coyapaz

Raise Awareness. Yeah Yeah Yeah... So What?

2010-12-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

I don't have any love lost for FaceBook campaigns that ask you to change your status in support of This N' That or Blah Blah Blah, so when people started changing their profile pictures to cartoon figures and posting statuses that said they were doing so in the name of raising awareness about child abuse, I just rolled my eyes, ignoring it. After all, that strategy worked when I got message after "secret" message asking me to post where I keep my purse or what colour bra I'm wearing, so I figured I'd just ride this one out too. But this one has a different tone than the others. People have been remarkably insistent, posting statuses that say "you should do this too" and even going so far as to directly post on my wall that I should change my picture. I'm amazed at how many people have jumped on board, as well as how many people seem to think a campaign like this really makes any kind of difference at all.

Now, don't get me wrong. I appreciate that this is a well-meaning campaign, that most people are changing their profile picture because it is a small, fun thing to do. If it helps raise awareness about child abuse, well... what can it hurt? How can it be worse than doing nothing? The rhetoric of support seems to go something like this: it is easy to do. It is fun. It is catching on. If wondering why everyone is changing their picture encourages even one person to look up information about child abuse, well... then the campaign has worked! If you are arguing about it, then it works! We're talking about it! Raising awareness is better than not raising awareness, right?

Except... No.

I know I think about child abuse more than a lot of people. Not only am I a survivor, but I've spent years as an anti-violence advocate. So perhaps I'm not the best gage of how a campaign like this might impact people who don't think about this stuff every day. But here's what I worry about:

1.) For the average (not every, just average) person. this is a feel-good fix that does little to make any actual impact. My friend Jen phrased it best when she said she suspects "it's most likely that folks are reminded that children are abused and feel sad about it for a moment and change their pic and feel better about themselves. And ultimately, that's all that's happening: people feel a little less bad."

2.) We are a culture increasingly focused on internet activism. We take to the internet, not the streets. We believe that signing an online petition or posting a status update equals or stands in for actual political engagement, stands in for the kind of grassroots, on the street, in the community work that we need to do to foster real systemic change. We are becoming "slacktivists." Now, I know that many of the people who have changed their profile pics also work for change in more tangible ways, but I also know that many don't.

3.) "Raising awareness" is a pretty soft goal when it isn't tied to tangible outcome. To what end are we raising awareness? What are we asking people to DO with this information? An awareness campaign that reminds people that 1 in 8 women develops breast cancer is asking women to monitor their health. An awareness campaign that tells you a local health center is in danger of losing funding is asking you for money. An awareness campaign than tells you food is full of pesticides is trying to get you to not eat food coated in pesticides. But a campaign like this one that reminds you-- vaguely, with no data or links to orgs-- that child abuse simply exists is asking you for nothing.

4.) A supporter of the campaign sent me a link to "proof" that the campaign is working - a news clip that used the FB campaign as a starting point to lay out some statistics and recent examples of child abuse. But even that tells me little. Knowing that a man recently beat his two children to death doesn't tell me anything about the factors that fostered his violence. And without that information, I don't really know what kinds of interventions I can make to facilitate or support change. For example, over the summer, when 17-month old Roy Jones was punched to death by a stepfather who thought he needed to learn how to "act like a man" I was pretty clear on what kind of social education I needed to support - the persistent thinking that gender needs to be policed. When a child is shaken to death by a frustrated teenage mom, I know what kind of education and action I need to invest in: support for single parents, new parents, and education campaigns that remind people that shaking babies can kill them. We need to "raise awareness" about the contexts for violence, particularly the systemic factors that facilitate it, in order to know how we can create change.

5.) Finally, I find the use of cartoon characters baffling. I get that it is a fun trip down memory lane, something we associate with childhood, but so many of these cartoons are gendered in ways that are sexualized and/or violent. Further, abusers are unable to acknowledge the full humanity of their victims, so the call to "not see a human face until December 7th" seems particularly problematic in this context.

6.) I've watched this play out for a few days now, and most of the discussion about child abuse that it has generated seems to come from people like me, people who are so crabby about it they snap and start challenging participants, people who already spend a lot of time and energy educating people about systemic violence. Otherwise, no one I know has said: wow. I didn't realize child abuse is so prevalent. Or, I didn't realize there were so many awesome organizations working to end CSA - here's a link.

So I won't be changing my profile picture to my favourite childhood cartoon. I WILL take to heart those friends of mine who ask what the alternative is and suggest that people check out the organization Generation Five, which aims to end child abuse within five generations. Their site offers an important framework for analyzing child abuse, resources, and ways to get involved.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my regularly scheduled Facebook programming: spying on exes and crushes, posting shallow status updates, and complaining about the new profile page.

TOUR GUIDES!!!!

2010-11-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

Oh Whoa!

I have been so busy writing about Target I forgot to tell you about my show that opens on December 3rd!!!!!!

I have a show that opens on December 3rd!

TOUR GUIDES is an insider's peek at Chicago, written by 10 poets from across the city and directed by The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz (that's me!).

Check it out :

TOUR GUIDES
Dec 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18
7:30pm
Chicago Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets and Info at www.guildcomplex.org

Directed and developed by The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz
Written by Jon Cofield, Kimberly Dixon, Steven Evans, Stephanie Gentry Fernandez, Sage Morgan Hubbard, Carron Little and Sandra Posadas (with additional text from Ricardo Gamboa, Tricia Hersey, and Rupal Soni).
Movement direction by Esteban Andres Cruz

Target Is No Longer My Great Love. Just The One I Call When I Need A Little Somethin'-Somethin'

2010-11-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

The rumours are true! I broke the Target boycott. I decided Target is a [bleepy] corporation, but a lot less [bleepy] than the stores I was taking my money to instead. Do I feel good about it? Nope. Here's my 100% ambivalent letter to the company:

Dear Mr. Steinhafel, Ms. May, and Whomever is Actually Going to Read This and Send Me Back a Form Letter,

I guess you win the standoff. When I heard that Target had donated money to MN Forward, in support of conservative candidate Tom Emmer, I was heartbroken. I loved Target. It was the place I went not just to buy toilet paper, sponges, and boring stuff like that, but to buy a momentary burst of feeling good - a cute glass, a stylish but totally affordable pair of boots, a notebook with a robot on it. When I felt sad or upset, I often drove to the Target five blocks from my house. It felt familiar, clean, organized - my happy place! But in addition to being a passionate shopper, I'm also queer. I live with my female partner and our child, a beautiful little girl who would exclaim, whenever we pulled into the Target parking lot, "Ida's House!" By donating money in support of Tom Emmer, Target went from being a relatively gay-friendly corporation (offering domestic partnership benefits, marching in gay pride parades) to a supporter of somebody so ardently opposed to my "lifestyle" that he supports a fringe organization that thinks stoning homosexuals is the way to go! I immediately stopped shopping at Target and joined the boycott, writing you letters, guest blogging, speaking on the radio. I guess I was as passionate about the boycott as I had been about shopping at your store!

And yet... I've started shopping at Target again. I guess you knew that would happen. Maybe that explains why, even though I wrote you 6 letters about how upset I was, you answered only 2 - with the same form letter you sent to everyone who wrote to you. Maybe that explains why you didn't counter your donation to MN Forward with a donation to a gay-friendly organization, despite a huge boycott of your stores in urban areas. You figured - wait it out. They'll come back. we're the only store where you can buy frozen peas, diapers, lip gloss, and a side table. Well... not the only store, but really... we KNOW these homos aren't going to shop at Walmart! And you're right. My decision to return to Target after 5 months came after weeks of pressure from my partner, who pointed out that of the major corporations running big stores, you are, despite it all, MORE gay-friendly than Walmart, Home Depot, Walgreens. We weren't taking our money to small business run by gay-loving store owners. We were taking it to Menard's and CVS. And my partner asked, were we really, really, REALLY never going to shop at Target again? I decided, begrudgingly, that my answer was "no." We were holding out for something we weren't going to get (acknowledgement that you were using money made from shoppers like us to support politicians who hate shoppers like us) and that eventually we would give up and go back. So I went back.

But you know what? I don't love Target anymore. I feel tense when I go there, reluctant to go inside and reluctant to linger. I buy the stuff on my list, usually toilet paper, diapers, baby wipes, the occasional pair of Assets... you know, boring stuff, and I skip the fun sections altogether: clothes, makeup, fake Christmas trees. Target is definitely not my "happy place" anymore - it is functional shopping now, and I don't know if it will ever again be the place where I drop most of my disposable income. Probably not. Because the message I got from you loud and clear, when I sent you letter after letter asking for, if not corporate accountability, than at least a personal response was this: Target doesn't give a [BEEP] about any individual shopper. So this individual shopper no longer feels good about shopping with you. I feel like a sucker. A sucker who needs saline solution (7.99) and veggie crumbles (3.49) but not a gold tote bag (34.99) or a pair of grey high heeled over the knee boots (29.99). I want those things, but I don't need to buy them. Not at Target anyway.

