Seven students will perform monologues about the topic “How do you come to know hope,“ today, Thursday, March 16 in the Robinson Teaching Theatre from 7 to 9 p.m. as part of the second annual Diversity Monologues.
Those students performing are Jigmed Dawa, Whitney Jester, Annie Campbell, Rose Carmel Arnold, Anthony Rice Jr, Reylene Abbott and Jennifer Henninger.
Senior Annie Campbell will be talking about how she has changed personally and has come to discover her identity.
Senior Jigmed Dawa said he will be sharing how he defines hope and how people have different views of hope based on their experiences.
Sophomore Mutsa Chiromo was one of the winners of the monologues last year. She said the topic this year has a positive outlook on life especially at a time when the community needs hope and it is a great way for people to share their stories.
The theme was formulated last year after the first Diversity Monologues in a discussion with Dr. Michael Benitez Jr who is the founder of Diversity Monologues nationally and was the guest speaker last year, David Garcia, dean of diversity, equity and inclusion said.
“Last year on the night of the Monologues, we decided to choose hope as the theme for this year because we looked at our community and what was happening with police brutality at the time the message of hope would appeal to the faith of the Whitworth Community,” Garcia said.
The guest speaker this year is Yamiz Monet Watkins. She is a spoken word poet and actress from Los Angeles, California. She was the winner of the third Diversity Monologues held at Dickinson College.
Preparing for the diversity monologues is a yearlong process that has several stages. It starts with the formation of the committee. The committee is involved in organizing and advertising the event. The committee collaborates with the Composition Commons and the theatre department to host workshops that help students with writing their monologues and stage performance.
The first Whitworth Diversity Monologues took place last year and eight students performed with sixty monologues submitted in total. Garcia said the monologues were created as a way to discover community through dialogue.
“The purpose of the monologues is to bring people together so they can share their purpose and celebrate their stories,” Garcia said. “The monologues are about bringing a narrative that has not been shared and documenting Whitworth history. This year you will see with many of the stories there is a lot of beauty and struggle in them.”
Contact Theresa Vimbanayi Chowa at [email protected]
*An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified David Garcia as the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, he is the dean of diversity, equity and inclusion; stated Yamiz Monet Watkins won the first Diversity Monologues at Dickinson College, she won the third; incorrectly identified Mariale Gomez as a performer at this year’s Monologues, Gomez will not be performing.
