The Tunnel of Oppression tour is both an educative and entertainment event. It exposes students to oppression scenarios which give them a first hand and more personalized experience of the various social injustices in life. They are also shown how the victims of the oppressions react through the acting, monologues as well as the multimedia experiences. The scenes of oppressions acts are based on real life issues like disability, class segregation, and body image issues including eating disorders, immigration, homophobia, genocide, domestic violence, and racism. Various acting techniques are used to address these issues including direct monologues based on real-life student experiences. There are also scripted acting sessions that are based on trending topics about past or ongoing events. Once the participants are done with watching the acting, they are taken through professional information processing sessions to help assess and internalize the lessons on oppression.
During the event, the participants discuss the impacts of the acting on their thought processes, attitudes and their holistic way of perceiving the discussed issues as well as their role in advancing social change regarding the oppressive societal tendencies (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). The oppression tunnel is designed to impart an experiential challenge for both the student and faculty bodies to foster a sense of responsibility of participants in a secure environment (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). The Tunnel of Oppression is a significant tool for communicating and advocating for equality in society to staff and students alike.
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The tunnel of oppression has set some goals and objectives that their programs seek to achieve. They act as a mouthpiece for the marginalized students by creating an avenue where they can express their oppression experiences (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). They also act as educators in sensitization campaigns aimed at revealing the systemic oppression that is rampant not only in schools but also in society. They highlight the societal constructed thought processes and their effect on the oppression victims (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). The program also acts as an adaptive and evolutionary process that changes constantly in line with student needs to highlight intersections of oppression.
The tunnel of oppression is a poster for equality and a vision for an all-inclusive society (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). The theme of oppression is the central pillar of the tunnel of oppression program. Through tackling the issue of domestic violence which is an act of a physically able person oppressing a weaker one, the tunnel imparts the values of tolerance and non-violent conflict resolution techniques (Vineyard, Lakkaraju, Collard and Verzi, 2012).The scripted acts are aimed at mourning the souls of the people who died at the hands of their oppressors, celebrating and encouraging the survivors while calling on society to take a stand and say no to domestic violence (Colombo, 2015). The people who suffer from any form of disability are always on the receiving end of oppressive tendencies (Wright and Race, 2012). The fully abled people often overlook their needs and existence as they go around their everyday lives. Through acting from the victim’s perspective, the participants get to see the pain and agony the disabled go through when looked down upon and ignored. This goes a long way in changing attitudes and imparting the values of kindness, selflessness, and concern which are important in ending oppressive tendencies.
The tunnel of oppression highlights the cultural theme of discrimination. Homophobia is still a reality in this century where each individual is recognized as an equal person under the constitution (Wright and Race, 2012). People are also constantly discriminated against on account of their race, belief systems or their skin color (Vineyard et al., 2012). The tunnel of oppression through the monologues bares the souls and feelings of the people who are discriminated against based on such factors. The participants can see firsthand the negative emotional and physical impacts such discriminatory acts inflicts on the victims (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). The societal construct of beauty standards which glorifies lighter skin tones, slimmer bodies for women and lean and muscular bodies for men is challenged (Colombo, 2015). By addressing the body image and racism issues, the tunnel demystifies the cultural theme of beauty by telling the participants that it is okay not changing themselves to conform to these societal stereotypes (Wright and Race, 2012). The oppression tunnel, therefore, imparts the values of self-confidence, self-acceptance while discrediting the beliefs of what beauty should be. The themes of same-sex marriage act as a way of discouraging homophobia a basis of discrimination on people based on their sexual orientation (Colombo, 2015). The theme of immigration works towards encouraging social integration of people from all over the world despite of their race or descent.
The theme of social and economic justice is also highlighted in the tunnel of oppression program. By addressing the issue of social segregation and genocide, the inequality issues based on economic and tribal or racial affiliations are highlighted (Colombo, 2015). Economic discrimination refers to the difference in the standards of living between the rich and the poor (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). Economic segregation is not only an issue in the outside society, but it's also a challenge in schools. Students from lower-income and upper-income earning families socialize within segregated circles (Wright and Race, 2012). Through the rich and poor themed monologues, both groups get to look at issues from each other’s’ perspectives. This helps in creating an open-minded attitude in the students and faculty alike (Colombo, 2015). Through addressing the dire effects of genocide like loss of lives and breaking of families, the oppression tunnel intermarries the negativity associated with any form of segregation be it based on economic factors or socially motivated factors (Wright and Race, 2012). The program, therefore, advances the culture of togetherness, love, and unity among the participants through instilling values of humility and tolerance.
Attending the oppression tunnel event had a life changing impact on my social, psychological and emotional perspectives (Rodriguez and Smargiassi, 2016). My level of self-awareness was fostered while I learned about the beauty of cultural diversity (Colombo, 2015). I learned that culture is not a constant thing but an evolving process which has room for adjustment and accommodating other people's beliefs and values (Wright and Race, 2012). I also learned that my likes, dislikes, and perspectives about certain people or ideas are more often than not fashioned by biased stereotypes which challenged my introspective skills (Wright and Race, 2012). The Tunnel of Oppression was a lifetime opportunity that allowed me to unlearn old perspectives and relearn new more qualified ones on beliefs about race, gender, ethnic groups as well as sexual orientation and religious diversity.
I left the program a changed person who was more thoughtful in dealing with others, kinder in passing judgments and more inclusive in my social interactions (Vineyard et al., 2012). My volunteering skills were also challenged which led me to pledge to volunteer in directing and scriptwriting in the program’s creativity advancing endeavors (Colombo, 2015). On a more personal level, the experience made me more empathetic with other people’s feelings and needs particularly the disabled and domestic violence survivors and victims'. On homophobia, I learned the value of appreciating other people's rights and privilege and being less judgmental and more inclusive. It also made me see some seemingly oppressive tendencies that I previously overlooked and inspired me to correct them.
Therefore the tunnel of oppression was an event that impacted values like love, tolerance, and kindness on me by highlighting the themes of oppression, discrimination and social and economic justice. The event was truly a life changing and eye-opening affair.
References
Colombo, A. (2015). How to evaluate cultural impacts of events? A model and methodology proposal. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 16 (4), 500-511. doi:10.1080/15022250.2015.1114900
Rodriguez, M., & Estes-Smargiassi, K. (2016). Women of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Generations of Female Paleontologists and Their Contributions. doi:10.1130/abs/2016am-282548
Wright, H. K., Singh, M., & Race, R. (2012). Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education. Precarious International Multicultural Education, 3-13. Doi: 10.1007/978-94-6091-894 0_1
Vineyard, C. M., Lakkaraju, K., Collard, J., & Verzi, S. J. (2012). The Impact of Attitude Resolve on Population Wide Attitude Change. Social Computing, Behavioral – Cultural Modeling and Prediction Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 322-330. Doi: 10.1007/978 3-642-29047-3_39
