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| Dr. Moreno Vega has conducted extensive research in Yoruba Belief systems in the African Diaspora and has organized three international conferences uniting scholars and traditional leaders who are experts on these religions.
Dr. Vega was awarded a grant from the Ford Foundation, which partially supported the filming of the documentary “When the Spirits Dance Mambo” which was shown last night in the Brower Student Center and originally premiered at the Havana International Latino Film Festival in Cuba December 2002. The documentary, shot in Cuba, focuses on the impact of Santeria on the Civil Society of the island. She has received research fellowships from El Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños at Hunter College for developing a documentary on African based Spiritual Practices in Puerto Rico. Dr. Vega was acting director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program at Hunter College for the semester of Fall 2002 during a leave by the director. She is presently teaching Afro-Caribbean Religions and Afro Latinos in New York City at Hunter College/CUNY. She is co-editor of “Voices from the Battlefront: Achieving Cultural Equity” and author of “The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria” as well as the book “When the Spirits Dance Mambo.” The New York Women’s Agenda has selected When the Spirits Dance Mambo as the book of the year 2007 for distribution to New York City Public Schools as part of their New York Reads Initiative funded by Roz Abramson. Dr. Vega received her Doctorate in Yoruba Philosophy in the Diaspora from Temple University in May 1995. She is the founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute and former director of El Museo del Barrio and the Association of Hispanic Arts. She is one of the founders of the Association of Hispanic Arts and the Network of Organization of Color. Dr. Vega is presently president of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) founded in 1976. CCCADI is an international not for profit organization dedicated to researching, documentation and promulgating the reach history and traditions of African descendants in the Americas. CCCADI has organized international conferences in Nigeria Africa, Bahia Brazil, Puerto Rico and New York. Dr. Vega is co-founder of the Global Afro Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI) that has established a alliance of non-governmental not for profit organizations that are grounded in African descendant communities. GALCI has organized international conferences, youth international exchange programs, actively developed exchanges to connect and develop working projects with African descendant communities in the Americas. With the assistance of Hunter College CUNY, Caribbean Cultural Center, Ford - Foundation among other resources GALCI has participated in international conferences and planning meetings to assure that they issues of African descendants are equitably included in policymaking forums. Dr. Vega recently organized two international conferences for GALCI – Redefining African American and Women of Power with the sponsorship of the IAF, Essence Magazine, among other funders. Most recently, she receives mention in the February edition of ESSENCE magazine and is featured as one of Essence’s 25 Most Beautiful People. This issue is focused on women who make positive transforming contributions to the civil society of their communities will be available May 2006. Dr Vega’s book When the Spirits Dance Mambo was selected by the New York Women’s Agenda as their book for 2006/2007. She is a member of the UNESCO United States Advisory Commission on the Slave Route Project. |
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