All Events
Art Exhibit
No Human Being is Illegal! Posters on the Myths and Realities of the Immigrant Experience
MCC LOUNGE
Give me your tired, your poor; Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . . The disparity between the eloquent promise of the Statue of Liberty and the recent attacks against immigrants is enormous and reasons for immigration to the United States vary broadly. Yet from the Irish and Chinese in the nineteenth century to the Mexicans and Middle Easterners of the twenty-first centuries, discrimination based on race, class, language, and culture has unfortunately been consistent. Whether the reason for migration is to escape war, seek asylum from persecution, or pursue better economic opportunities, leaving one’s family, friends, and home is never easy, and the posters in this exhibition present the human side of this wrenching experience.
Produced by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Los Angeles, California.
Cup of Culture
Pinjar
MCC THEATER
Based on a novel by Amrita Pritam, Pinjar is a human saga set during the Indo – Pakistani partition. The story reveals many of the types of tragic atrocities committed during this time period, such as incidents of rape that plundered towns along the border. It illustrates the existence of love and victory during a backdrop of hate and violence.
Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, 187 min., Hindi, 2003, India.
Beyond Gran Torino’s Race Politics: Lead Actor Bee Vang on Acting, Asian American Masculinities, and Media Activism. With Hmong Media Expert, Dr. Louisa Schein
MCC LOUNGE
In this workshop, Vang and Schein engage participants in analyzing portrayals of Hmong - and immigrants in general - in a mainstream film with a racist white man as protagonist. Vang shares on-set production experiences and the acting challenges of such a highly racialized scenario. There will be film clips, including Vang’s own Youtube spoof, and an active discussion on issues of masculinity, violence, and sexuality. Throughout, Vang and Schein consider strategies for social change in and beyond the media industry.
Co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies Department, the Asian Resource Center- Educational Opportunity Program, and the East Asia Center.
Student Series- Cup of Culture – Meet the Filmmaker
American Red and Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity and Half of Anything
MCC THEATER
American Red and Black follows six Afro-native Americans from around the U.S. as they reflect upon the personal and complex issues of Native and African heritage, ethnic identity, and racism within communities of color. In Half of Anything Christina Entrekin, Sherman Alexie, Deborah Bassett, and John Trudell respond to the question 'What is a real Indian?' and examine the notion of how Indian identity is constructed from their individual and often very personal perspectives.
Discussion with Alicia Woods following the screening. Co-sponsored by the African diasporic Cultural Resource Center; the American Indian Cultural Resource Center; the American Indian Graduate Student Alliance, the American Indian Students Association; and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Alice Woods, 39 min., English, 2006, USA and Jon Tomhave, 24 min., English, 2006, USA respectively.
