Our November Author: Hector Aristizabal and The Blessing Next to the Wound

Our November author, Hector Aristizabal is a dear friend and collaborator. In case you're just getting to know him through his book The Blessing Next to the Wound: A Story of Art, Activism, and Transformation here are a few links. First, he will be speaking at our favorite bookstore, Vroman's on November 12.  If you can't make that this KZSU Stanford University Radio interview will give you an idea of what's in the book.

Next, be sure to checkout the website for ImaginAction, where you can learn about Hector's work to bring about healing and social justice through theater and the arts (you can also keep track of Hector's theater projects on Facebook). To learn more about "Theater of the Oppressed" listen to Rights Readers friend and host of Uprising, Sonali Kolhatkar interview Hector about Augusto Boal, founder of the movement. Then grab the first chance to be a part of one of his workshops!

A brief video introduction to our author:



A couple of video glimpses of Hector in theater mode can be found here and here. You might also check out this old Pasadena Weekly profile: Playing through the pain. For more on Hector and School of the Americas watch check here.

Hector's collaborator, Diane Lefer has written several articles revolving around Hector's recent visit to Colombia, The return to Medellin of Hector Aristizabal,  Social Justice Theatre for Colombia, Torture: Peace Crimes. Hector explores some new territory:

Men are changing behavior, too, said Aristizábal, noting the movement called La Nueva Masculinidad and even a group called El Machismo Mata, in which men try to end the ways in which violent behavior has become connected to the male identity.

"They did a scene in which one guy is knocked over during a soccer game. One member of his team just says, 'Get up, jerk,' and when another player asks instead if he's OK and tries to give him a hand, the others shout homophobic insults at him for being soft and showing concern. So what do you do in that moment? How do you respond to the situation?"

It's Hector month at Rights Readers and Vroman's is the place to be. Join our Loyal Readers there to support Hector and his work!

For November: The Blessing Next to the Wound by Hector Aristizabal

For November, we have selected The Blessing Next to the Wound: A Story of Art, Activism, and Transformation by our good friend and collaborator Hector Aristizabal:

Hector Aristizabal grew up in the barrios of Medellin, Colombia, where he and his siblings had to use all their wit, wiles, and wherewithal to survive poverty, the ever-present allure of cheap drugs and very dangerous money, and the endemic violence from leftwing guerrillas, rightwing death squads, cocaine cartels, and the armed power of the State. As a young actor and psychology student, Hector was seized by the military, held in secret, and tortured. He survived and went on to find meaning in his ordeal as he channeled his desire for revenge into nonviolent activism both in his homeland and during decades of exile in the United States.

While challenging the State-sponsored causes of much suffering in the world, Hector reached out to some of society s most marginalized at-risk and incarcerated youth, immigrants, and many others using his theatrical skills and psychotherapeutic training to help people shape their own stories and identities. He sought to understand his own identity as well as that of one brother who was a revolutionary and another who was gay and how his belief in personal integrity and political freedom might square with the realities of a country under the yoke of toxic ideologies. Hector was forced finally to examine his own motivations and commitments, and begin to heal his own gaping wounds.

Shockingly honest, heartbreaking, and vibrantly told, The Blessing Next to the Wound is a passionate and evocative memoir that, amid enormous suffering and loss, is a full-throated affirmation of life.

Pasadena Event: Nightwind

Group 22 Members are looking forward to a the up-coming performance of Nightwind, our friend Hector Artistizabal's one-man play,

--a harrowing solo performance, Hector Aristizábal reenacts his arrest and torture by the US-supported military in Colombia and explores possible outcomes. Violent rage? Or a channeling of the impulse and energy into the peace movement? He is accompanied onstage by Enzo Fina, providing a live soundscore.

More about Hector's work in this previous post and at his website. Look for us at the event with Denounce Torture! and Colombia actions.

Saturday, July 8, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Forum at All Saints Church

Evening opens with an interfaith prayer service and light supper at 5:00 pm. Following the performance of Nightwind, Hector Aristizabal will lead the audience in a creative workshop session. For reservations and for more information, please call Ruby Gallegos at 626.583.2734.

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