2nd Annual Social Justice Conference at Cabrillo College
Imagining Change/Shaping the Future II
Saturday, April 19, 2008
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The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Students must have initiative; they should not be mere imitators. They must learn to think and act for themselves--and be free.
-Cesar Chavez
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Social justice is a movement working toward a more just, humane society in which all individuals and groups experience fair treatment and have equitable access to the benefits of society.
DEAD MAN WALKING
Pisces Moon Productions and Delta High School: “Social Discourse
Through Art: A Case Study, The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project”
The goal of the Dead Man Walking School Theatre project is to use the
production of the play Dead Man Walking, based on the book of the same
name, written by Sister Helen Prejean, to encourage social discourse
about the death penalty. This presentation offers the opportunity to
look at how Cabrillo College, Pisces Moon Productions and Delta High
School collaborated in their production of Dead Man Walking to provoke
social discourse regarding the death penalty and issues surrounding it.
The presentation will include a summary of the project by project
members, video clips from the project, a performance, speakers who have
lost family members to murder. At the end there will be an opportunity
for social discourse among the presenters and audience.
We spoke about our production of Dead Man Walkingand the collaboration with Delta Charter High School and Cabrillo College through the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project. As part of our presentation, Delta High School students spoke about studying the issues in their courses and the impact, as well as that of the play, had on them. They also shared creative projects related to themes of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation. Daria Troxell, who played Sister Helen Prejean and Marc Nicholson, who played Matt Poncelet, performed scenes from the play. The presentation ended with a question-and-answer session with actors, Delta students, the play's director, Susan Myer Silton and Delta's principal, Mary Gaukel Forster.
Pisces Moon also joined other community-based organizations to distribute information about our work toward social justice during the lunchtime community fair.
The Conference keynote speaker was Ms. Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Attorney at Law and founder of the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the human rights and dignity of Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (MEMSA) peoples.
