigrants in the U.S.