In Stories from our Undocumented Neighbors with Motus Theater’s ‘UndocuMonologues’ Online, Motus Theater’s undocumented monologists invite you into their homes to share autobiographical monologues about their lives, hopes, fears, and dreams. Their monologues interrupt the dehumanizing and racist, anti-immigrant narratives. Two of the monologues will be read by special guest readers and award-winning immigration history authors, Professor Aviva Chomsky and Professor Natalia Molina. Each monologue is followed by a musical response from a guest musician.
The ‘UndocuMonologues’ encourage thoughtful engagement with the intersection between immigration, race, and economics in U.S. history. After the performance, Professors Chomsky and Molina will share their experience of reading these monologues from a personal and historical perspective, followed by responses by the UndocuMonologists and a Q&A with the audience.
Autobiographical monologues by Motus UndocuMonologists Victor Galvan, Armando Peniche, Tania Chairez (read by Professor Aviva Chomsky), and Alejandro Fuentes-Mena (read by Professor Natalia Molina). Performance presented by Motus Theater - creators of UndocuAmerica, Women of Resolution, Rocks Karma Arrows, and the Shoebox Stories Podcast.
Special guest reader & panelist bios:
Aviva Chomsky is a Professor of History and Coordinator of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies at Salem State University in Massachusetts. Her books include Central America’s Forgotten History: Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Migration (forthcoming), Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal (2014), A History of the Cuban Revolution (2011, 2nd ed.), Linked Labor Histories: New England, Colombia, and the Making of a Global Working Class (2008), and They Take Our Jobs! And Twenty Other Myths about Immigration (2007). Her books have been published in English as well as Spanish. She is also the co-editor of multiple anthologies. Professor Chomsky has been active in Latin American solidarity and immigrants’ rights movements for several decades.
Natalia Molina is a Professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is the author of two award-winning books, How Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts and Fit to Be Citizens?: Public Health and Race in Los Angeles, 1879-1940. Her work examines the interconnectedness of racial and ethnic communities through her concept of "racial scripts" which looks at how practices, customs, policies, and laws that are directed at one group and are readily available and hence easily applied to other groups. Professor Molina is the recipient of nationally competitive awards including those from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Mellon Foundation. More about Professor Molina at http://nataliamolinaphd.com/
*The UndocuMonologues were created in a 17-week collaborative process between Motus Theater’s Artistic Director, Kirsten Wilson, and undocumented community leaders with D.A.C.A. (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).
Performance presented by:
Performance generously sponsored by:
