Week 7 - Cultural Outing

Tonight I went to the UNdocumented NU forum. It was a small group, maybe 20 people participating in a led discussion on primarily undocumented students, the DREAM Act, and how we as students can help create change. The forum was loosely structured in that two girls led a question and answer section where they posed questions to the audience, we answered, and responded to each other. It was a fairly subdued crowd and the discussion surrounding each point was short. We then discussed what we could do as students and where the University stood on the issue.
I was not very interested going into the event. I'm interested in immigration and social justice movements, but have never taken an active role in any of them. This is how I felt too about UNdocumented NU. I'm decently informed on where immigration reform stands, but had no intetention of becoming involved, but this discussion changed that. The main focus of the group is to create applicable solutions on campus to make it easier for undocumented students to go to college, and create an accepting atmosphere on campus. I think that both of these are realistic goals that improve the lot of many in this country who may be here undocumented through no choice of their own. I'm very much in favor of anyone who wants an education being able to get one, and that was the main implications of the work being done by this group. Coming out of the forum, I'm more interested in the topic, and strongly considering being formally involved. If I don't become formally involved, I would like to go to more discussions/events and definitly will support ideas that move the culture in the direction of acceptance.
This forum relates to class material through both politics and performance. There was a lot of discussion about the DREAM Act, which we also discussed as to how it would change communities on the border by legalizing many people brought here at the discretion of others. The focus was not primarily on the Mexican-American border, but references were made to it, and by making it easier for undocumented students to go to college would obviously apply to Mexican immigrants as well.
Performance and demonstration were also discussed. The May marches in Chicago were referenced many times as a sign of increased awareness of the immigrant struggle. This tactic, along with the civil disobedience of the UIC students gain attention and were heralded as forerunners of where public opinion is headed in relation to immigration reform and undocumetned reform. One member of the audience was a member of a theatre troop that has 6 undocumented members and does theatre about the struggles that these people go through. This is similar work to what we've been studying by using theatre to discuss the struggles, fears, and hopes of marginalized immigrant groups.