As part of the African Student Union performance of ‘Africa, My Africa,’ members of the organization participate in a fashion show displaying a variety of styles of dress from Africa. Photo by Morgan Grana.

The spicy smell of stewed meat in curry sauce permeated the air. Red, green and yellow fabrics draped around the bodies of young women, contrasting beautifully with the all-white attire of young men. Rhythmic, pulsing, bass-heavy music played in the background.

The scene was set last Friday, when an audience comprised mostly of students almost filled Kresge Town Hall. The African Student Union (ASU) artfully shattered prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions of Africa, African-Americans and the African diaspora through its performance of “Africa, My Africa.”

ASU transformed Kresge Town Hall, bringing the bright colors, inviting tastes and drum-laden sounds of the multicultural African continent to UC Santa Cruz, proving that future ASU events will be a prime setting for cultural experiences you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else on campus.

Although the show was advertised to begin at 7 p.m., activities were not underway until about an hour later. The crowd didn’t seem to mind, however, as almost everyone immediately took a place in the long food line, clearly eager to sample the dishes whose smells were hanging enticingly in the air.

The warm smells and richly spiced tastes of curried lamb, sambusas (a staple dish in the Horn of Africa, somewhat akin to an East Indian samosa) and rice with bright green peas strewn over it kept the attendees happy as ASU members buzzed about in their bright and flowing clothes, preparing to give the audience the show they eagerly came to see.

After the audience was finally seated with their bellies full, the room darkened. The sudden pounding of a lone drum sounded off the first half of the performances, which were devoted to recognizing the diversity of life, identity and culture in multiple African nations — nations represented by the 17 ASU members.

The drummer addressed the audience: “Where did it all begin?” The audience members were then exposed to snippets of culture from across the African continent through live musical performances of renditions of songs from Mali and Sudan. The crowd erupted into cheers and ear-splitting clapping at the song’s final note, and a proud motherly voice shouted, “That’s my Shadin!” from the front row, causing the on-stage vocalist to crack a wide, proud grin.

The event continued with spoken word and poetry readings from different ASU members, evoking with their words issues like media portrayal of Africa, the meaning of specific and pan-ethnic African identities, the African diaspora, the struggles of immigrating to the United States, and other important topics that deserve conversation and attention. The speakers’ poetic and passionate words were received by quick, successive snaps from the audience — a common method of showing appreciation and respect to a spoken word poet.

The loudest cheers and sounds of encouragement, however, came during the fashion show. ASU members strutted across the stage in colorful and stunning attire that was representative of several African regions, including Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and others. The models caused the audience to erupt in shouts, hoots, hollers and smiles of appreciation as they two-stepped and shimmied across the stage to the drum-heavy music that accompanied the show. The performers’ clear and emanating confidence reflected the fact that they had been working on the show for three to four months.

The finale continued in a musical vein. Several ASU members, still clad in their cultural attire, performed a dance that they also performed at this year’s Multicultural Festival. The crowd was brought to their feet, clapping furiously as the performers took their final bow.

ASU’s first cultural show, which member Iman Barre hopes will become an annual event, left audience members perhaps a bit more aware about the African diaspora than when they first took their seats. Recently formed as an organization on campus in fall 2011, ASU hopes to thrive for many generations of students to come, and continue to create enlightening, fun and open spaces where diverse cultures can be explored and appreciated.

Audiopharmacy performs at Kresge Town Hall, bringing visibility to minorities struggling in the face of ongoing territorial occupations. Photo by Morgan Grana.

Four centuries after the first white settlers landed in New England, Native American groups are reaching across the ocean to war-torn Palestinians.

Aiming to support a liberation struggle some think is analogous to the early days of America’s manifest destiny, the Bay Area-based Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine made their first international contact during a two-week tour through refugee camps along the Israel-Palestine border in August 2009.

Ras K’Dee, a member of the delegation and editor of Seventh Native American Generation (SNAG) magazine, shared his experiences from the trip prior to a concert in Kresge Town Hall. The event, a publicity venture in ongoing efforts to increase awareness of minority struggles, was hosted by UC Santa Cruz’s Native American Resource Center.

K’Dee described his goals.

“There isn’t that international wedge of support for Palestine either,” K’Dee said. “In the long run, we want to create a solidarity movement.”

An ethnic Californian Pomo Indian, K’Dee drew multiple parallels between the two groups. He equated the Cherokee Trail of Tears with the forced migration of Palestinians from Israeli lands, and compared placement of Native American children into boarding schools with Palestinian families separated by impassable military checkpoints.