So I guess that's that. I'm not the longterm holdout some of my friends have been. But I do know this - I was a loyal customer. And now I'm not. I feel the same way about Target as I do about Home Depot or Best Buy - they're places I go when I'm in a hurry, when I don't have time or energy to go somewhere I like better. Do I miss the old days? Sure. But I have a sinking feeling they're gone forever. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. So, Target, I hope throwing a relatively small amount of money towards an organization that supports ardently homophobic (and anti-immigrant) candidates was worth losing the thousands of dollars people like me would have spent at your store. Was it? I await your response... no doubt in the form of a carefully worded, perfectly generic form letter.

Yours Truly (No More),

Coya Paz

Sigh....

2010-09-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Amores, I'm STILL writing letters to Target and STILL waiting for a considered response. Here's the latest. I hope you're still with me. And if you are, don't forget to send a letter of your own: gregg.steinhafel at target.com, denise.may at target.com, and guest.relations at target.com.

Hola Target,

I don't know about you, but this Boycott Target thing is really getting on my nerves. There are a lot of things I want to buy at Target. For example, I was reading Lucky magazine this weekend and saw an ad for a SUPER cute purple sweater dress at Target. For a moment, I forgot that you had donated $150,000 to an organization that supports an incredibly anti-gay and anti-immigrant candidate, and just saw the possibility. I have red hair and hazel eyes, and I look great in purple. Plus, a sweater dress is one of my favorite items of clothing - conservative enough that I can wear it to my job as an educator, but form fitting enough that it complements my curves. At $24.99, it is totally affordable, and it would go beautifully with the brown knee high boots I bought at Target last fall. My first, unfiltered instinct was to jump up and go to Target. That might sound like I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I live 5 blocks from a Target, and am an unrepentant compulsive shopper. When you debuted your Anna Sui Gossip Girl collection, I was there at 8am in the morning, coffee in hand, so running out to buy a sweater dress on impulse is as in-character for me as breathing and wearing lip gloss. But then I remembered: I can't shop at Target. Not right now. Not yet.

But I want to! So... I'm writing you (again!) to ask if you have any plans to balance out the contribution you made to MN Forward with a donation to a candidate or organization that supports gay civil rights or humane immigration reform?

I know that's not an easy proposition. You're probably worried that if you did that, your Christian right wing consumers would freak out. I think that's true, but believe me: your gay shoppers and gay allies are freaking out already! And we may be a smaller percentage of your consumer base but I'm comfortable stereotyping us as passionate shoppers. I'll use me as an example:

In the past two weeks, I've purchased the following: a lamp, a pack of pens, 3 picture frames, diapers, baby wipes, nylons, 3 different Revlon lip colors, blush, garbage bags, sponges, a ring, Draino, two types of air freshener (that's an embarrassing story involving a baby who just learned how to take off her diaper), a bunch of magazines, a notebook, shampoo, conditioner, hair dye (that red hair I mentioned requires a monthly touch up), moisturizer, thumbtacks, an electric tea kettle, 2 nail polishes, a large bowl, and an eye shadow. I probably would have purchased every single one of these items at Target (you know, the one conveniently located just five blocks from my house?) but instead, I've been driving around to all kinds of places that I don't find nearly as appealing or impulse-shopping worthy as Target. You'll notice I haven't bought any clothes of late, which is pretty rare for me. I'm on a super tight budget right now because I'm in the middle of buying a house, so I guess that's the ONE good thing about this boycott fiasco: I have never, ever, ever walked out of a Target without buying myself a little "treat" (a purse, a dress, some earrings, cute boots) but believe me, it is really easy to walk out of a Menard's with nothing but the things on my list. My budget thanks you but my closet does not.

Okay, so that house I mentioned? Our closing date is coming up in three weeks and I would love, love, LOVE to buy all kinds of new home necessities at Target: new bath mat, new shower curtain, hammer, shop vac (do you sell those?), picture frames, lamps, rugs, gardening tools, lawn furniture, Halloween accessories that show we're going to be fun neighbors, trash cans, storage containers, a cute purple sweater dress, and much much more. You know from my last four letters that I take this boycott seriously, so PLEASE Target, please with whipped cream and half my bank account on top, make this right before October. You can do it. I know you can.

Your (once loyal) shopper,

Coya Paz

2010-08-17T06:21:00.000-07:00

The news from Target this week is that talks with the HRC over donating money "broke down" when Target decided it needed more time to think about what political donations mean. I wish they'd started thinking about that BEFORE they donated money to MN Forward! (And anyway... I'm not a huge fan of the HRC.)

So, my letter writing campaign continues! And is expanding. I've been asked to be a guest blogger at Velvet Park (Hi Velvet Park!). I think that's great, although I would be HAPPIEST if Target found a way to make it right and I could go back to shopping there!

Here's my latest letter. Hope you're writing too! The addresses are guest.relations@target.com and Gregg.Steinhafel@target.com

Hello Mr. Steinhafel,

This is my 4th letter to Target, and I'm still waiting for a considered response as to why I should keep shopping at Target despite your contributions in support of a vehemently anti-gay political candidate. Because, believe me, I really really REALLY want to shop at Target. The past month has been miserable. I never realized how often I went to Target until I stopped going to Target! At least 3 or 4 times a week, I find myself needing some small thing around the house and I think, "Oh, I'll just run to Target and..." POP! My bubble bursts and I remember that I can't.

I almost caved last week. I got some really enticing coupons celebrating the fact that the Target 5 blocks from my house just remodeled, adding a grocery section. I also saw a really cute ad for your clothes in the Fall Fashion issue of Glamour, and I thought, "I'd like to own a brightly colored plaid shirt!" And my mind drifted dreamily to thoughts of Summer Clearance. And I read an alarming article that said Target stock had dropped 3.5% in the wake of the boycott threats, while Walmart's and Costco's had gone up. Now, I don't believe for a second that Walmart or Costco are MORE gay friendly than Target, so I posted a Facebook status announcing I was going to give up my letter writing campaign/boycott and go back to my favorite store. And the response from my 950-plus friends was outraged! (I guess I got a little taste of what you're feeling). They reminded me that change requires sacrifice. They reminded me that giving up now would send you the message that you could just wait it out. But best of all, one of my parents reminded me that there is nothing in "that store" she loves more than her gay son, her gay step-daughter (me), our partners, or our children. And that was important. Because as much as I love buying stuff at Target--and I do LOVE it--I love myself more.

I know you're in a difficult position. By donating money to MN Forward, who in turn gave the money to Tom Emmer, you meant to support a big-business candidate who would help you advance your corporate interests. I get that. It makes sense. But you also donated to a candidate who is so explicitly anti-gay he's donated money to an organization that says executing gays is a "moral" action. (And by the way - Tom Emmer is pretty anti-immigrant too, which a lot of the gay organizations aren't talking about, but I think is important to mention.) So what can you do? If you donate money to a pro-gay candidate or an organization like HRC, your "conservative" shoppers are going to freak out, too. I mean, playing politics seems like a no-win situation for a company that relies on trying to make a broad base of shoppers happy. I wish you'd thought of that earlier, but you didn't, and now I'm stuck. In order to feel good about shopping at Target, I need to know that you've not only apologized for your donation (which you have) but that you've thought of a way to balance the damage that donation is going to do to my life and the lives of people like me. Until then, I can't shop at Target! And I would like to shop at Target!

Since I last wrote to you, I've had to purchase the following at other stores: diapers, coffee, socks, two lip glosses, an eyeshadow, barrettes, a potty, and soap. It was a slow shopping week for me, but here's where I'm really going to miss you: I just moved into a new office and I need all kinds of things to make it feel like "home" - a lamp, four frames, a desk calendar, a pencil holder, pens, folders, binders, paper clips, etc. I don't even know where I'm going to get that stuff - Office Depot does not have Target's flair for style and color.

There is some good news though. I've been posting these letters on my website, on Facebook, and on Twitter and I've been invited to be a guest blogger at VelvetParkMedia.com, a site devoted to "dyke culture" and LGBTQ issues. So, I'll be reaching out to even more people on this issue. I hope I'll have something good to tell them soon, even something as small as you actually responded to my concerns with something other than a form letter (hint, hint).

Until then, I'm dreaming of Target.

Love (?)

Coya Paz

2010-08-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Still no answers from Target. I wish they loved me as much as I love them... Sigh...

Anyway, here's my third letter.

Dear Esteemed Target Bigwigs,

This is my 3rd letter to you. I don't mean to seem like a deranged stalker or someone with too much time on my hands, but I really want you to tell me something that will help me feel better about shopping at Target. Really. And not just some form letter. A tangible reason.

To recap previous letters: Target is my favourite store. There is one 5 blocks from my house and I shop(ped) there at least 3 times a week. I'm also gay. I have a female partner and a beautiful 18-month old daughter who already knows how to say Target. The news that Target had donated money to MN Forward, which in turn used it to support Tom Emmer, hater-of-gays and actively-intent-on-denying-us-out-rights was REALLY UPSETTING. Target is supposed to be awesome, not just for its clean lines, hip-yet-affordable clothing selection, and lack of Muzak playing in its stores, but also for donating to community-based charities, offering LGBT partner benefits, and marching in the Gay Pride parades.

