Throughout the month of January I took a class where we read 9 plays, went to Chicago, and got to see 3 plays and 2 improvised performances. The Chicago Center helped us get around the city to see places where there was a bound of culture for us to learn about. Through the class and trip I have learned this that even though our society has gone through many changes and has seen many advocates on the issues of racial equality, our society is still changing and still needs work in order to mirror the words "All men are created equal" which is found in the beginning of our Declaration of Independence.
One of the plays we saw was called Home/Land done by the Albany Park Theater Project. This play was developed and performed by high school students, and we were all impressed by the show. Home/Land is about immigration and the way that the laws (especially the laws in Arizona) have impacted numerous immigrants wanting to live here in the United States. These children helped come up with the idea for the show and then did the interviews which would develop into the story. They spent over a year doing everything for this show from the interviews to the casting to the countless hours of practice to get the final product, of course with a little help. They talked with advocates of getting rid of the laws and challenged us to help change our society by telling us why these immigration laws should be removed, and through the journey became activists for the issue. It is so powerful to be an activist for or against a major issue and especially at a young age. Most often children would not even think about such issues unless they were dealing with the issues themselves. They are giving voice through the play of the people they interviewed and how the laws affected them. In doing so they are also raising their own voices and spreading the word on why these laws are bad for the country. I also believe that the laws over immigration should be repealed because it does not go with what our country started their beliefs on. Our country was meant for us to get away from England and its monarchy and for the people of this nation to all be equal. Still the battle continues on for peoples rights across the continental United States and many people are feeling oppressed just like our forefathers felt while they were under the British.
We also saw the World Premiere of Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" done at Court Theater albeit they were still working out some problems within the script and some parts of the story. Apart for being a well done adaptation of the book, the visual effects helped portray the journey of a man who was not treated as an equal. Apparently the play is becoming very successful because I keep seeing advertisements about it.The set brought to life many details, from the lights, to images projected on the wall behind the actors, and the set changes throughout the play. It tells the story of an unnamed man though his struggles in trying to be seen, an attempt to get someone to hear him. Throughout the story he is not accepted by the whites and some of the fellow black men. Even when he believes that he has a voice and is starting to become visible again when he joins the Brotherhood after he makes a speech to an officer about some recently evicted African Americans, he later sees that they were just using him the whole time. He is struggling with most of the people that he meets along his journey. He is invisible because no one wants to hear him and is kept down after all the work he does to promote change. He wants to be an equal but try as he may his voice wont anyone except the audience. From them it is the part of the audience to go out and make their voices heard.
One thing that started in Chicago was the organization Rainbow PUSH Coalition which fights for equality for everyone and advocates on issues plaguing the country. It grew from the organization of Operation Breadbasket and was found by Martin Luther King Jr. From Operation Breadbasket came Operation PUSH, which stands for People United to Serve Humanity. PUSH later merged with the Rainbow Coalition to form the organization they have today. One of the main issues they fight over is poverty, which effects around 50 percent of the nation with 26 percent being black and another 23 percent being Hispanic. Poverty is an issue that deals with all races but more help is needed to help people get over the poverty line. Rainbow PUSH, headed by Rev. Jesse Jackson, is striving to help people everywhere in the USA to get rid or minimize the issues plaguing the country. It was great just listening to him speak but as a surprise to all of us we actually got to meet him and take a picture with him (which I wish I could find). In addition to poverty, Rainbow Push deals with the issues of gun violence, home foreclosure, voter registration, corporate inclusion, as well as peace and justice. "The struggle for peace and justice is unending and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition will always be at the heart of it" was said about the issue of peace and justice on their website. Many of these issues that they are fighting with are huge topics in our society with most certainty the housing market and with an election coming up soon they are sure to talk about voter registration. The organization has gone around the country, participating in many protests and rallies to get support on the topics they fight for. They also have a program called PUSH Excel (which I believe is a great program) that encourages students to work toward academic excellence and give out opportunities for scholarships for continued learning. The things they have accomplished has helped get the country closer to equality.
A play we read in class, Master Harold and the boys, tells the tale of white and black men, or rather two black men and a white adolescent with background of his family. They are great friends through most of the story and while Sam thinks that they still can be friends at the end, Hally or Harold believes that their friendship can no longer work. The story is based in South Africa where there is apartheid or segregation, much like how is was before the Civil Rights Act was passed in the US. Hally, Sam and Willie are great friends even though at the time the apartheid was going strong. It was wrong at that time for Hally to even talk to them. If things weren't bad already, the injuries to his father make Hally hate him, while also beginning to break the walls of his friendships with Sam and Willie. By the end Hally has spat literally and metaphorically in the face of his friends of a different color. Sam tries to give Hally another chance at being friends but he rejects them and gets pulled into the apartheid.
Even though many of the plays were written before the turn of the century, all of them can still be related to how our society is currently. These plays discuss topics that have and still plague our society through the years that pass us by. One thing that is true is all of these is that it forces the audience to think what is wrong with this and why are things this way. It's also trying to say that if you don't like the way that society handles these issues then go out there and make an impact on society to where change will happen.Work Cited
Rainbow Push Coalition. Web. 26 January. 2012. <rainbowpush.org>
Tavernise, Sabrina. "Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on ‘Lost Decade’." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/us/14census.html?pagewanted=all>.
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