An Exploration in the Empowerment of Young Pinay Womyn through Artistic Expression, Community Building and Conscious Raising Exercises and Discussions
The program “Journey of a Brown Girl” is a community and self-identity building workshop series, that incorporates Social Justice Education centered in the Filipino/Filipino American movement with Applied Theatre Education. The program is designed to help young Pinay Womyn, in the age bracket of early teens through early-mid-20s, discover and reconnect with HERstories, spirituality, cultural practices and current day issues that are unique to Filipina/ Filipina Americans. I seek to work with this age demographic, as I recognize this being when I began to come into my own consciousness of past histories and awareness of present day issues affecting Pinay womyn- and ultimately affecting myself.
The study will include 6-10 participants. Who will undergo a series of 10 workshops and dialogue sessions that will be conducted during a span of 7 weeks. In the first 5 weeks sessions will be held bi-weekly for 2-3 hours of work each session. Throughout these 5 weeks the group will be developing an experimental theatre piece to be performed at the end of the 7 week period. The last 2 weeks will be designated to tentative rehearsals and production meetings leading up to a performance for the greater community.
Program Goals:
1.) Awareness and Education:
The program seeks to provide materials and resources pertaining to HERstory, lineage, ancestry, culture and current day happenings, which affect and have shaped Pinay identity in both the US and the Philippines. The goal is to provide the womyn with a foundation of information to bring them into consciousness of these issues and ideas.
2.) Community and Solidarity Building:
With providing a space for weekly interaction, dialogue, connection and exchange between these young womyn, the goal will be to build among them a sense of community and solidarity and a safe space in which they can feel they are an asset to discussion and exploration.
3.) Self Actualization/ Empowerment:
Participants will undergo many self-reflecting and exploratory exercises, which will help them to examine how their identity as a Pinay helps to shape and inform their beliefs, relationships and lifestyles. The goal is to help these young womyn to build on their self esteem, confidence, awareness and pride in identifying as a Pinay.
4.) Action through Artistic Expression:
Throughout the program the womyn will be exploring different mediums of performance and applied theatre to connect these issues to artistic means and find ways to serve their community’s needs by artistic expression. A performance piece will be produced at the end of this programming as the participant’s first form of action in sharing their process and discoveries of self, community, culture and HERstory to a wider community.
LONG TERM GOALS:
1.) To create an Educational Theatre structure for leadership development in young Pinay womyn to be used as a tool in Multi-Cultural Centers, Non-Profit Programs and Organizations that work with young Pinay womyn in helping them gain confidence and strength through their discovery of Pinay Empowerment by using artistic mediums.
2.) To expand the work to be implemented in other communities of color and disadvantage across the United States and beyond!