Now, instead of shopping at Target, I am forced to go to other stores that are, frankly, depressing and boring. I need to buy some diapers, some Draino, some shampoo, some wash clothes, some body wash, lightbulbs, some tinted moisturizer, and some batteries. I would also like to buy a brightly colored dress I can wear to a garden party, some kicky flats, and a set of drinking glasses. What other store offers all of that in one perfectly organized shopping experience? NONE! I have to go to at least 3 other stores. Which sucks.

I love Target. Right now, I'm wearing a dress from Target, a bra from Target, and my ponytail holders are from Target. I'm sitting in a room where I see a lamp from Target, a printer from Target, a storage bin from Target, a stool from Target, binders from Target, a hat from Target, and on and on and on. I am a LOYAL customer.

So please, tell me something about what Target is going to do to balance its support for people like Tom Emmer. I get that you need to invest in people who support big business. I'm not even opposed to that - in addition to loving Target, I also love H&M and Ikea. But people like Tom Emmer have social policies that really and severely impact my life for the negative. So, I think it is only fair that Target do something (hint hint: donate money) to organizations that will work to make things easier for LGBT people. Then balance will be restored, we can all go back to duking it out in courtrooms and over family dinners, and I can shop at Target.

PLEASE give me an answer!

Love?

Coya Paz

Why, Target, Why?

2010-08-05T05:07:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted my letter to Target, asking them to counter their support for anti-gay political candidates with actual dollars to LGBT friendly organizations. I got back a totally douche-y form letter that answered none of my concerns, so I wrote back. My letter is below, and I encourage you to send one of your own to: guest.relations@target and Gregg.Steinhafel@target.com. A boycott is most effective when you can 1.) demonstrate that it is adding up to economic impact and 2.) demonstrate that it is adding up to social impact. So tell that exactly what you're not spending at Target and tell them you heard this from me (or someone else) and who you are telling. Just because we don't represent an adovcacy group doesn't mean we don't represent a large community.

Dear Ms. Hanson and Mr. Steinhafel,

Last week, I wrote you a heartfelt letter asking you to give me more information about how Target is going to counter its support for candidate Tom Emmer (via MNForward) by investing actual dollars into LGBT-friendly organizations or candidates. I told you that Target is my favourite store in the whole world, and that the idea of boycotting Target makes me really sad because I so genuinely love shopping at Target. I also told you that I had already read the statement from Gregg Steinhafel about why Target was supporting MN Forward and said "I get it... Target is a big business and it makes sense that it wants to support legislation and candidates that are friendly to corporations." Okay... those weren't my exact words, but that's the gist of it. I understand Target's point of view on that matter. And so that's why I asked about "countering support for Tom Emmer by investing in LGBT-friendly organizations or candidates..." etc etc... see first line of this letter. What did I get back? A form letter that responds to none of my concerns and gives me absolutely no reason to go back to shopping at Target.

I understand. You're busy. You're getting hundreds, if not thousands, of letters about this. But I'm busy too. I'm driving all over the city to buy things I would usually buy at the Target five blocks from my house. Since I wrote to you last week, I've bought the following at other stores: diapers, contact lens solution, sand toys, veggie burgers, an inflatable raft, candy, plastic cups, a baby rattle, and flip flops. I guess it is lucky for my budget that the drugstores and grocery stores replacing my trips to Target don't also sell cheap but stylish clothes, because I usually throw in a treat for myself when I go to Target. But still... It is a pain in my you-know-what, and I miss Target. I miss the convenience of a store where I can buy groceries, cute clothes, office supplies, video games, and contact lenses in one place. But I also miss the feeling of being at Target. It might sound crazy, but I miss the smell of Target. As I said in my previous letter, Target is the place I go when I want to feel better about things. I just like it there. And now you are implicitly supporting a candidate who rails against my gay lifestyle. My gay lifestyle, by the way, looks a lot like any other married couple's lifestyle, including spending tons of money at Target buying Must Have Needs for the Home, Like Sponges and Decorative Towel Holders.

So please, give me a tangible reason to go back to shopping at Target. And by "tangible reason," I mean concrete information about how you are countering your support for Tom Emmer's big business but anti-gay agenda with dollars to a different organization or candidate who understands that gay people can be a powerful consumer base, especially when we're not hiding from people like Tom Emmer or that band he loves, You Can Run But You Can't Hide, which calls for stoning people like me. And Target: BELIEVE ME... I would not have started boycotting my very favourite store without doing my research, so please don't send me back a form letter telling me that MN Forward is an equal opportunity supporter of diverse candidates.

I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. I'm hoping you tell me something so great I can go back to shopping at Target in time to pick up cute fall wardrobe staples. Until then, I'm going to keep posting these letters on my website, and drumming up support for the boycott. But I'd much, much, MUCH rather be shopping.

Sincerely,

Coya Paz

Concerned Shopper with an Awful Lot of Friends

2010-07-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

In response to the news that Target donated a boatload of money to some gay-haters, I've decided to boycott my very favourite store. This is hard for me, because I love, love, LOVE Target. But I also have, you know, some self-respect. A boycott is only effective if you communicate that you are boycotting, and so I wrote the letter below to Gregg Steinhafel, CEO of Target. If you'd like to write a similar letter, contact him at: Gregg.Steinhafel@target.com.

Dear Mr. Steinhafel,

I'm writing because I genuinely love Target. There is a Target (Chicago Near North) five blocks from my house, and I joke that I should just sign my paycheck over to Target as soon as I get it, because all of my money goes there anyway. And when I'm mad about something, or upset, I go to Target. It makes me feel better... everything is neat, and shiny, and stylish (yet affordable!) I even wrote about my love of Target in a play, performed over 10 weeks, 4 days a week, to at least 2,000 people - that's some good publicity for Target!

But now my "happy place" is the very thing making me feel upset! I'm gay. Out and proud! And so, the news that Target donated money to Minnesota Forward, which supports the incredibly anti-gay (and anti-immigration!) candidate Tom Emmer, is confusing, contradictory, and alarming. I've already read your statement and know you say that Target's corporate giving is based on your desire to fund candidates that want to support corporate growth. I get it, and don't need to hear more about that. What I want to hear is why I should continue to shop at Target knowing that despite your claims to be an inclusive and LGBT-friendly corporation, you support the hateful agendas of someone like Tom Emmer? How is Target planning to counter its support for anti-gay politicians with actual dollars - not lip service or marching in the Gay Pride Parades?

I really, really want to hear a compelling answer to this question. Because until I do, I can't feel good about shopping at Target. And since shopping is what I do for fun (truly - I love shopping), if I can't feel good about it, why do it? At least at Target? For the moment, I'm taking my impulse shopping elsewhere. And to give you a sense of what that looks like, in the past week I've bought: sunscreen, self-tanner, nail polish, bowls, 5 Elmo DVDs, a bathing suit, a plastic ball, ice cream, a hat, a pair of shoes, diapers, baby wipes, a shirt, contact lenses, peas, and a book. Those are all small purchases, but believe me - they add up, because I go to Target at least twice a week. Like I said - there's one 5 blocks form my house. It is totally and absolutely inconvenient for me to pick up "must-have" items like glue sticks and lip gloss elsewhere, but I will. Until I have a good reason not to.

Please give me one. What LGBT friendly organizations and candidates are you funding? And how much money are you giving them?Tell me what you're doing to counter a hate agenda so that I can go back to my own love agenda of wandering the aisles of Target, happily taking in the sight of rows upon rows of perfectly organized consumer items?

I'm serious. I WANT to shop at Target. But right now I just can't.

Please make this right.

Sincerely,

Coya Paz

Concerned Shopper with an Awful Lot of Friends

The Americans

2010-07-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

I started my new project today!

The Americans is a piece about race and American identity during our current immigration crisis. I'm creating the piece based on interviews, community workshops, and archival documents (which includes newspapers, the Constitution, letters, etc). A big 20-30 minute chunk will be developed in collaboration with Halcyon Theatre* for the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, and the remainder will be workshopped at Voice of the City this summer.

I'm excited! I've been wanting to get rolling on this for AGES! Scroll down this blog for the proof.

Today I conducted on-the-spot interviews in the park. I'm shy about approaching strangers, but I used my daughter as an "in" to people lounging in the park, and my sister as a wing man. Some of the material I collected was so interesting - people have such complicated relationships to the idea of Americanness, and everyone I asked about what it meant to be in America and live in America had something very different to say. As I cull through the interviews, I'll post some of the best answers so you can get a preview of what's to come. I also have (fingers crossed) someone who is going to make mini-documentaries about the project as we progress. SO EXCITING!

2010-06-09T11:13:00.001-07:00

Well, amores, I have a new gig. I'm a weekly commentator on race, pop culture, and the media at Vocalo.org (89.5). I just recorded my second appearance, talking about things ranging from the controversy over a school mural in Prescott, Arizona to the victory of GOP gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary. So far, there hasn't been much discussion of the "pop culture" part of the above description, which makes sense because I love to be critical of systems of power except as manifested in the movies, magazines, and television shows I love. When faced with blatant racism or sexism in, say, an action movie, I pull out my soapbox and go to town. But when Sex and the City 2 features the ladies on camels and making fun of women in burqas, I find the anti-racist in me locked in a teeny-tiny trunk while the fashion lover in me is just DYING to see what they are WEARING on those camels. And under those burqas. Or I find myself doing this bit of rationalizing: before I accepted my new gig as a commentator, I was pretty resolved (to my great dismay and sorrow) that I would not see the movie. I mean, there's NO WAY to ignore that the premise of the film is, to put it lightly, "problematic." But now that I'm in the business of talking about pop culture, instead of just the habit, I really must see the movie, right? So I can talk about it? Break it down? Drool over the shoes? I mean, challenge our cultural investment in promoting upper-class white American visions of pseudo-feminist liberation at the expense of culturally sensitive representation and non-Orientalist discourse? Right? Right?