“The U.N. created a land for Jews, who have been historically kicked around Europe,” UCSC student Eliot Rosenstock said. “[The Jewish people] wanted a base, and it hurts me to see my own people now marginalizing another religion.”

Native American Indians are a minority in their own home country. A 2008 diversity report revealed that they make up about 1 percent of the student population at UCSC.

Fourth-year Merrill student and attendee Amalia Coronado stated that as a Native American, she felt a connection to Palestinians in what she felt was a battle for visibility and equality.

“There’s just so much going on everywhere, it’s great to make these cross-cultural ties,” Coronado said. “We’re all fighting for similar things.”

Debates rage over the legitimacy of Israeli settlements, pitting Israelis against Palestinians.

The divide permeates Rosenstock’s own life as well. While his family consists of unequivocal supporters of a Jewish nation, Rosenstock was found tabling on behalf of Palestine.

“To them, as soon as I stop supporting Israel, I become ignorant,” Rosenstock said.

The event culminated in a performance by hip-hop group Audiopharmacy, whose mellow-feeling beats incorporated lyrics of indigenous opposition, a message coinciding with the one carried by the delegation. Or in K’Dee’s words, “resisting the exportation of oppression with solidarity.”

Cross-continental connections were made with the youth of Palestine, who welcomed the delegation as the culmination of a program of study centered around Native American and immigrant populations of the United States.

“It was dope, man,” K’Dee said. “They were doing their traditional dances for us. We did an exchange with them, did some of our own cultural things.”

K’Dee spent two years prior to the trip learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation of displaced Palestinian refugees.

“We could never provide the real truth if we hadn’t been there,” K’Dee said. “We want to educate people … and the ultimate goal is change.”

In a closing remark, K’Dee noted that Palestinians have so far counted 42 years of what has been considered occupation, while American Indians have counted 560.

Photo by Rosario Serna.

Photo by Rosario Serna.

Photo by Morgan Grana.

Photo by Morgan Grana.

UC Santa Cruz students, workers and instructors converged by the hundreds at Quarry Plaza Wednesday afternoon. With fists raised, fire in their bellies, and homemade signs reading “Hike mountains, not fees” and “Who’s university? Our university!” the gathered crowd, estimated at 500 people, converged in front of the bookstore before marching down Hagar Drive. Their march ended at the base of campus.

Ian Steinman, one of the speakers at Quarry Plaza, articulated some of the goals of the movement. “We’re not trying to stop fee hikes today, but we hope to radicalize a new set of people who will contribute to the fight against them,” Steinman said. “We hope to encompass the student body and shake the state and shake the country.”

Students then circled the Bay and High intersection, creating a physical blockade to stop oncoming cars, which both honked in support and tried to squeeze past the protesters.

People from the crowd came up to the microphone to suggest their ideas for where to go next. Ideas included occupation of the music center, one of the administration buildings, or Classroom Unit 1. The consensus was that the Kresge Town Hall, which usually costs $400 to use overnight, was the best place to reclaim.

As this was going on, students at the West Entrance of campus had formed another blockade.  The police threatened to arrest these students. Once news of this spread to the other group of protesters, dozens of students marched up Empire Grade to reinforce the blockade.

With the group at the West entrance significantly larger in number, the police showed no interest in arresting any students. The student protesters agreed to allow parents to pick up their children from the on-campus daycare, but denied students and professors access to campus. Members of the blockade chanted, “Out of the car and into the streets!” as they moved slowly towards the cars, forcing them to turn around. Eventually, all of the remaining protesters moved to Kresge.

As CHP went to press, the student protesters remained in the Kresge Town Hall, preparing with food and blankets to stay all night.

Margaret Laffan, a speaker at the rally and an organizer of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee, objects to the fee hikes.

“Public education should be for the public good. By making it privatized, we are decreasing access and creating an elite group of students,” Laffan said. “If we’re only educating those who can afford it, then those are the ones who will have a voice and power in the future. That’s predominately the white and middle class.”

Impromptu speakers expressed their ideas and concerns into a bike-powered microphone in the center of the street. Students, faculty, community members and workers stood in solidarity. Workers expressed their concern with fewer working hours.

“We decided to rally with the students because they stand with the collation workers,” said custodian Nicolas Gutierrez. He continued to say that because of the cuts in worker’s hours, bathrooms and dining halls are not being disinfected the way they should, especially in the flu season.

“If students are paying more, they are also receiving less services,” Gutierrez said. “[The budget] affects everything — it’s even becoming a health issue.”

Despite the excitement for the cause, some students opposed some of the methods the protesters took.

Moments leading up to the walk-out, protesters stormed into Classroom Unit 1 while a Macroeconomics lecture was taking place, shouting negative remarks against the regents’ move to increase fees by a total 32 percent next year.

