El teatro de vecinos
With SFP’s Resident Workshop Series and House Meeting Campaign underway, Sugar Freedom Project members are integrating creativity and culture into their organizing practice by writing, planning, and staging an Acto to build upon last year’s collaboration with El Teatro Campesino.
Last Fall, 12 Sugar Freedom Project members collaborated with ETC to create an Acto highlighting Oakland’s history of systemic disinvestment and marginalization that has impacted the city’s current context and conditions. They performed their Acto for Oakland City Council candidate town halls in West Oakland and Deep East Oakland, grounding the events in their demand of city leaders:
Represent the people and make decisions that prioritize community over corporate interest.
This year, SFP members are going deeper into developing the storytelling in their Acto with support from Redwood City-based organizer and teatrista (and Spadework alum!) Angel Santuario and ETC executive director Christy Sandoval. Last month, Angel led a workshop with SFP focused on the Acto as a creative medium for telling your personal story in a way that can connect to a broader social issue/campaign and inspire collective action. Angel shared notebooks for folks to take notes on the workshop in their own words so that participants could bring their learnings to their communities.
Folks came together to exchange stories of their families, their experiences, and the impact of the current national climate on them and their loved ones. While the ongoing house meeting campaign serves as an opportunity for SFP members to build relationships and commitment to take action, Teatro creates a structure to connect our shared history, anxiety, pain, and our love. The Acto, with its rich cultural history, cultivates deep exploration of how we can approach organizing creatively, collaboratively, and with joy.
By the end of 2025, SFP hopes to double the number of folks participating in the Acto and stage a performance of their piece for the community. Support our members by making a donation here.
In solidarity,
Sugar Freedom Project