Sigh.... What to do? What to do? Oh... I know!!!!!!!

I'll ask the Race Crisis Hotline... a brand new website offering helpful advice to people who are having race crises, written by some of my favourite pop culture mavens. The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz may or may not be a guest contributor there as well, but listen... shameless self-promotion is probably to be expected on my own website... Besides, the project wasn't my idea. We owe that to the queen of pop culture analysis, Rachel Caidor, as well as to the ever persistent and media savvy Nina Xoomsai. So there, nothing too shameless about promoting this at all! Send in your questions. Our operators are standing by!

2010-05-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Oh My Gosh!

THANK YOU to Keturah Davis for finally fixing my site so that I can update my blog/current events page! I have been stuck on June 2009 for almost a year (thanks a LOT, Blogger).

For all four of my devoted fans I offer the following recap:

- Directed a few shows, wrote a few poems, tried out a lot of lipgloss. Milani Buzz Worthy in Bronze is my favourite because it goes gorgeously with my naturally red hair and tan skin. By "naturally," of course I mean "acquired from a tube," which is the case for both the red hair and the tan (and somewhat streaky) skin.

-I am officially Dr. Paz! [Insert sound of Ce Ce Peniston singing here!] Awesome. I am the world's foremost expert on the performance of American identities as played out through lynching violence during the California Gold Rush. I was already the world's foremost expert on this obscure topic, but now it is backed up by three gorgeous little letters: P, H, and D.

-I got clip on extensions. They are pretty tacky, but I do love the miracle of a shoulder length bob one day, and long flowing tresses the next. I don't let them flow too much lest they fly off in the wind, but they are great for staid and stationary occasions.

-I got a job. TENURE TRACK! So now I don't have to bid a tearful adieu to my students and office chair every year. I'll be full-time at Columbia College, which is doubly brilliant because I get to stay in my beloved Chicago.

-I am in a FURY, a full-on Eyes Gleaming Nostrils Flaring and Fists Shaking At the Sky FURY over the recent anti-immigration and ethnic studies bills passed in Arizona (and soon-to-be passed in a few other states if hatred and bigotry gets its way). I have not yet figured out a place to channel all my fury, but when it comes, it will be MIGHTY!!!!!!! And Lovely and Talented! Until then, I'm grateful for mis chavas over at Proyecto Latina, who have been sources of hope and inspiration during this difficult time. "This difficult time" makes it sound like I am in mourning which is absolutely right. I am mourning my brief and misguided illusion that we were headed into a more inclusive, loving America.

Okay, this website is heading into a major overhaul this summer. Look for an updated manifesto, a bio that isn't from 2006, and multi-media samples of my work coming sometime in July. Until then, ignore the parts of this site that seem hopelessly outdated, including photos of hairdos I sported four years ago. Deal? Deal!

2009-11-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

In February 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder said this:

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards... By creating what will admittedly be, at first, artificial opportunities to engage one another we can hasten the day when the dream of individual, character based, acceptance can actually be realized... This will be, at first, a process that is both awkward and painful but the rewards are potentially great. The alternative is to allow to continue the polite, restrained mixing that now passes as meaningful interaction but that accomplishes little. Imagine if you will situations where people- regardless of their skin color- could confront racial issues freely and without fear. The potential of this country, that is becoming increasingly diverse, would be greatly enhanced.

I was stunned and excited. You see... I am, perhaps, a little bit obsessed with race. This has to do with the particularities of my own background - coming eventually to a solo show near you - but talking about race is also at the center of all of my professional work. I teach classes on race and performance, facilitate anti-racism workshops, and my research is on lynching and racial violence. And I have found, again and again, that students and co-workers rarely want to have honest conversations about race. The reasons for this are myriad, as are the forms of avoidance, but I think that the only way we are going to work to deconstruct racism is if we can first talk about it. And I am, fiercely and urgently, committed to working against racism.

So, of course, when I read Holder's speech, I immediately fixated on how performance might embrace Holder's call to engage in more honest conversation about race. How might a performance project create a space where the rehearsal, the show itself, and the post-show environment all worked to open dialogue around race and racism?

Since then, I have been in the throes of an experiment. The Nation of Cowards Project. I am lucky to be an invited guest at several colleges and universities this school year, and I am using each of my residencies to create original, site specific performances about the fear and discomfort many people have in talking about race. I just finished a six week process at DePaul University's Theatre School (where I am a visiting professor), working with 11 incredible and talented students to create a full length show: Workshop 5. The process deserves its own post, which I will get to soon. (We all know what "soon" means in the context of this blog). In the meantime, I am headed off to Michigan State University for a week-long intensive.

Want to bring the Project to your school? Contact me at coya@coyapaz.com.

Talking about (shhh...) R-A-C-E

2009-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

Official!

2009-06-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

I am now an Artistic Associate with Teatro Americano. I think I may be their first one?

I'll be directing/developing two projects with them over the coming year. The first is already in progress: Meet Juan(it0) Doe is a piece their youth ensemble has been creating under the direction of Ricardo Gamboa (who is also the Artistic Director of TA) since last summer. I'll be coming on as a co-director/developer. Meet Juan(ito) Doe is a look at what it means to be a Mexican-American youth in Chicago, and takes on a whole range of topics: work papers, graffiti, family, hip hop, sexuality, police brutality and so much more. I met with some of the youth ensemble yesterday to talk about their vision for the piece, what they want to change, add, include, keep, etc, and they blew me away with their passion and dedication for the work.

The second piece is an as-yet-untitled look at immigration and anti-immigration in the Midwest. (hmmm... possibly we'll call it... Restaurant Spanish! But one of the advantages of starting fresh is that I can wait and see where things are going before locking in a title) Teatro Americano has been looking to expand their work with adults, and to do a full production/run, and so Ricky invited me to create a show. We start workshops in August, and field trips to my "beloved" Carpentersville soon after!

Ricky and I have been discussing options for awhile, but Teatro Americano is a program of Latinos Progresando (an organization that runs a bunch of amazing programs designed to serve and advocate for immigrants), so we had to get approval from the Executive Director, Luis Gutierrez. We met yesterday to talk about the organization, what I wanted to do, how it all worked, funding and budgets, options, etc. I left feeling energized and optimistic and excited.

One of the questions Luis asked me was: why here? Here's why: I have a personal commitment to creating original work, to working in collaboration, to using performance as a means of building community, to projects that have race and immigration at their center, and to the belief that performance should do more than entertain. And Latinos Progresando/Teatro Americano has been doing that kind of work for five years. I love the idea of creating performance that is already tapped in to community service and advocacy, and of exploring the potential for performance to help build those projects. Plus, it helps that Ricardo Gamboa is one of my very favourite friends and collaborators.

I have another project coming down the hatch! Details in mid-July when everything is official!

Ch-ch-changes.

2009-03-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

So far, 2009 has been a strange, strange year - wonderful in many ways. In January, I gave birth to my daughter, and I spend every day marveling at how a human being can be so tiny, so sweet, and so utterly delightful. She is lots of fun, with a beautiful crooked smile and lots of opinions about theatrical choices. Okay, I know I am a proud mama and therefore not a reliable source for information about how my child is so totally amazing and ahead of the curve, but I have been taking her to design and production meetings since she was three weeks old and she always laughs or screeches at the most appropriate times, as if voicing her opinion about whether or not we should paint the trees blue or have a particular character wear a tattoo. No matter what, I hope that by growing up in the theater she will learn to love performance, and all its potentials, as much as I do.

The beginning of my new life as a mother also marks the end of an era for me. After nine years, I've stepped down as the co-Artistic Director of Teatro Luna, and am in the process of moving Restaurant Spanish elsewhere. I've been absolutely heartbroken about this decision, but I know it is for the best. I spent almost a decade working to make sure that Teatro Luna would be an institution beyond my own work, and it is absolutely to that point, with loads of new programming, paid staff, and accolades up the wazoo. I'm proud of our work and proud of the legacy I'm leaving - Chicago's first and only all-Latina theater company is going strong! Of course, as co-founder of the company I'm staying on the board, and still in everyone's hair, but I'm also looking forward to new work that explores the relationship between racial and ethnic groups, work that feels urgent at a time when so many are trumpeting a post-racist era (yeah right). And I'm excited about new collaborations exploring the intersection of poetry and theater - my longtime loves finally married. Details about all of this coming soon. Given my track record in updating this blog, we can assume that "soon" really means "eventually." On that note, the baby is awake and making herself known. I guess there's a changing table in my future!!!!!

As American As [????]

