USU ADC hosts ‘A Night of Resistance’
Utah State University’s Access and Diversity Center held a Night of Resistance on Tuesday night. The event was organized into five acts, each focused on a different minority group. It was created to include and educate about issues that minorities have faced throughout history and still face today.
Lesther Papa, one of the events hosts, said, “We want our motives to be clear. A night of resistance is a night to be able to increase awareness, and to learn and to celebrate resistance. It’s not a how to resist, this is what resistance looks like.”
The event began by retelling stories of resistance through the use of media, reenactments, speeches, and dances.
The first group that was presented was disability rights. This segment featured an organization on campus called Aggie Elevated. This organization provides opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities to attend college. Their video featured several students enrolled in the program today and spread the message that “every Aggie can be elevated.”
The second act of the evening, titled “Indigenous Uprising,” featured stories on groups from Alaska, Hawaii, and Western Native American tribes of the United States.
“Hawaii is unique in the fact that they have a state anthem. One that is written in the indigenous language, Hawaiian. That is one of the ways that active resistance is still being held in Hawaii today,” Papa said.
Papa then performed the Hawaiian anthem while all audience members stood up. Two members of the Polynesian Student Union performed a traditional Hula dance for the crowd as well.
Chris Capitan, USU student and member of the Navajo nation, narrated through several stories of American Indian resistance and traditional dances. He touched on topics such as Navajo code talkers, massacres, and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“Most of these dances and songs you will hear were given to tribes in dreams,” Captain said. “They are symbolism of prayer and healing.”
Act three was titled “The Rainbow Connection” and covered gay liberation and Chicano power. Ashley Gutshall, USU student and LGBTQ activist, presented her own retelling of a speech by American transgender rights activist Janet Mock.
In a presentation on Chicano power, USU professor Crescencio Lopez Gonzalez performed a reading of his original poem “Ms. Liberty, Why Have You Forsaken US.”
The final act of the night was titled “Black Power” and included presentations on Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party, the Shakur family, and more.
Christian Stettler, a multicultural coordinator for the ADC and a producer of the event, touched on why this portion of the event is important.
“I think it is very obvious here, at Utah State. If you’re talking about black power for example, many of our black students are not aware of it, because they’re not taught that,” Stettler said. “So how do we expect our white students to know about these things? They’re learning a shadow of the real history.”
The Night of Resistance spread awareness to other students and resonated with many who were in attendance. Alexa Christensen, a USU senior, was one such student participating in the event.
“I definitely think that all the minorities need to come together. I think it is a powerful thing that starts in a small community,” Christensen said.
Stettler mentioned how there are a lot of misconceptions about the history of civil rights. He emphasized learning.
“It’s important, whether you agree or disagree with it is fine, but you should know about it,” Stettler said. “It is not so much a celebration as it is a retelling of stories.”
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Staff writer Diego Mendiola contributed to this story.