POSTED MAY 16, 2017 BY CHOL THEATRE
I like to think of myself as a tight-rope walker; a trapeze artist leaping across societal lines and presumptions. For the better part of my life, I have struggled to find a comfortable place in a world that has painted invisible lines between people: gender, race, sexuality, nationality, religion.
And it’s strange when you think about it. These lines don’t really mean anything. A person’s race or gender doesn’t define what kind of person they are, nationalities are literally created by the drawing of lines on a map. Yet, somehow, we are still haunted by these definitions. So much so that they influence the way we interact with one another, the choices we make and even the laws of our countries. And while these differences allow for a variety of wonderful cultures and traditions, they are too often used as tools of oppression or justification for hatred.
As someone who exists on the borders between several seemingly opposite identities, I’ve found that our differences (be those cultural or individual) are what makes the world beautiful. And celebrating these differences is far more effective in the fight for a more enlightened world than fearing them.
Written by Lauren Ebanks, BA Hons English Literature with Creative Writing Student at Huddersfield University presently on placement with us assisting on Hudderfield’s Big Masala Tea Party Performance.