2008-11-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

At a brainstorming workshop for Restaurant Spanish (the show I'm developing with a team of Core Artists from my beloved Teatro Luna), we found ourselves asking a lot of questions about America. And Americans. And what it means to be Americanized. Which got me thinking about Thanksgiving, which has to be the most significant of the "All American Holidays." I have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. On the one hand, I grew up with parents who made sure I understood that the reality of history era nada que ver con the paper bag turkeys and crayoned "Indian" headdresses we made at my international school in Quito, Ecuador. Plus, I'm a die-hard vegetarian and not-so-in-love with sitting around a pile of turkey bones for 4 hours. But, on the other hand, I am AM so in love with pumpkin pie and pecan pie and apple pie and [insert whatever kind of pie except shoo fly pie]. And I like an excuse to get together and eat until you are too full to move or button your pants (which is why I always wear a dress to dinner). And I don't have the kind of family that puts on The Game or worse, makes us go outside to play one (see "too full to move" above), which means I get to enjoy a holiday where we are encouraged to lie around on sofas balancing a plate of pie in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Is it no surprise that my absolutely FAVOURITE holiday is Passover? But that's another story.

So what does this have to do with Restaurant Spanish, our MUSICAL about immigration, language, and uncomfortable cultural moments? Well... we (read "me") are a little bit obsessed with a town called Carpentersville, Illinois, located about 35 miles northwest of Chicago. Carpentersville is the site of an incredibly tense cultural and legal battle about what it means to be American. The town has gone from being 17% Latino to over 40% Latino in just ten years, and people are freaking out! Trying to pass all kind of English only ordinances and complaining that the "illegals" are refusing to become Americanized. I'll have LOTS more to say about that in a later post, but right now, a week before Thanksgiving, I'm wondering what it means to become "Americanized." Do we really have an American culture? Just one? What does it look like, really? I mean, I know that even I talk about "gringadas" all of the time, so obviously I myself think there is something to being "Americanized", but what?

I mean - Thanksgiving is pretty much our most "National" holiday, but everyone I know celebrates it differently. Martha Stewart spreads and my own stereotypes about football aside, we all have pretty different ways of approaching what we eat and how we spend the day. SO WHAT IS AMERICAN? By the way, I'm not being rhetorical - I really want to know! As with every new project, I'm trying to set aside my own ideas and listen to what other people are saying are the problems. And the answers. So, um... answer! Porfis?

2008-10-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hola Khevre!

This is an exciting time for Teatro Luna. Our show, JARRED: A HOODOO COMEDY goes into previews on October 31st - the perfect day for a play about urban witchcraft and love spells gone awry. I caught a sneak peek at the show over the weekend and it is going to be a lot of fun! Visit Teatro Luna's webpage, www.teatroluna.org for tickets, info, and video from the show (yeah... we're high tech now!)

In other news, I'm gearing up for Restaurant Spanish, a new ensemble built show about immigration, language, and uncomfortable moments. It is supposed to be a musical, but we'll see what comes out! Something funny, I'm sure!

The quarter is winding down, which is a little bit sad because I'm having a lot of fun with my students this quarter, but I'm looking forward to finishing the last chapter of the you-know-what and being DONE! Also, I'm looking forward to not having to climb any stairs - I teach on the the fourth floor!!!! Uy yuy yuy - next quarter I hope they take pity on me and put me a little closer to ground level.

The end. See you at JARRED:

2008-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hola Cariños,
I'm laying low, determined to finish the dissertation before starting a full-time job teaching performance at The Theater School of DePaul University. But I'm looking forward to the following events:

-The reading of Teatro Luna's new show, JARRED: A HOODOO COMEDY (by Tanya Saracho) at the Goodman Theater's Latino Theater Festival on August 13th. We'll open this show, all about santería, brujería, and hoodoo, for a full run on October 31st.

-The Latino Theater Festival in general! Oh my gosh - they have Culture Clash coming back this year, as well as my NUMBER ONE FAVOURITE PERFORMER OF ALL TIME: Marta Carrasco. I won't miss a second of any of her shows, so you know where to find me!

-Proyecto Latina - the third Monday of every month. I usually perform/read something here, and you should too! August's feature is Dawn Herrera Terry.

I like these words:
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2008-06-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the news:

Teatro Luna won Two Non-Equity Jeffs for our production of MACHOS: Outstanding Ensemble and Best New Work!

I've been working on a new show for the Guild Complex's Poetry/Performance Incubator project. It is called TOUR GUIDES and it is an inside look at Chicago lives. I'm pretty excited about it - the chance to work with six very talented poets to make a brand new play! We open a workshop preview on July 18th.

Teatro Luna has a new show opening on October 31st. It is called JARRED: A Brujeria, Santeria, Hoodoo comedy written by Tanya Saracho.

KICK OFF THE SUMMER WITH HOT GUYS!!!!!!!

2008-05-31T05:02:00.000-07:00

Amores, I'm so excited! MACHOS IS BACK!!!!! But only for ONE WEEK, so catch it while you can at the Center on Halsted, June 4-8. For tickets and information, please visit Teatro Luna's website.

In other news, school's almost out and I'm looking ahead to a teaching free summer!!! I'll miss my students, but here's what I'm looking forward to:

1.) Finally being Dr. Paz (AUGUST or BUST!)
2.) Shooting the second half of M. Mahoney's film in beautiful San Francisco.
3.) The Latino Theater Festival at The Goodman Theater
4.) The premiere of the Incubator Project at the Guild Complex

And a few other things buzzing about. Stay tuned and see you at MACHOS!!!!

2008-05-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Party Never Stops!

2008-04-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh Amores, this Spring is so very very busy. Not only am I teaching three classes AND writing everyday (I cannot WAIT to be Dr. Paz), but there are all of these exciting events going on! I can't BELIEVE how exciting this Spring is! So, am I going to see you at one of these or what?

Exciting Event #1: VIVA LA LUNA!!!!! Teatro Luna's 2nd Annual Fundraiser @ BoxCo! We did this party for Valentine's Day last year, but this time we're celebrating Cinco de Mayo the way only TEATRO LUNA can... on May 3rd and with hilarious performances, a great DJ and lots and lots of FOOD Y SANGRIA. Details and tickets at www.teatroluna.org.

Exciting Event #2: FREE PERFORMING POETRY WORKSHOP @ HAROLD WASHINGTON LIBRARY
I'm teaching a FREE workshop as part of the Chicago Public Library's National Poetry Month Celebrations! April 26th @ 1:30.

Exciting Event #3: PROYECTO LATINA. April 21st at 7:30 PM. We're in a new location - RADIO ARTE - but still holding it down in Pilsen! For information, visit www.tianguis.biz.

Exciting Event #4: TEATRO LUNA'S SPRING TOUR! We've got both S-E-X-OH! and MACHOS touring at the same time. Here's where we'll be in the next few weeks:
April 8 University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
April 10 Brown University (Providence)
April 19 University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana)
April 21 Columbia College (Chicago)
April 25 Hip Hop Arts Festival at the MCA (Chicago)
May 6 Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
May 9 Knox College (Galesburg, IL)

Let's see... other things I'm excited about... The Race, Sex, Power Conference April 10-12 here in Chicago. I'm on two panels but mostly looking forward to hearing other people speak... QUEER IN COLOR at Columbia College on April 21st. It doesn't even conflict with PROYECTO LATINA because the show starts at 5. And I'm reading my solo BITTER OLE HAG at North Park University on April 18th, but I didn't list it as an exciting event because it isn't open to the public, just to select students.

MOST EXCITING OF ALL? SPRING!!!!! I've been shoe shopping and I've updated my lip gloss, so I'm READY! Me and my spring accessories will see YOU soon!

Dana Plays Me in the Story of My Life

2008-03-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

I'm retiring from show biz for a couple of weeks (I'm going to do it like Jay-Z and just retire whenever I need a break) to finish my D-to the -I-S-S-E-R-T-A-T-I-O-N, but you can still catch "me" on stage in Teatro Luna's newest show, Solo Tu. Solo Tu is a collection of four solos about pregnancy, including my piece Bitter Ole Hag, performed by the very talented Dana Cruz, who plays me in the story of my life. Look:

TimeOut Chicago gave Solo Tu Five Stars and says it is "our most focused and potent work to date...an expert balance of anecdote and interior psychology, one liner–spiced street sass and earnest vulnerability... superb, highly differentiated performances." (TimeOut Chicago)

And here's what the Chicago Reader had to say about yours truly:

Even those of us who've grown weary of the 'to breed or not to breed' conflicts afflicting postmillennial womanhood will find much to admire in this quartet of smart, searing autobiographical monologues from Teatro Luna. The authors (who don't perform) open up with warmth, wit, and occasional rancor about the profound difficulties of confronting pregnancy, whether planned, unplanned, or--in the case of Coya Paz's terrific Bitter Old Hag--unattainable. Director Tanya Saracho (who also penned Not a Thing, about her abortion) keeps self-pity from seeping into the performances. And the writing is as sharp as any solo work I've seen in years--a treasure trove of gutsy, riveting truth telling.

So, come see the show!!!!!
Playing now through April 6th @ Chicago Dramatists
1105 W. Chicago Avenue
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 6pm
$15 general admission/$10 students and seniors on Thursdays and Sundays
Tickets at www.teatroluna.org

New Show!

