Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Golden Dragon Acrobats


Saturday afternoon, Texas State will host the Golden Dragons at Evens Auditorium. The performance is part of Texas State Fine Arts’ Encore Series. The Dragons are visiting as a part of their 2008-09 Cirque D’Or tour. The tour will commemorate the 30th year of continuous touring in the US. According to Art Fegan, their booking agent from Fegan Entertainment inc. says “They are the only Chinese Acrobats touring year round in the states.” The group has received two prestigious nominations from the New York Drama Desk, the first for unique theatrical experience and the other for best choreography. Fegan says on his web site “The citizens of China continue to present their acrobatic art for the world today, as it portrays the hard working nature of their people.”

The Chinese art of acrobatic dance, began as far back as possibly 4000 years ago. According to Jessie Chang, the group’s manger, “It truly became an art when they started using it as entertainment for the emperor, about 2500 years ago.” The art form incorporates props from everyday life in ancient china such as tridents and wicker rings from farm life and tables, plates, bowls and chairs from in the home. Chang says how the most “most dangerous stunt is defiantly the chair stunt.” The stunt involves stacking up to six chairs on top of one another while two performers dance from the tip of this teetering tower of terror. “The Golden Dragons are a family business,” says Chang. “Danny Chang (no relation) inherited it from his father and did the first American tour thirty years ago.” Performers that come along with the Dragons will do a one and a half to two year tour and then take time off back to their homes of Hebei, China. “This way the experience changes, new people join in. This is what has allowed them to be the only year round [Chinese] touring group in the states.”

Lei Zhang is one of the performers that will be here on Saturday and the only English speaking member. He has been practicing acrobatic dance for almost twenty years. “I think the thing I like most [about it] is the movements and the jumping and stunts,” says Zhang. He said how, as a small boy, he really liked kung fu but found that he was not that aggressive so instead found the Golden Dragons and has performed with them. “My favorite is the hoop part,” says Zhang. To get an idea of the hoop imagine five men whirling one hula hoop without any of them touching the ground.

Saturday’s performances are priced at fifteen dollars general and five dollars for students. Texas State’s Fine Arts department event coordinator Elizabeth McDonald says “There are still lots of tickets available for both the 2:00 and 7:30 performances.” These performers have filled almost every major performance to date. The performance should be one to remember. Tickets are available online at www.encoreseries.txstate.edu.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Colorism: the dirty little secret

CC Stinson is a young African American woman with a very light skin tone. “Light, bright, damn near white!” was the jeer that Stinson heard every day from bullies as a child. The peculiar thing was that the girls making these racist remarks were also black, but of a darker tone of course. Now, as an independent film maker in Austin, Stinson along with Neobe Welis have produced a film bearing the same name she was called. The film delves into the topic of colorism. “Colorism is defined as internal discrimination based on skin tone, or discrimination within a race,” says Dr. Sherri Ben, VP of multicultural student affairs.
In Stinson and Welis’ film they interview many people from multiple racial and ethnic back grounds and finds that they have either heard of or in many cases experienced this form of discrimination. In 1992 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 374 charges of color-based discrimination. In 2006 the EEOC received 1,241. In the film Stinson quotes Professor Joni Hersch of Vanderbilt University saying that “Light skinned immigrants to the US, have 8 to 15 percent higher incomes than immigrants that have the same characteristics but with a darker skin tone.” This reflects a major difference in how US society treats not just races but the people with in that race.
Dr. Laurie Fluker, of the Mass Communications department, grew up the lightest of her siblings. “I was spared of this [colorism] by my mother” says Fluker. In her family that was an area that was off limits for the basis of teasing. Fluker believes that the real problem of being of a lighter color is that you are excommunicated in a way by one’s on race. Fluker says, “If you have light skin, other blacks might think you have it better or are better.”
But at the same time, people who have lighter skin do seem to be thought higher of by their respected races. If someone asks an African American girl “who do you think is a pretty girl from your race?” their answer will almost always include Alicia Keys and Tyra Banks. If you ask the same question to a Latina girl her answer would probably include Jennifer Lopez or Jessica Alba. Colorism is not often talked about within discussions on racism. And it is certainly not limited to America. In India, according to BE Magazine, the major skin product that has dominated the market is known as Fair and Lovely, which contains lightening elements. “I do believe that it [colorism] is a dirty little secret,” says Dr. Fluker.
It makes one wonder, what ever happened to the James Brown quote, “SAY IT LOUD! I’M BLACK AND PROUD!”
The film “Light, Bright and Damn Near White” will be shown in LBJ on Wednesday at 7:00pm. The film will be followed by a discussion panel lead by Dr. Laurie Fluker and Dr. Sherri Ben. Students are encouraged to come to this panel. The panelists are conducting this because they feel that this is an issue that must be talked about.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Cesar Chavez "Si se puede"

