MARIETTA - Shake America, a new organization at Marietta College, plans to shake things up on campus and in the Marietta community.
According to Lauren Currie, who co-founded the organization with Sydney Maltese, Shake America, Students for Social Justice, is "a social justice-geared organization that aims to empower students to be active leaders in their communities, promote critical thinking about social justice issues and develop a commitment to community betterment."
Shake America is already well on its way to making a big impact at Marietta. The group supports and works cooperatively with other social justice-rooted organizations like the Rainbow Alliance and Charles Sumner Harrison Organization, while also striving to create a community in which everyone understands the need for fair treatment and equality among themselves and their peers, according to a news release.
"No one deserves to be discriminated against for race, age, religion, ethnicity or sexual preference," Currie said. "We should all feel free and safe to be who we are, without others bringing us down."
Shake America members want the college and local community to be aware of social issues and controversial topics, to be knowledgeable about how to approach these things, and to be proactive in abolishing them.
The organization has teamed with the Office of Civic Engagement to bring representatives from Invisible Children (invisiblechildren.com/), an organization based in San Diego that aims to put a permanent end to the actions of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Africa. They will be at Marietta College on Oct. 1 to host a variety of workshops and to premier a new documentary entitled, Move, What if We All Spoke the Same Language?
The workshops are meant not only to raise awareness about the LRA and Invisible Children's own Kony 2012 movement (www.kony2012.com/), but also to cover a series of topics that will provoke thought and discussion of how students can become involved in causes they are passionate about.
Each of the workshops will take place in the Alma McDonough Auditorium beginning at 11 a.m. with a Q&A session and ending at 7 p.m., when the film will be premiered.
Here is the complete schedule:
11 a.m. to noon: "Ask Us Anything" the Invisible Children representatives will engage in a constructive, question-driven dialog with students about the LRA conflict, Invisible Children in general, and the Kony 2012 campaign.
1-2 p.m.: "The Power of Your Voice" - aimed to explore the concept of activism; the power held by private citizens in situations such as the LRA conflict will be examined and discussed.
2-3 p.m.: "The Frontlines" - an in-depth look at the LRA conflict and the efforts of Invisible Children to bring an end to the violence.
7-9 p.m.: "Move, What if We All Spoke the Same Language?" - premier of the new film, hosted by the Invisible Children Roadies. Move explains some of the history of Invisible Children as an organization and of the Kony 2012 movement; following the film will be a short debrief and a Ugandan speaker, who will discuss what it was like growing up in constant fear of the LRA.