2008-02-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

2008-02-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

Bueno, chickadees... MACHOS is closing for real this time. We've had a great (and SOLD OUT) run at the 16th Street Theater in beautiful Berwyn, IL and soon we'll be packing up the show and taking it on tour.

But TEATRO LUNA isn't taking a break for a second! We have a new show called SOLO TU opening on March 6th, all about pregnancy. It is a collection of four solos, one of which was written by me! My girl Tanya Saracho is the director/developer this time around, and you know she's always doing SOMETHING crazy. So check it out to find out WHAT!

www.teatroluna.org for tickets.

2008-01-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

CONFIRMED!

2007-12-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

MACHOS IS MOVING TO THE 16the Street Theater in Berwyn!!!!!!!!!!! Que emocion!!!!!!!

Oh wow. I'm really excited! I love Machos so much. I just don't know how to explain how I feel about it - we all worked so hard on it, and I really think we made something beautiful. It is smart, and funny, and opens up all kinds of dialogue about what it means to Be A Man or Be A Woman. And I am so attached to each of the characters in the play - the cast is so absolutely committed to making them come alive and there is something eerie about it sometimes, because I remember the men they're playing! And there they are - same guy, different body!

So yeah... I'm very excited that we're moving! For more information, please visit www.teatroluna.org.

BYE BOYS!!!! I'll Miss You!!!!!

2007-12-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

Machos is almost over and we're almost sold out for the rest of the run, which is pretty amazing and VERY exciting, but if it were up to me, we'd just go on and on...! I love this show!!!! I've seen it a million times and it STILL makes me laugh. The cast gets better every day, and it is just an incredible feeling to have been a part of this from the very very beginning and now to see it take on a life of its own. I'm very emotional about it!!!!!!!!

Tickets are available at www.teatroluna.org

Here's a sample from the show:

2007-11-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

Reviews for MACHOS are rolling in and tickets are selling out!!!! I'm so excited!

Here's what critics have to say (and remember, tickets are available for advance sale at www.teatroluna.org):

"Teatro Luna is pop theater: smart and enormously fun... I am continually impressed with the range and quality of talent in this ensemble, and their manly mannerisms are dead on..."
-Chicago Tribune

"Hugely entertaining and very often hilarious...eerily convincing as members of the opposite sex...aesthetically satisfying living theater...with heart and compassion (no gratuitous man bashing here) to spare... highly recommended, and especially for those who may think themselves too 'macho' for art."
-New City

"...gender bending heights...hilarious... skilled and affecting performances... Having Latina women so convincingly portraying Latino men in Machos helps break down stereotypes on "male behavior" and helps you to reexamine exactly why society places those pressures on men."
-Windy City Times (read the full review at http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=16622)

"a richly nuanced show... open-hearted... hilarious... so persuasive you feel you're watching a real person deliver his own story... the performers' physical embodiment of their characters is what makes them truly convincing. They inhabit them so fully that they get a curious gestalt going: in your mind they go from men to women and back again over and over, in split-second moments of perception. This act of imagination, on their part and ours, can only be healing."
-The Chicago Reader (read the full review at www.chireader.com)

"Machos is thoroughly enjoyable, and made recommendable by the ensemble's uncanny acting and Paz's strong shaping..."
TimeOut Chicago

2007-11-11T11:07:00.001-08:00

Hola Amores!!!!!!

MACHOS is finally up and running. I'm so excited about the show - the "guys" look great and I still can't stop humming our original hit song, "Girl, I'm In To You."

My favourite part of this experience has been hearing from men after the show - I was very worried about whether men would be able to relate to the performance, and I think the answer so far is a very clear YES! Which proves - you don't have to make fun of men to make a funny show about men!

My least favourite part of the show? Now that its up, I've got no life!!!!!! Just a big empty space where rehearsals used to be. Better get on the next project F-A-S-T! Or, you know, sleep.

MACHOS is playing at Chicago Dramatists, loctaed at 1105 W. Chicago Ave
Thurs-Sat @ 7:30| Sun @ 6pm
$15 general, $10 students and seniors on Thursdays and Sundays
for tickets, visit www.teatroluna.org

2007-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Machos Opens in TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a sneak preview from tech:

2007-10-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

MACHOS is FINALLY HERE!!!!!!
I'm writing this from the lobby of Chicago Dramatists, where we are in the middle of tech for MACHOS. Yesterday (Monday the 29th) we loaded in the set and hung the lights, and painted. By "we" I mean I sat around and "supervised" while other people did all the work. Hey - I don't know how to saw a pipe or hang the lights! But I did stay until midnight painting. Today (Tuesday) we set all the cues and make it look pretty...er... handsome????? We open in one week, and start PREVIEWS in just 6 days!!!!!! I'm pretty excited. Will I see YOU there?

2007-10-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

I've been wrapped up in MACHOS but surprise!!!!

We are doing a performance of S-e-x-Oh! Friday the 26th at 6pm at the University of Chicago.

Here's the scoop:

As part of our annual Caras de América—Latina/o Heritage Month Celebration, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs is proud to present "S-E-X-Oh!," a witty and provocative cabaret-style show performed by members of Teatro Luna, Chicago's first and only all-Latina theater company. "S-E-X-Oh!" offers a bold new look at Latina sexuality from the point of view of six very different Latina women. Based on true life stories and a few strategic re-imaginings, it uses Teatro Luna's trademark ensemble-based aesthetic to enter into the taboo terrain of sex, gender, and sexuality. The themes are universal, crossing cultural barriers, and presented with humor and brutal honesty.

This show is not to be missed! Join us for what is sure to be an amazing night of theatre. You won't be disappointed!

The play will begin promptly at 6pm in BSLC 109. Stay after the play for an exciting Q&A session and reception!

For more information, please contact Rosa Yadira Ortiz at ryo@uchicago.edu.

This show is co-sponsored by The Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) and Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP).

2007-10-08T07:22:00.001-07:00

MACHOS opens on November 8th! I am enjoying the reaction to the cast photos we sent around last week. Several people have expressed their absolute outrage that we would cast men in our shows! After all, we are supposed to be an all-Latina theater company! Don't we think that is important any more?! Etc etc etc... Ja ja ja. I love it! But rest assured... this show about men is still performed by a (very handsome) all-Latina cast. See for yourself. Tickets are on sale now!

The Machos Are Coming... The Machos Are Coming

2007-09-28T06:43:00.001-07:00

MACHOS OPENS IN ONE MONTH!!!!!!!!!

Here's us before:

And here's us after:

Pretty exciting!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it is coming up so soon. I pitched the Machos project TWO years ago... and finally... here it is! This is the first Teatro Luna show I have developed and directed by myself... if "by myself" you mean I have been working with an amazing ensemble of brilliant women who contribute everything from writing to ideas to choreography and on and on and on. Plus, the assistant director on the project, Belinda Cervantes, is wonderful and organized and smart and insightful and she keeps me on my toes! And I love love love our stage manager Ana Espinosa (also de Ecuador! Go Ecuador!!!!!!), who is great about gently reminding me that we can't spend half of rehearsal gossiping about whether or not JLO is pregnant. And of course, we are working with the sound designer and composer Tamara Roberts, who is super opinionated and super talented and always a wonderful collaborator. So... this is about as "by myself" as standing in the middle of IKEA on a Sunday afternoon. All the same... I have never worked so hard on a project in my life. I can't sleep through the night because all I do is think about it. I rewrite almost every day, and keep revisiting the interviews in case we have missed the most beautiful, most hilarious, most extraordinary story of them all.

What is Machos?
Machos is an interview based project where the women of Teatro Luna interviewed 54 men nationwide, from all different ethnic and racial backgrounds. We also did performance workshops with 30 men, and 34 men filled out our online survey. In addition to this kind of official collecting, we also did a lot of eavesdropping. By "we" I pretty much mean "me," who has a talent for listening in on strangers' conversations and discreetly transcribing them verbatim. I wanted to be a spy or a gossip columnist when I was little - it was great practice for this! Anyway - the end result is MACHOS, a performance based on conversations with men all over the country and performed by the all female ensemble of Teatro Luna.

Want to see Machos?
We open November 8th and run through December 16th. Shows are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 6pm. We also have previews on Nov 5, 6, 7 - these are your chance to see the show before it opens, and at a bargain price. For more information - and for advance tickets - visit www.teatroluna.org

Fall Is So Busy... I'm Going To Fall Over

2007-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm bringing it to the masses. Or, at least, the tourists!
Check me out as part of Navy Pier's Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrations. I'll be performing a set at 3pm on Sunday, September 23rd. I'm supposed to do all my most upbeat material... ja ja ja. What shall it be... genocide or civil war? Thank G to the O-D that I have been writing my solo show, full of embarassing stories about being 12 years old and culturally confused. What do Run DMC and Steak-um tamales have in common? ME! But for real... I would love to see people there. I'm performing with the esteemed poet David Hernandez and an exciting surprise guest... meaning, they didn't tell me who the third person is.
I can barely ride a bike. But I support people who do!
I'm performing at the World Bicycle Relief Benefit on October 6th, at 7pm. I am by far the least famous person on the line-up, which includes Carlos Cumpian, Raul Nino and other MARCH/Abrazo poets. Admission is a pay-what-you-can donation. At the Heartland Cafe, 7000 N. Glenwood.
I learned about sex from the Gringos next door.
Yup. Teatro Luna's hit show S-e-x-Oh! is back for Hispanic Heritage Month. I don't like the term "hispanic" but I do like the opportunity to dust off my pink accessories and hit the stage with the girls. We're performing all around "town"... for FREE. Don't miss this hilariously honest show about sexuality, nationality, and Trader Joe's.
October 8th @ Northwestern University
October 12th @ University of Madison
October 22 @ University of Chicago
Machos open November 8th... but you can catch a sneak preview.
On October 17th we're presenting a staged reading of Machos at Columbia College. FREE. As part of their FOCO Festival of Latino/a Arts.

