Sunday, February 20, 2011

UNdocumented at NU

To continue the conversation of the previous two posts, I am also going to speak about my experience at the Community Action Forum, Undocumented at NU. I, personally, have not had such an experience in getting involved in a movement from the beginning of such a large issue and I found it to be exciting and incredibly informative. While in class we only have a chance to skim over a lot of information about immigration and the issue at large here in the United States, the forum was helpful in delving into the topic even further.

Being a political science major, I was interested in learning the politics regarding the DREAM Act and what exactly it involved. As I was listening to the speakers, however, all I could think about was the clip we watched in class of an interview with Charles Bowden about ways to fix the tension over immigration over the US-Mexico border. Bowden spoke of the issue being not the responsibility of the United States but rather that of the international sphere. The problems surrounding immigration and undocumented persons in the US stem from NAFTA’s inability to accommodate a Third World country like Mexico. This made me wonder about the potential successes of a movement like that of Undocumented at NU. Maybe the issues to address first are international, the root of the problem, before looking at passing the DREAM Act. Perhaps the context of its proposal is not accommodating, what with the economic circumstances and political climate.

What was really exciting, however, was the presence of a representative from the Albany Theatre Project, which we have yet to study. He began by mentioning that in their youth theatre performances, there are currently 6 undocumented performers. He seemed to understand the necessity of the DREAM Act in educating undocumented students who had no say in their coming to America. He also understood the power of the arts in educating and informing the public about the issue. A project that the Theatre is working on now is called 9 digits, about a young person’s obstacles in graduating high school without a social security number. As we have seen in class, the use of the arts to convey a message is highly effective and I think that the tensions surrounding the DREAM Act would be well portrayed through theatrical arts, an opportunity to look at the individual effects on youth and being undocumented.

Ultimately, I learned a lot about the DREAM Act and its costs and benefits but also about the issue of immigration, itself, and its place in the artistic realm. Our class has truly opened my eyes to tensions and issues that I had not truly seen before, especially not through an artistic standpoint. I believe that theatre is a perfect means by which to educate the public to the effects on the youth and children of illegal immigrants who had no say as to whether they wanted to cross the border. Who can say how successful Undocumented at NU will be in gaining community support and sending a message about the DREAM Act but it is an issue that should be recognized and not left to go under the radar. Even if there are bigger issues at hand, community recognition that a problem exists is a good place to start and theatre, as the Albany Theatre Project has realized, is a great means by which to educate and inform.

2 comments:

  1. I think if the movement at NU gets to a place of the community recognition you mention, it would be a great idea to have company members from the Albany Park Theatre Project come speak to perhaps the student theatre community and others on campus about their work and maybe have a guest performance or two. I think I might actually be going to a programming brainstorm session that's a follow-up to the forum...maybe I'll mention it.

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  2. Good idea! The Albany Park Theatre Project was started by two Northwestern University performance studies students a few years ago, and it is one of the most powerful examples of theatre activism and outreach that I can think of. The NU community should definitely be strengthening its links to APTP among other area theatre groups.

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