Next to a U.S. flag spray-painted onto oil barrels stacked 10 wide and three high, funk-rock and ska-reggae groups played in the EMU Amphitheater Monday afternoon as part of the three-day “Celebration Of … ” presented by the Student Alliance for Progression.
The event aims to promote environmental sustainability, social justice, spiritual fulfillment and individual passion Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through music, art and speakers, group member Kailani Swenson said.
The crowd grew to about 100 when the 11-member Zimbabwean Marimba group Kudana took the stage, spurring students to dance and play hackey sack. Ari Lesser, who helped organize the event, ran around the crowd with his dog, Tofu, which wore a dog-sized “Celebration Of … ” T-shirt.
“We want everyone on campus to get involved, get active, get a dialogue going,” Lesser said.
Lesser said SAP meant for the barrel flag to “bring everyone together under the banner of our nation,” but that it also “alludes to the U.S. dependence on the substance that comes in those barrels.”
“We’re all patriots here,” Lesser said.
SAP members wore orange bands around their wrists, Lesser said, as part of a trend students started in 2003 in reaction to the war in Iraq.
“People know if you’re wearing an orange band, then you’re passionate about something,” Lesser said.
As part of the day’s events, Lesser rapped to a crowd, saying “love your fellow woman, and love your fellow man, and remember always live your life the best that you can.”
Swenson said SAP hopes to become an umbrella group for all student organizations interested in social justice.
“We’re probably the most passionate,” Swenson said. Members become so excited during meetings that “we just have to calm down and take deep breaths.”
Swenson said the group, which started only weeks ago, raised money at a party at the Campbell Club, a co-operative living house, on Friday to pay for the event. The money will also support organizations that provide relief to people in the Darfur region of Sudan and will pay for informational packets to send to other universities so students can create their own SAP chapters.
“There’s so much that we can do,” Swenson said. “We’re hoping that over the years this just grows.
“If we can just touch a few people here and there, it’s worth it,” Swenson said.
Wearing a colorful costume and swinging a Hula-Hoop around her waist, student Hannah Aronowitz said she came “to celebrate all the goodness.”
“One thing I like to celebrate is what feels good, like hula-hooping and flying with fairy wings,” she said.
Member Laurel Willi, who wore blue fairy wings, said “it’s just gonna grow every day.”Member Evan Kleiman said, “We’re sparking something, we just want to ignite, you know, ignite dialogue.
“A tiny seed was planted,” Kleiman said, “but that seed has grown into this beautiful garden of powerful individuals with lots of passion to see change in the world.”
Sara Rich, a member of the Community Alliance of Lane County, spoke about the lessons she learned growing up in communes in the 1970s. Her parents left New York City for communes in New Jersey and California, where her family lived in tepees and in chicken coops and under the stars, Rich said.
“We didn’t have McDonald’s,” Rich said. “We just had each other.
“Our Earth needs us to slow down and bitterly smell the flowers,” Rich said. “There is nothing more important than love.”
The event culminates with a symposium presented by the Pachamama Alliance, an international social activist group, in 182 Lillis Business Complex at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.