I'm a terrible personal publicist and don't have further info about ANY of these event, but you can e-mail me at coya@coyapaz.com and I promise to find out more!

AND, AS ALWAYS... PROYECTO LATINA is the THIRD MONDAY of EVERY Month!!!!! I'll be there with bells on... trying out new stuff and reading from the chisme box. 7pm @ Tianguis Books, 2003 S. Damen

Paz in the Garden

2007-08-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

Two Exciting Announcements!

#1. I have a fabulous new baby niece. I'm going to love her forever and ever. And, she is already stylish AND feminist. I can tell by the complex nuance of her facial expressions. Check her out here.

#2. The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz (that's me) will be performing at the Garfield Park Conservatory next Thursday, from 6-8. The event is part of their Niki Nights series, and features Proyecto Latina regulars Silvia Rivera, Diana Pando, Irasema Salinas, Yolanda Cardenas, and Coya Paz, plus music from the Luna Blues Machine. I think it will be a beautiful event and... get ready... it is FREE! (Although I'm sure they would be very happy if you made a suggested donation of $5). For more information, visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com

I just got back from New Orleans and am not quite sure what to make of my trip. Conferences are exhausting and this one felt particularly so, but New Orleans itself is extraordinary. I don't know how to talk about it without sounding totally hokey, but it felt full of ghosts and ghostings. Not in a scary way, just in a lived way. I loved so much of it - the streets, the architecture, the temperature, the food. I ate a french fry po'boy and a fried pickle po'boy - they are both exactly what they sound like. Sandwiches with french fries or fried pickles as filling, plus condiments. I was all for it. but did - no surprise- come back three pounds heavier than when I left. Abita beer and beignets probably had something to do with that as well. What I did not find, not ever, was a salad. Not that I looked. But neither did one magically appear on a menu.

The remains of the flood are everywhere - abandoned houses, wrecked houses, piles of debris. And house after house, including the one we were staying in, had spray painted markings on the front - codes that recorded whether a house had been searched, by whom, and how many bodies were found in it. Many had a zero in that spot, but every now and then I would see one with a one, a two, a three and just think...oh. I was struck by how little had been done to rebuild - so many places still seemed so wrecked - but a local friend gently pointed out that in fact much had been done to rebuild, I just didn't realize the true extent of the damage. Another oh.

In related news, New Orleans is also full of my LEAST favourite critter.. the cockroach. I won't recount the tears I shed when encountering one that was particularly close to my purse, but the good news is I wrote a new poem about it all. I'll debut it at the Conservatory - it is the closest thing I have to a poem about nature.

Mira! I'm beloved.

2007-07-23T15:15:00.001-07:00

This is slightly old news, but I am one of Go NYC Magazines 100 Women We Love! Read about 99 other women here!

Featuring.... Me

2007-07-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 18th
PALABRA PURA featuring

Suzanne Frischkorn and Coya Paz (that's me!)

Start: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 8:00pm

Time: Doors open at 8:00 PM, Reading begins at 8:30 PMCost: Free admission. 21 and over show.
Location: California Clipper, 1002 N. California, Chicago

I can't promise I'll do the Running Man, but you never know. I can promise some really lovely poems from some really lovely ladies, plus an open mic featuring some of Chicago's best Latino poets.

Suzanne Frischkorn was born in Hialeah, Florida to a Cuban father and an American mother of Spanish descent. She is the author of four chapbooks, most recently, Spring Tide, selected by Mary Oliver for the Aldrich Poetry Award. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Indiana Review's Latina & Latino Writers Issue, Margie, 88, Poet Lore, and Conversation Pieces: Poems That Talk to Other Poems, part of the Everyman's Library Pocket Series, (Knopf, 2007). She is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism. Her website is www.suzannefrischkorn.net.

Coya Paz is the cofounder of Teatro Luna, Chicago’s first and only all-Latina theater company. Coya was raised in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia, and Brazil, and moved permanently to the US in the late 1980’s. She is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where she also holds her MA. In 2006-2007, she is the Artist-In-Residence at the University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. She has collaborated with Teatro Luna on all of the ensemble built projects (Generic Latina, Dejame Contarte/Let Me Tell You, The Maria Chronicles, S-E-X-Oh! and the upcoming Machos). Coya has appeared in numerous independent film and performance projects, and enjoys singing in the shower. She is a contributor to the Oxford University Encyclopedia of Latino/as in the United States and her artistic work has been featured in The New York Times, American Theater Magazine, Theater Journal, and the Chicago Tribune, among others.

2007-07-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

LUNATIC(A)S CLOSES JULY 15TH!

Don't miss the show critics call "funny," "hilarious," and full of "the best observational humor since Sex in the City."

But why take it from them? See for yourself.
Thursdays @ 7:30
Fri-Sat @ 8pm
Sundays @ 3pm

Playing at Chicago Dramatists
1105 W. Chicago Ave
For tickets, email info@teatroluna.org or call 773-878-LUNA
________________________________________________

and what's next?????
I'm hard at work on MACHOS, a new play based on interiews with 50 men. MACHOS opens on November 7th... and will be worth the wait, I PROMISE!

of course...
you can catch me...along with many other talented MUJERES...the third Monday of every month at PROYECTO LATINA.

2007-06-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

Guess what I saw last night? Teatro Luna's brand new show LUNATIC(A)S!

The show is great! From Chicago-style road rage (that would be me) to an obsession with catching muggers (that would be somebody else), Lunatic(a)s is a play about our everyday insanities. It is a classic Teatro Luna ensemble show - funny, feisty, and full of dancing girls! For real.

Don't miss it! Previews start June 1st and the show runs June 7th-July 15th. For more information, click here.
___________

There's some other stuff going on. As usual, PROYECTO LATINA is the third Monday of every month, and I'll be there, busting out the most lesbionic poems I've got. After all, June is PRIDE!!! And, as the new star of queer cinema, I have to represent. Didn't know I was the new star of queer cinema? I'm shooting not one, but TWO films this summer. In both I play the girlfriend of a transman, struggling to figure out how dating a boy impacts my Lesbian identity. I use the term "struggling" loosely, since one of the films has me prancing around parks and drinking coffee and in the other I get to box.

And speaking of prancing around, on June 23rd I'm performing in the One Hit Wonders show at the Empty Bottle. The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz (that's me) and The Famous Amy Miller will be doing a girl powered rendition of Hot in Herre. You have to see it to believe it, so come!!!!!

2007-05-15T13:09:00.001-07:00

Warm and Sunny!

2007-04-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

Amores, ya llego la primavera!!!!!

And here come these other things:

Yo Soy Chicago/I Am Chicago
A weekend of performances, discussions, and workshops about race, collaboration, and performance in Chicago. Featuring work from some of my favorite Chicago artists.
May 19th and 19th at the University of Chicago's University Theater
More information to follow.

LUNATIC(a)S!
Sometimes, we're all just a little bit crazy.... Presenting the World Premiere of a new show from Teatro Luna. June 7th-July 15th.
Visit www.teatroluna.org for more information

Still Not Spring????

2007-04-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

I can hardly stand it! It is a third-of-the-way through April and still threatening to snow. I know this is because I live in Chicago. If you would like to offer me a job in (or a visit to) any of the following places, I would love you forever: California, Florida, Texas, Miami, Arizona, New Mexico, Not-so-new Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil, or Canada. I know it is not especially warm in Canada, but I have never been, so I thought I would throw it in!

I am pretty easy-going, actually, so if you wanted to offer me a job just about anywhere I would consider it. See my "contact" page for more information.

Okay, here's what's coming up:

I Am Chicago: New Chicagoes Performance*
May 18th and 19th at the University of Chicago
check back for a full list of performers

S-e-x-Oh! at The University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
April 19th

LUNATICAS, a new show from Teatro Luna
opens June 1st at Chicago Dramatists

Winter

2007-03-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

The hilariously vibrant monologist Tanya Saracho accuses me (with love) of pushing product for the man. I can't help it! This is my very favourite drink!

Here's the scoop:
PROYECTO LATINA is Monday March 19th. I couldn't be more excited, for three reasons...
Numero Uno: The featured artist is Silvia Rivera, a warm and funny writer who always makes me cry and laugh with her poems about city life. Numero Dos: We're launching a new something-something through Proyecto Latina - a chisme box! Slip us your secrets and vainas, all the little things you wish you could say out loud, and we'll do it for you. Numero Tres: Tianguis Books is also hosting a monthly book club and this month's feature is Days of Awe by Achy Obejas, a brilliant writer who makes my toes tingle.

