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A quick behind the scenes look at Artistic Director Sara Maslanka and cast building their characters within the world of Consumed!!!
 There have been many actions of hate in this country over the last year. More than ever, many minorities and citizens without privilege have been personally attacked due to their cultural or religious background. So I wanted to take this moment to talk about what it means to be American and “American” culture. I define American culture as a continuing patriarchal society with deep foundations that constantly need to be challenged. We are founded on worthy principles which are being twisted and pitted against what we say we stand for. The paper is different from the talk.
America is a country of immigrants. The true Americans had their land stripped from them and were forced to live in reservations. Being a country which started from immigrants, it is my thinking that we should be accepting and inclusive of those who come to our country for various reasons. The original “Americans” are Europeans who wanted freedom from the monarchy but we are placed in a potentially similar period now. These resistances are splitting the country in half but there is no new land to flee to and steal to become a new “free” country so the citizens of this “America” are going to have to figure out their problems on this soil. What is American culture? What is it that we bring that is unique to the world? It is not wrong and it should be encouraged to explore these various walks of life and learn how these various societies grew under their brand of leadership. These phobias against those that are different should be questioned because at least they are unique and when I think of American culture I think sterile and clean. We should welcome diversity to help color our lives and become a greater unified force that could change the world through tolerance and acceptance.  I wanted to take this weeks blog and talk a little about myself, which is only fair since you have been reading my words for the past month. My name is Mitchell Wilson and I am the Marketing Intern for Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE). How did I get to writing about social justice and promoting the amazing work that CDE does? Well, I go to DePaul University where I am studying Theatre Management (yes that is a career path) and Marketing. My major requires these internships to graduate and I could not be more blessed than to work with these amazing artists in interpreting societies major issues and bringing them to light.
Art is used majorly in social movements, which is apparent during the Black movement and LGBTQ+ movement. Art has a way to communicate complex messages in a simple malleable form. In art we decide how the problem relates to us rather than receiving one side of the story. This is the reason art is still relevant but that does not mean that it is forever changing. More immersion in art is an advancement that must be utilized, especially in social justice art as there needs to be a call to action. In order to acquaint you with the work that we do, I will be starting a bi weekly vlog to show the work that CDE does. These vlogs will show you the reason to be proud of having this type of organization at your finger tips. These vlogs will contain looks inside rehearsals, tours, and interviews with the individuals that are making this happen. Together we can change the world, and I will do my best to show you that we mean business!!! |