U.S. and ThemU.S. and Them is a live multimedia dance documentary utilizing complex dance movement, storytelling, and projected text and images to portray the separation of family by undocumented immigration and the intolerably flawed U.S. immigration system. The system currently in place does not meet the capacity of need in order for many to obtain proper documentation for migration. This has led to the horrible reality that families are heartbreakingly separated by both having to come here undocumented while leaving others behind and also establishing families here and fearing/suffering deportation. This situation puts many in an in between place of uncertainty and insecurity making them vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation. Amia is compelled to use her abilities through her art form to share with others this information that she believes is crucial to the wellness of our society and our political system.
Colorlines, published by Race Forward, a national organization that advances racial justice through research, media and practice, reported in December 2012 that more than 200,000 removals of parents of U.S.-born children had occurred from July 1, 2010, to Sept. 31, 2012, based on a Freedom of Information Act request. This is a staggering number, but to many of us it still means little or nothing. However, Americans, particularly those of us who are parents, can empathize with our fellow American mother featured in "U.S. and Them" as she describes her anguish over her undocumented husband's pending immigration status. When she tearfully asks, "how do I explain to my kids that their father is not gone by choice but that he won't be around just the same? How do I make a 3 year old understand that?" The sharing of these firsthand experiences, layered with movement developed from very natural human impulses, evokes dramatic thought provoking and viscerally charged reactions. Amia hopes that by emphasizing these social issues through visual and multi-layered means, her viewers will experience the true and uneasy reality of undocumented immigrants and their loved ones, and most importantly, make considerations to remedy these injustices. |
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