We have an open call for work as park of Teatro Luna's collaboration with the Jane Adams Hull House Museum. Check it out.

Teatro Luna is performing at Ball State University on March 29th and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on April 19th.

Our new show, LUNATICAS, is opening soon! We're running June 2-July 15th at Chicago Dramatists. If you've ever done something just a little bit crazy, this is the show for you!

And, of course, MACHOS opens on November 2nd. We're still looking for men to interview, so send an e-mail to coya@coyapaz.com if you're interested!

BE MY VALENTINE!

2007-02-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hot music, hot women, hot topics...TEATRO LUNA is throwing a very special Valentine's Day event and I would LOVE to see you there!

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!
Valentine's Day is coming up soon y TEATRO LUNA would like to pasarlo with YOU!!!!
Acompáñenos for dancing, live music, and a funny, sexy, sassy bocadillo of our hit show "S-E-X-Oh!"

TEATRO LUNA: Chicago's All-Latina Theatre
presenta
"xoxo"
una fiesta de San Valentín

Featuring a special encore performance of S-E-X-Oh! and Live Music from THE LUNA BLUES MACHINE and NUESTRO TAMBO plus dancing, raffle, bake sale, photo booth, and a chance to meet your secret admirer.

Saturday February 10th @ BOX CO. (4440 S. Ashland, 2nd Floor)
Doors open at 7pm
Show starts at 8pm
$15 in advance/ $20 at the door
Tickets will be on sale at Tianguis Books (located at 2003 S. Damen)
B.Y.O.B.

For more information, please e-mail teatroluna5215@yahoo.com, check out our web page at www.teatroluna.org or visit us on MYSPACE at www.myspace.com/teatroluna

PREVIEW THE BANDS at www.myspace.com/thelunabluesmachine and www.myspace.com/nuestrotambo

Sponsored by PACO'S TACOS and LA INTERNACIONAL

UPCOMING EVENTS

2006-12-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

January 26-28th
TEATRO LUNA is previewing our newest show, MACHOS, at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

January 15th
PROYECTO LATINA reopens at the NEW Tianguis Books space. Visit www.tianguis.biz for the scoop.

January 31st
THE LOVELY AND TALENTED COYA PAZ (me) will be reading some poems at the HOTHOUSE in CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. This is part of a reading series curated by ACHY OBEJAS, and also features DAVID DRISCOLL, BAYO OJIKUTU, and SRIKANTH REDDY.

February 16-18
TEATRO LUNA performs our hit show S-E-X-OH! at St. Mary's College of Maryland, in SOUTHERN MARYLAND

ULTIMOS CAPITULOS

2006-12-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Every day I watch a telenovela called Rebelde. Unlike U.S. soaps, telenovelas have a limited run and eventually come to an end. My soap has been running an almost unprecedented year and a half, but alas - it is in its Ultimos Capitulos (Final Episodes) and will come to an end very very soon. I'll cry during the last episode and then, the very next day, dive wholeheartedly into Las Dos Caras de Ana, which is the new soap replacing Rebelde.

You know what else is in its ULTIMOS CAPITULOS???? Teatro Luna's World Premiere of QUITA MITOS, written by Tanya Saracho and directed by me. We only have a few shows left! I'll say it is caps, even: ONLY A FEW SHOWS LEFT.

Quita Mitos closes December 17th.
We're playing at the Viaduct Studio Theater, located at 3111 N. Western Ave
Thurs-Sat @ 7:30pm | Sun @ 3pm
$15 general admission, $10 students and seniors
For information or reservations, call 773-878-LUNA or e-mail teatroluna5215@yahoo.com

___
Otras Cosas:
Teatro Luna will be performing at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio January 25th-29th.
Coya Paz (that's me) will be performing some poems at the Hothouse (in Chicago) on January 31st.
Teatro Luna will be performing S-e-x-Oh at a special Valentine's Day Event on February 14th - stay tuned for more info as it develops.
Teatro Luna will be touring the D.C./Maryland area from February 15-20. Visit us at www.myspace.com/teatroluna for the scoop

2006-11-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

ONLY FOUR WEEKENDS LEFT!

"With "Quita Mitos" ("Myth Remover"), Chicago-Chicana playwright Tanya
Saracho proves why she deservedly won the Goodman Theatre's
prestigious Ofner writing fellowship in 2004. In addition, Teatro Luna
shows that its hard-working ensemble of Latinas are capable of
stretching themselves as artists through this funny, smart and
emotionally rich piece of theater, staged with perfect rhythm by Luna
co-Artistic Director Coya Paz."--New City Chicago

QUITA MITOS
through December 17th
Thursdays-Saturdays @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 3pm

"This is elegant and economical writing, and it is often tremendously funny." --Chicago Tribune

Playing at the Viaduct Studio Theater: 3111 N. Western Ave

$15 general admission, $10 students and seniors

"It’s a show about identity on several levels: the culture with which you identify, and finding an identity of your own" --TimeOut Chicago

For reservations, call 773-878-LUNA or e-mail teatroluna5215@yahoo.com

____

Exciting Stuff!

2006-11-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

Chiquillos, here is what is going on:

QUITA MITOS
written by Tanya Saracho||directed by me
SPECIAL DEAL! Two-for-one Thursdays with the code word: LUNATICA. Or, you could also try the code word: I love the Lovely and Talented Coya Paz
Visit Teatro Luna's myspace page (www.myspace.com/teatroluna) for up-to-date information about the show, or scroll down to my previous post!
_____

PROYECTO LATINA is on Monday the 20th at RADIO ARTE.
Sign up starts at 7pm.
I don't promise any new poems, but I'm trying to bust out something in the next week. No matter what, there will be lots of exciting and fresh Latina talent. We're featuring Alicia Ponce, who is hilarious.
Go to www.tianguis.biz for more information
______

I'm teaching a class at the University of Chicago: Race and Gender in Ensemble Performance, so if you are a student there (or at a cooperating university) check it out: http://csrpc.uchicago.edu/resources_courses.shtml

Hola Todos!!!! Aqui Estan Los ANNOUNCEMENTS!

2006-10-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Three items in this bulletin: Quita Mitos |and| A FREE Performance of Poetry workshop |and| Proyecto Latina

QUITA MITOS OPENS THIS WEEKEND!!!!!! The play, written by the VERY TALENTED Tanya Saracho, is beautiful. I really love it, and I feel very honoured to be directing it. It is different from Teatro Luna's usual offerings, pero claro... its not like we're suddenly doing a Las Vegas style musical. It fits right into our mission of creating original work that honours Latina lives. That's TWICE now I've used the word honour - maybe I should add it to my list of favourite words! Anyway, its been a bust week and I've to remind myself to take lots of deep deep breaths. But the play is beautiful. And I hope I'll see you there!

QUITA MITOS
written by Tanya Saracho | directed by THE L.A.T. Coya Paz
presented by TEATRO LUNA
November 3rd - December 17th
Thurs-Sat @ 7:30, Sundays at 3pm
For reservations and more information, call 773-878-LUNA
www.teatroluna.org
***************

Chicago Public Library's CITY VERSE Program presents...

How to Perform a Poem:
a workshop with (the L.A.T.) Coya Paz

Learn how to adapt classic poems for solo and ensemble performance! Participants will be introduced to basic poetic interpretation for the stage, and should come prepared to move and work collaboratively. No prior performance or poetic interpretation experience is required!

Saturday, November 11, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Bezazian Branch, 1226 W Ainslie Street
(312) 744-0019 M-Th 9-8, F-Sa 9-5
******************

PROYECTO LATINA HAS MOVED!!!!! We're looking forward to some exciting changes. Until then, we're housed in RADIO ARTE. We're still in Pilsen, still FREE, still an OPEN MIC, and still THE THIRD MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH!!!!! Visit www.tianguis.biz for more details.

2006-10-03T00:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting my BRAND NEW website, designed by the very lovely and very talented Keturah Davis! We have known each other since we were teenagers, and I am very lucky that she turned out to be not just a fabulous photographer, but also a fabulous designer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS!

I recommend the following events:

S-e-x-Oh!
Grand Valley University in Allendale, Michigan
October 9, 2006 @ 3:30pm
For more information, visit: http://events.gvsu.edu/EventDetails.asp?EventID=25171

Afeni Shakur: Portrait of a Revolutionary - On-stage interview with Afeni Shakur and noted historian, Dr. Barbara Ransby.
DATE: October 6, 2006
TIME: 7:00 pm
PLACE: Mandel Hall, 1131 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL
Free and open to the public. Limited Seating. Doors open at 6:00 pm
For more information, please visit http://csrpc.uchicago.edu/events_shakur.shtml

QUITA MITOS by Tanya Saracho, directed by me
November 3-December 17
www.teatroluna.org

Performing Poetry
I'm teaching a FREE performance workshop @ the Bezazian Branch of the Chicago Public Library
November 11 @ 1:30pm

PROYECTO LATINA
Third Monday of every month!
For more information, please visit www.tianguis.biz