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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                            February 15, 2002 A man who has been called “a prophet with a visionary plan” and a “great American intellectual” will be featured at a book signing reception on Friday, March 1, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.   Dr. David T. Abalos will introduce his new book, “The Latino Male:  A Radical Redefinition”.   Better Beginnings, the Latina Women’s Council of Mercer County, Inc., Hightstown/East Windsor, and the Students of Adelante, a Latina/Latino student organization of Hightstown High School, are sponsoring the reception.  Refreshments will be served.  The Fellowship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Hightstown at 320 North Main Street in Hightstown is the site. We feel so privileged to have been one of those selected to sponsor for this momentous event, said Luz Nereida Horta, Executive Director of Better Beginnings, and it is such so fitting to have it as a kickoff for Women’s History Month.  The other two organizations feel just as honored as we do. His “bold, honest and imaginative account of the destructive and creative sides of sex, family, childrearing, masculinity and feminity in the Latino community” (David Carrasco, Professor of the Study of Latin America, Harvard University) also applies to all men and affects all women. "The Latino Male is a landmark work,” according to Demetria Martinez, author of the acclaimed novel, Mother Tongue, “one that will change forever the way we talk about machismo, men and women, feminism and families. This book secures Abalos' place as a great American intellectual whose vision for the Latino community moves beyond merely describing problems to advancing spirited and grounded solutions that can open the way to transformation." Best known in our community as a role model and leader, Dr. Abalos is Professor of Religious Studies and Sociology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.  During the Academic Year 1988_1989, Professor Abalos served as a Faculty Fellow for the State of New Jersey to develop multicultural scholarship During the spring semester 2001, Prof. Abalos served as a Visiting Professor in the Politics Department, Princeton University and he has returned to Princeton University for the spring semester, 2002 to serve as a Visiting Professor. In recognition of his work in the classroom, Professor Abalos was chosen by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education as New Jersey Professor of the Year for 1987-88 and was also the recipient of a National Gold Medalist award for being one of the top ten outstanding university professors in the nation.  In 1988 he was given an award for Excellence in Scholarship Dedicated to Latinas and Latinos in the United States by the New Jersey Hispanic Association of Higher Education.  At commencement ceremonies for the graduates of 2000, Prof. Abalos was awarded Seton Hall University's highest honor, the Bishop Bernard J. McQuaid medal for distinguished service in recognition of his excellence in teaching and scholarship. He has also published five other books: Latinos in the United States: The Sacred and the Political, University of Notre Dame Press, 1986, The Latino Family and the Politics of Transformation, Praeger Press (selected by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Book, 1994) and Strategies of Transformation Toward a Multicultural Society: Fulfilling the Story of Democracy, Praeger Press, 1996 and La Comunidad Latina in the United States: Personal and Political Strategies for Transforming Culture, Praeger Press, 1998 and The Latino Male: A Radical Redefinition, Lynne Rienner Press, 2002. He has lectured and written extensively on multicultural and gender scholarship and on Latinas and Latinos in the United States from the perspective of the politics of transformation. His articles have appeared in Cross Currents, The Journal of Hispanic Policy, Endeavors, The Journal of Dharma, The Nursing Forum, Democracy, The Latino Studies Journal, The Journal of Multicultural Education of New Jersey, The Community College Humanities Review and Liberal Education. He has published papers in three monographs: Celebrating Diversity, Montclair State University and Crisis of the Minority Male, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Non-Violent Sanctions Seminars, Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. He published a monograph at Yale University, Chicanos in the United States: Redeeming the Past, Transforming the Future and wrote another monograph, Teaching and Practicing Multicultural and Gender Fair Education from the Perspective of Transformational Politics, for the North Texas Community and Junior Colleges Consortium. He has served as a Visiting Professor at Yale University and also served as the Chicano/Latino Visiting Scholar at Illinois State University and as a Lilly Foundation Visiting Scholar at St. Norbert College, Green Bay, Wisconsin. He has served as an academic advisor working with k-12 faculty in New Jersey and throughout the country in order to assist in transforming the curriculum from a multicultural and gender fair perspective. He received his B.A. from the University of Toronto, an M.A. from Marquette University and his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. For Further Information, Luz Nereida Horta, 609-448-6226

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