Creative Juices

An Immigrant's Story by Elizabeth Harrison An Immigrant's Story "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,  I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" ~ The Statue of Liberty Before this country embraced the name, The United States of America, it was simply an assortment of immigrants looking for a better home. Many came seeking asylum from political or religious persecution, many sought freedom from oppressive economic limitations. These immigrants created the vibrant cultural background of what eventually became the US. I would even submit that this country was built by immigrants. Today, over 1 million people still immigrate to the country every year. Many still come for the same reasons as those of past centuries. However, perspectives towards immigrants and immigration have begun to shift in the last decades. Immigr...

When I returned home from my mission, sometimes people would ask me, “Oh, how was Chile?” or “What are the Chileans like?” However, the context and the perceived expected response only allowed for a simple one-line reply. Often, I think we make the mistake of seeing countries or cultures as solely one-dimensional entities capable of being surmised in flat descriptions. Sometimes we think that if we’ve met one person from a specific culture or country that we comprehend how that entire culture or country is. However, within any group of people there is innumerable diversity. There may be unifying factors, such as shared dishes, language, or music and dance, but there are likely more differences between two members of a group than there may be between two members of two different groups. To me God is the author of diversity, but simultaneously, we are all his children and therefore share a common essence. This idea may seem contrary, but I believe that instead of lump summing or gen...

I don’t think I can recall a certain moment when I learned about Blacks being denied the priesthood, temple endowment, and sealing for such a large portion of our Church’s history. Although I knew that that wasn’t right, I never really dwelt on it that much. I thought, it’s not like that anymore, so its ok now. However, the more and more I’ve studied and learned about personal stories of racism and mistreatment of minorities in other contexts, the more and more I’ve come to realize I can’t keep turning a blind eye. Although I will never fully understand what it is to be a minority, I feel it is my obligation to at least try to empathize and when I can, to be an advocate. It is necessary to acknowledge injustices to be a promoter of positive change.             Reading the Gospel Topics Essay on Blacks and the Priesthood brought to the forefront this negotiation within my own faith. I was forced to confront the issue head own...

Enabled by the technological advancements of the 1960s, the participatory mode of documentary formed. It is nearly opposite of the observational documentary with the filmmaker directly interacting with the subject, conversing, collaborating, and sometimes confronting. The audience also is able to interact more with the subject. These films draw from an anthropological tradition but differ in their dedication to the rhetoric of a story rather than simply the social science research. Documentary tends to not sacrifice the narrative for the data. Often in participatory mode however, the narrative doesn’t occur until the filmmaker incites the story; potentially one they are already involved with, or perhaps one that they seek out to investigate.  The participatory mode can be exemplified by Ross McElwee’s documentary,  Time Indefinite  and Jean Rouch’s  Chronicle of a Summer . The story in both films would not have occurred if the filmmakers had not picked up their ...

Return to Homs  is a poignant and personal depiction of the Syrian conflict and civil war. Its main character is the renowned goalkeeper for the national soccer team, Abdul Basset Saroot. The film follows him from the beginning of the peaceful protests as he performs rallying songs to the breakout of civil war and his audacious leadership of a small band of rebels. He is charismatic and relatable, giving emotional and intimate insight into the war-torn area. Slingshot Hip Hop  is another stirring documentary that gives the viewers an insight into a political conflict, especially from a perspective uncommonly envisioned. The story deals with the birth of rap in Israeli occupied Palestinian communities. Two main groups, DAM and PR, give us a personal view of the precarious situation of Palestinians in sector ’48, Gaza, and the West Bank. The two groups (and others) use rap as a peaceful form of vocalizing their struggles and discontent, as well as rallying and infor...