DAY
     
June 20, 2009, the 60th anniversary of women’s achievement of the right to vote in Costa Rica

ACTIVITY

The National Institute of Women (INAMU) organized a commemorative cultural activity

Rosa Parks -- Scene 1

Rosa Parks -- Scene 2

PLACE
         
The center of the city of San José in a street closed to traffic, with artistic presentations on an outdoor stage and nearby booths.  A dressing room for the actresses was improvised in the back of a truck.  Passersby who were shopping or walking in the area could stop to watch the presentations, along with persons who came for the cultural activities.

OUR SHOW

Alas de Mariposa and the Teatro Archipiélago (Archipelago Theatre) were invited by iNAMU to present the scene with Rosa Parks from the “Labyrinth of the Butterflies” play.  In the show, the African American Rosa Parks reconceptualizes the “butterfly effect” when she tells the story of what happened when she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in the 1950s during the segregationist era of the southern US.  Parks’ action and arrest triggered a wave of protests and a surge in the civil rights movement that eventually led to the abolishment of the racist laws against blacks in public spaces.  Parks has since been recognized as a major leader in the fight for equality of African Americans in her country.

WHY ROSA PARKS?

The selection of the Rosa Parks scene was an homage not only to the right to vote for women, but also to the struggle for rights of Afro women to this day.  They struggle against double discrimination with both racism and sexism in society.

CONTEXT

In Costa Rica according to data from the IX Population Census of 2000, the ethnic group of Afro Costa Ricans is comprised of 72,784 persons who represent 1.91% of the total population of the country.  This includes 36,306 women, who represent 1.91% of all women in the national population.  The largest concentration of Afro Costa Ricans is in Limon, home to 74.37% of this ethnic group, followed by 14.3% in San José and 3.01% in Alajuela north of San José. 

The Association for the Development of Black Costa Rican Women has maintained since 2000 that in Costa Rica it is evident that there is “discrimination against Afro Costa Ricans, which has a negative impact on the culture and also an absence of active participation of black women in decisionmaking.  The systematic and persistent negation of the culture and the Afro Costa Rican population are the most obvious discriminatory elements in Costa Rican society.  In Costa Rica, in spite of the fact that there various plans to reduce the inequality gap between women and men, there are no studies nor is there a clear profile on the situation of Afro Costa Rican women, and therefore they are also not an explicit part of these plans, all of which confirms the fact of discrimination against the black population and toward Afro Costa Rican women in particular.”

PARTICIPATION OF AFRO WOMEN IN THE PERFORMANCE

 The presentation of the scene of the show by the Alas theatre troupe includes the actress Andrea Oryza Porras who plays Rosa Parks, María Fernanda Campos who plays a foolish passenger on the bus, and who is constantly asking Rosa to get up from her seat on the bus, María Alejandra Solórzano who plays the authoritarian bus driver and Raquel Hernández who is the other passenger. 

To finish the overall presentation, the director of the play Ailyn Morera made a public call to the Afro women to come up on stage to dramatize the Rosa Parks scene a second time, this time improvised.  A woman name Ida climbed to the stage, an Afro Costa Rican from Siquirres in Limon, a province that is comprised of most of the Afro population whose ancestors had emigrated from Jamaica to Costa Rica.

In the dramatization of the scene, Rosa appears seated on a chair that represents a seat on the bus.  In a certain moment, the bus driver yells at her to get up and give up her seat, demanding this in an authoritative manner.  She stands up, as did the real Rosa Parks and also this character in the drama.

In this replay of the scene, Ida Allen (the improvising actress playing Rosa) stands up, but while holding the chair to her backside!   

Ida Allen as Rosa Parks with Andrea Oryza

It was a hilarious interpretation.  The public broke into uproarious laughter and applause.  And as Alas we flew with the Afro Costa Rican women whom we were honoring.

Also the Afro women of the organization from Limon felt very happy and content.  “The butterfly effect of the play says that we have the right to fly as we wish, and no one can stop us,” said Isabel, also in the audience.

The women also talked to Wings of the Butterfly and the Teatro Archipiélago (Archipelago Theatre) about trying to take the full "Labyrinth of the Butterflies" show to Limon on August 30 for the Afro Caribbean Festival.

Watch a video of these scenes on YouTube.