While some of the class chanted in support, others found the protestors disruptive. Antaeus Edelsohn, a second-year from Cowell College, yelled at the protesters to get out.

“You shouldn’t detract even further the amount of learning students do by disrupting class,” Edelsohn told CHP after the lecture ended. “Everyone in that class has already spent thousands of dollars [to attend classes]. I want to enjoy what I’ve spent my money on.”

Some participants of the walk-out agree. Tiffany Loftin, the Internal Vice Chair of the Student Union Association, spoke to the Quarry Plaza crowd through a megaphone.

After her speech, she told CHP, “Our goals are to be heard, seen and to represent. If you’re not in class, you’re supposed to be. We’re fighting against fee increases, so if you’re out here and not in class, it’s contradictory. People should be going to class.”

Many protesters at the Quarry Plaza Rally, including Loftin, planned on going to class later in the day.

UCSC fourth-year Rusty Plascencia was not about to miss class in the name of tuition hikes. “I would like it better if they changed all the classes to later [instead of striking classes],” he said.  “If you don’t do anything, you’re always going to piss some people off.”

Third-year Alexandra Bakaly participated in the walk-out, but headed back up to campus later in the day to attend class.

“I wanted to do what I could to support the rally,” said Bakaly. “This is history, now. We’re making history and I want to be a part of it. I’m not just going to stand by.”

Inviting speakers to come up to the microphone in the intersection, Chris Chitty hoped that people would miss class in support of the movement. Dressed in a red shirt emblazoned with the word ‘communist,’ Chitty said above the yells and protests, “Going to class today is complacent on a day when the university is voting on fee hikes.”

The student cast of “Quartely Exhort” poses after holding its final rehearsal before the first show premiers Friday, Oct. 30 at Kresge Town Hall. Photo by Nita-Rose Evans.

Darkness falls as the group begins their rehearsal for the upcoming play at the UC Santa Cruz outdoor theater. Improvisational jokes flow in and out, and the best ones are added to the script by the stage manager. At one point, an actress falls into an emotional monologue about gay rights. This glimpse of seriousness in the light-hearted, comedic production reminds the audience about the serious issues at the core of the show.

“Quarterly Exhort” is a free show written, directed and produced entirely by UCSC students that will debut at Kresge Town Hall this Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.

Director Flynn Crosby explained that the initial aim of the project was both to inform and entertain. In addition to exploring issues surrounding gay rights, the show also examines the current budget crisis, the wars in the Middle East, and health care, issues that are pertinent to the modern viewer.

While the show was primarily written by Crosby and stage manager Brandon Bennett, Crosby explained that much of the material developed, grew and changed during rehearsals. Crosby will gauge the audience reaction to see if the show will go on in the future.

“It’s a collaborative show where everyone has been involved with the script,” Crosby said. “A lot of creative ideas and jokes come from improvisation.”

The show is segmented into different parts with a different actor leading each vignette, just like a news show. News anchors Deepika Singamsetty and Michael Fantauzzo lead the show while other actors explain sports, weather, news, theater and celebrity gossip.

“It’s a lot like a news show, but all in a funny, silly, ‘everybody should be laughing,’ sort of way,” Crosby said.

In addition to its pliable script, some other elements of the production have also been fairly mutable throughout the pre-premiere process. Last year, a show like this one would most likely have been produced through BarnStorm, a campus production company run by two UCSC graduate students that hosted 55 performances at The Barn during the 2008-2009 season — from plays to comedy nights and poetry slams.

Recent budget cuts, though, knocked BarnStorm and The Barn itself out of contention to host and produce this show. When asked why BarnStorm is not operating during fall quarter, theater department chair David Cuthbert said it was mostly due to the budget crisis.

“It costs well over $10,000 just for the TAs for BarnStorm to run,” Cuthbert said. “We hope that we will return [for] as many quarters as we possibly can, but with the budget we’re having to make cuts all around.”

While BarnStorm will be back in action winter quarter, for now Crosby has had to organize the show without its assistance, or the assistance of the UCSC theater department. This has made everything from finding adequate rehearsal space to marketing the show significantly more difficult, according to Crosby.

“The only real advantage to doing this outside of the theater program is being able to talk about the theater program openly,” Crosby said.

While putting the show together has proven difficult in some ways, Bennett said that it will still deliver essential messages to students about extremely important things happening both inside and outside of Santa Cruz.

“Here we live in a time when all of our open minds are heading in the same direction in a very close community,” he said. “We don’t always see what else is going on, and sometimes we get stuck. It’s important to know difference.”