MO SADEK
Staff Writer
As humans, we try to efficiently categorize things into groups in an attempt to wrap our heads around larger concepts. We say words like “male” or “female” to discern gender, “good” or “bad” to measure morality and “gay” or “straight” to perceive sexuality. Ironically, this method of downsizing leaves us colorblind to the full spectrum of understanding. In order to truly understand anything, we must push ourselves to not only see black and white, but all of the colors that give detail to the larger picture. Over the weekend, Project Identity challenged its audience to see past the formal definition of identity in an attempt to display the challenges and hardships associated with a person’s journey to self-identification.
Project Identity defines itself as a group focused on telling the personal stories of students at Fredonia in a theatrical manner with the purpose of “allowing the audience and participants to reflect upon their own nature and reality, the goodness in one.” The project, sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, was co-founded by Jakera Cooper and Daniela Rodriguez, two Fredonia seniors who dedicated over a year working in preparation for the hour-long production. The event also served as a donation event for the HOPE Club of Dunkirk High School and The Gender Variant Student Foundation.
“I thought that starting Project Identity (PI) was a step in the right direction in regard to highlighting the everyday trials and tribulations that students go through,” said Cooper. “With a program like Project Identity, students faculty/staff and community members alike could gather and experience the fullness of life’s struggles on stage.”
The production itself was moving, to say the least. In a mash-up of monologues, songs and dialogues, the audience was taken through the lives of each performer on his or her journey to self-identification.
“Part of self-identification is finding words and labels that describe yourself and the communities you belong to, but more than that, it’s pride in where you’ve been and where you are”, said Graham Caulfield, a senior Theatrical Production major. “You want to be able to stand up and say, ‘Yes, I am this, or have been through it.’ Self-identification should be empowering.”
Throughout the show, the audience is exposed to many issues and situations people face when finding themselves in their lives. While most people are under the assumption that “identity” is solely another term for “sexual orientation,” Project Identity worked towards showing the mental health issues, family conflicts and external pressures that have an effect on a person’s identity.
Most importantly, the show was about acceptance. Despite the hardships each of the participants faced on their journey, they were able to feel more comfortable with themselves in the end. While Project Identity was an unaltered and raw re-creation of past, it was more focused on transforming “the manner which we will face tomorrow.”
Project Identity was uncomfortable to sit through. There were times the audience shook with fear in the wake of some of the horrifying situations the performers described or were left breathless after a powerful monologue. Regardless, it is the the type of production that Fredonia, or even the world, needs to create a proactive environment for everyone struggling with accepting their identity and those who may only think of identity as a black and white topic.
A person’s identity is not defined by his or her name or gender. Individuals are not the mental illness that they are plagued with, nor should they merely be recognized by their sexual preference.Their identity is an accumulation of the experiences they’ve endured, the people they are surrounded by and the pressures that drive them towards their goal of truly finding themselves. Project Identity does a fantastic job of teaching this to its audience.