{"id":18167,"date":"2018-01-26T14:03:28","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T14:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/still-rise-event-uc-santa-barbara\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T12:08:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T12:08:34","slug":"still-rise-event-uc-santa-barbara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/still-rise-event-uc-santa-barbara\/","title":{"rendered":"Still We Rise event at UC Santa Barbara"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY NICOLLETTE JUCHUM
\nPhoto by Lianna Xiaokui Nakashima, LXNPhotography.com<\/a><\/h5>\n
\n
<\/h5>\n

In response to recent events, the AD&A Museum<\/a><\/strong> and UCSB\u2019s Theater and Dance Department<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s, Professor Monique Meunier<\/a><\/strong>, hosted Still We Rise<\/em>, an artistic accumulation of Professor Rick Benjamin<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s poems, scenes from Professor Risa Brainin<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Staging the Daffy Dame<\/em>, and Prof. Meunier\u2019s own choreography and music selections.<\/p>\n

The event successfully displayed a poignant and artistic social commentary on the negative sentiments directed to immigration and DACA<\/a><\/strong>. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows minors entering the country to remain safe from deportation. DACA\u2019s distribution of a temporary social security number allows those minors to enroll in school and work.<\/p>\n

With political policies striving for removal of these pro-immigration programs, communities work against this growing distaste towards immigrants. Prof. Meunier\u2019s Still We Rise<\/em> event was one of many collaborative efforts to raise awareness for immigrant support. Looking through the diverse crowd at the AD&A Museum on both nights of the event, it can be said that, there are supporters everywhere. Seats filled with attentive spectators watching the men and women representing those affected by the current political climates.<\/p>\n

The daughter of two immigrants herself, Prof. Meunier had a personal connection to this event. The music played by the violinist and cellist created a melancholy tone, arising feelings of struggle and sadness for the audience. Starting the event with a scene from the play, Staging the<\/em> Daffy Dame<\/em>, performed students in Prof. Brainin\u2019s class, two actors performed a piece that revealed the fear and complexity of an undocumented person. This scene outlined the night, telling viewers, the real problems currently recognized. The music coupled with the interpretive dances epitomized the feelings of anguish present in struggling newcomers to the United States. Prof. Meunier explained the tone of this music and dance to be one that, \u201cmade [the crowd] feel the feelings I felt as a little girl, the anxiety, the fear, the hope, depression.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Still

Still We Rise<\/em>, an artistic accumulation of Rick Benjamin\u2019s poems. Photo by Lianna Xiaokui Nakashima, LXNPhotography.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n


\nThe spoken poetry as read by Prof. Benjamin furthered the overall theme of the struggle faced by immigrants. Reciting two of his own poems, as well as \u201cProspective Immigrants Please Note<\/a><\/strong>\u201d by Adrienne Rich, \u201cAt the Cemetery at Walnut Grove Plantation, South Carolina, 1989\u201d by Lucille Clifton<\/a><\/strong>, and ended with a piece by Nelson Mandela<\/a><\/strong>. Prof. Benjamin stirred the audience, raising issues in the poems that addressed those that were demeaned, silenced, and frightened due to current events.<\/p>\n

\"From

From the Still We Rise<\/em> performance. Photo by Lianna Xiaokui Nakashima, LXNPhotography.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

All the contributors to this event wanted those present to have, \u201cmore awareness of what it would be like to feel threatened\u201d according to Prof. Brainin, to \u201cleave with a double consciousness and a greater understanding for multiple perspectives\u201d as mentioned by Prof. Benjamin, and as stated by Prof. Meunier, \u201cto embrace diversity because it is what makes us powerful.\u201d Concluding this event, the dancers collectively recited a poem by Maya Angelou, Still I Rise<\/em>, the inspiration to the title of the event, Still We Rise<\/em>, and the event itself.<\/p>\n

The dancer\u2019s final collective exclamation of \u201cI rise\u201d reminded those present that through the trials and tribulations, progress will come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AD&A Museum and UCSB\u2019s Theater and Dance Department\u2019s, Professor Monique Meunier, hosted Still We Rise, an artistic accumulation of Professor Rick Benjamin\u2019s poems, scenes from Professor Risa Brainin\u2019s Staging the Daffy Dame, and Prof. Meunier\u2019s own choreography and music selections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[244,231,743,1978,1979,1980,1981,115,1982,13],"class_list":["post-18167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-and-cultural","tag-ada-museum","tag-california","tag-daca","tag-monique-meunier","tag-nicollette-juchum","tag-rick-benjamin","tag-risa-brainin","tag-santa-barbara","tag-still-we-rise","tag-ucsb"],"yoast_head":"\nStill We Rise event at UC Santa Barbara - impactmania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/still-rise-event-uc-santa-barbara\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Still We Rise event at UC Santa Barbara - 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