Sonoma State Star

Issue date: 3/29/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Brad Schemberi // STAR A war protestor holds up a sign at the Student Day of Resistance, Action and Awareness outside of the Cooperage.

Rapping poets and social activists took the stage to protest the war in Iraq and raise awareness of social injustices at the Cooperage on Mar. 20. Common Roots Productions, an organization founded and operated by SSU student Camelia Rubi Gannon Patino, hosted the event, Student Day of Resistance Action and Awareness.

"Everything came out of my pocket for this event because I was doing it on my own," Patino said. "But I feel strongly enough for the cause that I don't care. It's my own money and I won't take it with me, so I might as well spend it on something good."

Originally scheduled in the main quad, the event was moved to Cooperage due to rain.

"It was very last minute," Patino said. "We were hoping it would be in the quad, because we really wanted to reach the students who weren't going to go out of their way to come to the event. I think that a lot of students who did end up coming to the event were ones that already knew about what's going on and want to learn more, and are aware of it and how important it is to participate. Also, the thousands of people that didn't come are the one's that really need to hear this message and understand how what's going on affects them as well."

Student Day of Resistance Action and Awareness addressed a wide range of issues including racism, homophobia, and international conflicts. The event featured speakers from a variety of organizations, including Elizabeth Stinson and April Hurley from Not in our Name, Ted Sexauer from Vets for Peace, Peter Phillips from Project Censored, and Brandon Wilson of the Wilson Brown Foundation.

"Being an activist is uniquely being who you are at the moment," Wilson said.

Hate is growing in the college community, he said, and our actions now will leave a lasting impact on future generations.

Patino spoke of the silence the she encounters at SSU, and how she wants students to be more involved.

"I walked this campus for two semesters and it's alarmingly quiet," she said. "I want to create awareness. I want resistance, and above everything, I want action."

Considerable planning and effort was put into the event to make it a success, Patino said, which included contacting the right organizations, having the right message, having enough PR to get the message out, having the money to be able to put on the event, as well as having music.

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