March 31st marked the birth of civil rights activist and founder of the United Farm Workers of America, Cesar Chavez. The Latino Student Association, presided over by Christina Zambrano, held a dinner in commemoration of Chavez and his works. “I was surprised when I noticed that not only students but a lot of people really don’t even know who he was.” Said Zambrano. 4th year advertising major and LSA member Abigail Morena’s parents worked in fields to provide for her and her sister, so Cesar Chavez’s work in California meant more to her than most. They and the rest of LSA wanted to stage the dinner to help students learn more about this incredible man.
After being served by Los Cucos that catered the event, Joe Michael Gonzoales, a fellow Bobcat who is currently working on his Post Doctorate degree shared a film that he had created using stock footage of Chavez and La Caosa (the cause), Life and Legacy of Cesar Chavez. This was the first showing of this film. It showed him and the members of his organization staging protests, fasting, and boycotting against companies that abused their farm workers. “The new generation must be made aware of this man.” Said Gonzales. The film ended with a showing of Chavez’s funeral to which over 50,000 people attended. “And it’s important that we say he was not a Mexican martyr but an American Hero. The food on the table, before it was served was handled by a farm worker” also said Gonzales. The film concluded with Chavez saying “We are not a service we’re servants. You don’t ask, we give.”

Cesar Chavez fought for the “forgotten people” and learned first hand, as so many migrants do, the harsh conditions of farm work during the depression. Chavez dreamt of building an organization to protect farm workers and their family’s rights to fair pay and decent working conditions. In 1962 he founded the National Farm Workers Association, now known as UFWA. The protests and strikes he lead were modeled after that of Martin L. King and Gandhi. In 1975 his dream became reality as California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, protecting the farm worker’s rights to unionize. It remains the only law in the states that does this. Chavez died in his sleep in 1993 at the age of 66.
The philosophy of non-violence has worked countless times in the past for securing rights of individuals. The use of violence to bring about change is usually met with more resistance and almost always fails in the end. The idea is use tactics that simply remind the oppressors of the humanity of the oppressed. Once this is done, the oppressors can not continue to wrong them because now they would be wronging “people” not laborers, slaves or infidels.
Jaime Martinez the 1st Mexican American to be elected to a national Union executive board and close friend of Chavez during La Caosa, also spoke at the event. Martinez met Chavez doing union work and traveled with him helping with his security since there was a contract on the man’s life. Martinez told a story how Chavez was once ambushed by hired gunmen and thrown into a truck with his union workers to prevent them from trying to organize a labor camp. “Every year more barriers are place by legeislation. But we are still here, organizing. God sent him to us.” Said Martinez.
In addition to the dinner, Lambda Theta Phi was joined by LSA and Chi Upsilon Sigma in serving their annual Chavez day breakfast. The groups provide a free breakfast to all custodial and construction workers employed by TXST. Paul Vega President elect of LSA felt that in the spirit of Cesar Chavez “It’s really important that we give back to them. Because with out them there would be no TXST.”