Tuesday, November 13, 2007

"Awareness Through Performance"

Last night I went to a campus program called "Awareness Through Performance" in Graff Main Hall at 7pm. It was the same presentation that the group of performers did at the beginning of the semester during Welcome Week, but nevertheless it was still an amazing performance with a great message.

"Awareness Through Performance" is a group of students that get together and plan a presentation involving skits and videos that represent real-life situations. (If you are interested in this group, the office for it is in 227 Graff Main Hall.) The whole goal of the performers in their presentation is to promote awareness about the differences between cultures and how wrong it is that they can sometimes be used as reasons to target people with hate crimes and abuse. The group portrays some of the stereotypes and assumptions people sometimes make about people of a different culture other than their own without actually knowing who they are as a human being first. Sometimes people can be viewed and/or labeled because of one thing that sets them apart from others. When in reality, the thing that they are targeted for is just one part of who they are as a person. One example being that someone's race does not define who he/she is as a person. Sadly, people sometimes let one thing about someone else be a negative label for that person when it shouldn't be that way. The goal of this group is to break down these barriers and create an environment where people are viewed for who they are as an entire person and not just one thing about them that makes them different from others.

Even though I saw this performance at the beginning of the semester, I decided to go again and watch it this time too. I am SO GLAD I did!! It is a reminder of the hateful things that sometimes go on and it really makes you more aware of the prejudices that some people have and how wrong they are. I have a great amount of respect for the group of students that create the "Awareness Through Performance" presentations. They are truly making a difference and I think they should be acknowledged as great leaders for all they are doing.