Igwe celebrates MLK Day

By Mary Chamaki

The Igwebuike club held a commemorative event both to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and to recognize the everyday struggles of the individuals of the black community. The event took place on Monday night in the Mayer Theater. The production, entitled "Reclaiming Our Voice: The Journey of the Road Less Traveled," spanned three hours and featured music, poetry and speeches.

"I was just amazed that Igwe is not even a performing arts organization, because it met and exceeded the standards of one. There was so much talent, and I was blown away by how the poems were all committed to memory and delivered so powerfully," said  junior Melissa Martin.

The 25th anniversary of MLK Day brought in a record audience ranging from alumni of the university to groups such as the Xavier RLC, all coming together to honor the message of hope and freedom.

The show began with four cast members onstage as "The Voices of Reason," compelling the audience to question: "what is black?" In their quest to define the word, they came up with the acronym B.L.A.C.K., and the creation of this acronym set the base for the rest of the production, split among the following five definitions.

Black is beautiful. Black is love. Black is altruistic. Black is culture. Black is knowledge.

According to Dmitri Woods, assistant director of the production, the main message that the show was trying to get across was that there is no actual definition for being black, and that black is a socially constructed concept. "Our goal was to try to convey that each person is an individual who tries to pave their own path and should not be categorized by any single component of their character," said Woods.

Kyoko Robertson, stage manager for the production, agreed that the main message was important to get across. According to Robertson many ideas were thrown around during the meetings and deciding what would be shown in the production was a very democratic process, with input from every individual in the club.

Writing began last October and the production was entirely student written. Writers included Christopher Paschal, Dmitri Woods, Kareema Thomas, Kyoko Robertson and several other individuals who were highly involved in the show. The greatest challenge for the cast was putting everything together in the short time period they had available. Rehearsals began at the start of winter quarter, giving the performers two weeks to prepare. Rehearsals went for up to four hours a night, lasting from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.

The show featured the talents of many individuals, including poetic performances, monologues, speeches and music. The production captured issues facing black individuals today, including controversies surrounding affirmative action and racial profiling. In the "Growing Pains Scene," performed by Kristin Heath, Maxwell James Walter, and Russell White, an adolescent black male faces the challenges and issues of our perplexing world. Unsure of how to make it to adulthood with the mixed messages sent by our media-infiltrated society, the child is encouraged by his father to mature and stay strong in his foundations.

The show also captured past events within the Civil Rights Movement, putting on a dramatic recreation of a sit-in with their "Bar Stool Montage."

On a musical front, the production featured a performance titled "Memories" with singer Jackie Gee and guitarist Argie Cases, along with a special dance performance by Future Shock Oakland.

Igwebuike, the sponsor of the event, is one of the nine clubs part of the Multicultural Club in the Santa Clara community. Originally founded in 1967 as the Black Student Union, in 1984 the club changed its name to Igwebuike which means "In unity there is strength." The club is headed by co-presidents Christopher Paschal and Nadia Yassin.

The main goals of the group are to be supportive of one another while providing fellowship and a sense of community for its members. The club holds meetings every Monday, and all students of the Santa Clara community are welcome.

"We are very proud of the club and the high energy provided by this year's new board members. They are continuing the traditions from the past while bringing in their own mix of ideas and providing us with a strong foundation for new development and growth," said Yassin.

The club hosts many events on campus including three Love Jones shows throughout the year and MLK Night. The club prides itself on its Igwebuike Scholarship Fund which raises money for scholarships for incoming freshmen who struggle with meeting the financial demands of attaining a college education.

The fund also helps provide students in local middle schools and high schools with free mentoring and tutoring from members of Igwe. All donations and entrance fees received at MLK Night will go toward this scholarship fund and the club's upcoming annual retreat.  

Contact Mary Chamaki at mchamaki@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4546