The 2026 Michigan State University Farmworker Appreciation Commemorative Celebration was about reframing narratives and honoring the Latino/e and farmworker communities who feed America.

The celebration opened with rhythmic drumming and a dance entrance by Danza Azteca performers that showcased an ancestral dance rooted in Aztec culture. The dancers invited attendees to join the performers in a circle and feel the movements of each step. The lead performer guided attendees through dance movements and described the traditional dance as “cosmic intelligence manifested in each person’s movements that connects them to the ancient wisdom of ancestors, where every step taken is like a seed planted in the ground.”

While empowerment has been a common theme related to efforts to support Latino/e, farmworker and other marginalized communities, the word inaccurately frames these communities as lacking, incomplete and waiting to be “enabled” by others.

The theme for this year’s celebration, “The Hands that Feed Us: Honoring Traditions through Repowerment — Timetzalimet,” or “We are Indigenous” in the Nahuatl language, reframed the narrative. Through food, conversation, learning and reflection, attendees celebrated and honored farmworker communities responsible for cultivating and harvesting food for America.

“The celebration is a time to be in community and is meant to center the work of farmworkers while continuing to hold space and remain focused on recognizing their contributions,” said Elias Lopez, planning committee co-chair and interim director of the Farmworker Student Services office at MSU. “The theme of this year’s celebration retains that focus and expands it to recognize the erasure of Indigenous identities and honor the identities that have been suppressed and denied space when recognizing farmworkers.”At the start of the program, leaders recognized the importance of the event and let community members know that they are seen, valued and have a place at MSU. Although MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., could not attend, he shared the following message for attendees: “I believe that an inclusive culture is critical to the success of any proudly public university that aspires to be exceptional,” he said. “I want to thank the planning committee for this 16th annual event, which acknowledges and honors the service that farm laborers provide to all of us.”

Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D., also spoke to build on the president’s words, conveying the importance of being in community and staying grounded in the purpose of the event — “to recognize the farmworkers who feed our nation and the students who arrive on this campus and go on to graduate, lead and create change.”

A circle of healing

More than 200 people attended the annual celebration, which this year featured a circle conversation with honored guests Celia Perez Booth and Ethriam Cash Brammer along with members of MSU’s Timetzalimet student organization; the dialogue centered on advancing higher education and student success while preserving and promoting Latin Indigenous heritage, culture and identity.

Booth, an adamant supporter of higher education, served as an academic advisor and counselor at Mott Community College for more than three decades, helping first-generation students navigate and thrive in higher education. She is also one of the few Michigan women to host and educate on the healing powers of traditions like the Nahua/Aztec temazcal, a traditional sweat lodge.

Brammer is a Chicano writer and a scholar of the P’urhépecha, an Indigenous people from the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico; he serves as an assistant dean at the University of Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School, leading initiatives that promote access, opportunity and holistic student success.

The MSU student organization Timetzalimet celebrates Latin Indigenous heritage while fostering a safe, educational and cultural space for students to explore and connect with Indigenous traditions and identities.

During the circle conversation, speakers reflected on the deep connections between cultural identity, ceremony and agricultural traditions, emphasizing that these are not abstract concepts but lived practices rooted in relationships to land, ancestry and community. They described how Indigenous agricultural knowledge offers critical lessons for rethinking food systems in North America.

The conversation also highlighted the significance of MSU’s Dia de la Mujer women’s leadership conference as more than a cultural observance, but as an expression of these same values.

Abuela Booth also spoke on the impact of healing circles and how they provide space to promote spiritual growth and share meaningful experiences as she guided the ceremony for those in attendance.

“The practice of ceremony feeds my soul, and this acknowledges that there is more than one way to feel fed,” she said. “Ceremony is a time to get to know relations and reconnect with what our culture teaches us. Identity and ceremony are connected and are meant to be passed down to include children and involve them in our cultural teachings.”

The healing circle emanated cultural knowledge and connected traditional ways of understanding human connections to the land and how “agricultural practices are rooted in Indigenous knowledge and taught through storytelling. When we work the land, we are in a sense praying with our hands as we work the soil. Mother Earth blesses us with food as we bless the Earth with our hands by repaying it with sweat equity,” Brammer said.

Faculty, staff, students honored

The annual celebration ended with an awards presentation and a ballet folklorico performance by MSU Pasos de la Tierra, a group that strives to enhance Mexican traditional folklorico dance at MSU and connect students to their culture.

Each year, MSU honors faculty and staff as well as one student and one student organization through the presentation of awards for community leadership, excellence, advocacy and commitment to making MSU a better and more inclusive place. The 2026 award winners include:

• MSU Faculty of the Year (Plantando Semillas Award): Associate Professor Ignacio Acevedo
• MSU Staff of the Year (Humanitarian Award): Assistant Director Samantha Luna-Simmons
• MSU Student Organization of the Year (Cosechando Raices Award): Culturas de las Razas Unidas
• MSU Student of the Year (Aguila Award): Alexis Gonzales
• Community Organization of the Year (Orgullo del Pueblo Award): Farmworker Legal Services

Learn more about the awards and award recipients.

The celebration is scheduled during National Farmworker Awareness Week each year in a continuing tribute to all those in the farmworker community, many of whom call MSU home and who we all have to thank for feeding the country.