This Is Us
All photos were taken by Barry Daly
In order to foster unification through education and entertainment, I created an initiative called "This Is Us," as a celebration of multiculturalism in an effort to help all see that more connects us than separates us. This Is Us was originally launched as a Student Association initiative when I was its President at my university and culminated in a massive multicultural performance night. Today, This Is Us functions as my platform to share, through pop culture, the different cultures and backgrounds of all people.
The Parade of Nations
The multicultural performance night on April 21st, 2018, began with a rendition of The Lion King's "Circle of Life," an idea that I had for my university's acapella group. Here is an example of all of the gorgeous flags that represent all people at my university.
The International Food Fair
I envisioned a tasty way to show off cultural diversity. Sometimes, the best way to start off a conversation with someone you may not be familiar with is to introduce them to your food. Food opens doors, difficult conversations, and lightens the mood. Before the performances began, people had an opportunity to experience food from nearly every continent on the planet.
New Sound
For the first time in many years, I invited guests from one of our sister schools to perform some smooth jazz, and they blew the crowd away!
The Hero's Journey
The story of the multicultural performance night centered around a hero, Bryan, as he was instructed by his mentor, Jamil, to travel across multiple TV shows, movies, and all sorts of recognizable icons in order to collect pieces of the Armor of God and successfully drive out the darkness from our "Happy Valley."
The Destinations
Each destination showcased a spiritual message and a lesson based on culture. Each show drew inspiration from sitcoms, movies, and music from many different realms within pop culture. The different scenes were called: "The Fresh Prince of Wakanda" (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/The Black Panther), "A Bonding Espionage" (James Bond), "Jane La Negra (Jane the Virgin)," "The Greatest Rapper" (8 Mile & The Karate Kid), and so much more!
Highlights of the Hero's Journey at This Is Us
In the end, racism, prejudice, fear, and hate, could not be defeated by the hero, unless he used the lessons he learned and gathered the pieces of the Armor of God: "The Dad Hat of Salvation," "The Lightsaber of the Spirit," "The Chacos of Peace," etc. Over one thousand students witnessed the journey of Bryan, and by clicking “The Complete Program” button below, you'll be able to experience it for yourself.
Inspired heavily from Michael Jackson's "This Is It" poster, I asked my very wonderful and talented friend, Rachel Brouhard, to match my vision.
Above, you'll find many pictures of what the "This Is Us" initiative truly was. Not just a multicultural performance night, This Is Us was meant to mean that our university would be a place where all people could feel a part of. By working with the university's Marketing and University Relations team as well as the university library, we were able to celebrate different ethnicities cultures by putting these banners and library themes throughout campus. Also in the pictures above, you'll find the Student Association President after me, who became our first Asian/Pacific Islander president in over 30 years; Dr. Terrance Roberts, one of the famed Little Rock Nine, a convocation speaker I brought in; the poster (designed by Elena Anunciado) for a program called "D.E.E.P. Sabbath" (Diversity Education Exchange Program) between my university and its HBCU sister campus, as well as a meeting I initiated with my fellow student president to help our campuses establish a better relationship for the future.
“When we learn to combine our intelligences, our cultures, our heritages, our backgrounds, and our stories, we are opened up to an entire campus full of possibilities.”