This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
The radio series Destination Freedom produced by donnie l. betts of No Credits Productions, LLC airs live on public radio KGNU 88.5 in Boulder, Colorado, kgnu.org and 1390AM Denver plus a encore podcast.
The show is designed as a cross-cultural, educational medium to promote inter-cultural education for the general public, and to showcase pride for the African-American and communities of color through their struggles and accomplishments. Specific emphasis is given to reaching out to youth of all cultures in middle, high schools and colleges.
Destination Freedom features a radio drama with live sound effects, community conversation and musical guests. The series is one of the few radio dramas being produced in front of a live audience on a regular basis.
Come see the live broadcast on November 5th and 12th parts 1 and 2 live at 7PM doors open at 6:30 from the Dairy Center 2590 Walnut in Boulder “Enrique’s Journey” based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Sonia Nazario part one, adapted by Anthony J. Garcia.
Garcia describes the play this way La Travesía de Enrique es un testimonio bello, triste e inspirador del poder del amor. Aunque el amor no resuelve todo para Enrique, sin el amor el no podría sobrevivir.
Enrique’s Journey is a beautiful, sad and inspiring testimony to the power of love and loneliness. Although love does not solve everything for Enrique, without it he cannot survive.
Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops.
Tickets www.thedairy.org. Joining our conversation after the show will be Kiara Chavez of UndocuMonologues and Marge Taniwaki activist. They along with United Mexican American Students from CU Boulder will discuss immigration and current border issues.
donnie l. betts (lowercase intention) has produced Destination Freedom for two decades. betts is a writer, producer, director and actor on stage, in films, tv and radio.
The original series, Destination Freedom started in 1948 on WMAQ and was written by Radio Hall of Fame inductee Richard Durham. betts bought the rights to those play and began producing them. The subjects were historical figures like Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Ida B. Wells and Jesse Owens.
The series was a trailblazer in using art to address social issues and justice. donnie’s goal is to keep moving the series forward yet stay true to its origins. His three year plan called “A change is gonna come” tackles gun violence, gender identity and immigration among other pressing issues of our time. Destination Freedom is excited to partner with El Centro Su Teatro to bring parts 1 and 2 of a four part series of Enrique’s journey to the Longmont, Boulder area. betts reached out to El Centro Su Teatro Artistic director Tony Garcia to reflect on this powerful play.
Why did you first write and produce the play and later the radio version?
I was introduced to Enrique’s Journey by a friend and colleague, Mollie Mook, a theatre professor at the University of Colorado-Denver, she was working with her theatre company in Silverton, A Theatre Group. She had been working with the theatre program at Ft. Lewis Community College.
Sonia Nazario the author of Enrique’s Journey was going to be the featured speaker for their student forums and the theatre department had suggested a collaboration, which would involve a theatrical staging of the play. She convinced them that I should write the script, the catch was that I had a month to do it.
So I read the book and became incredibly moved by the sacrifice and determination of this young man. I found it to be a story of a boy and his mother. One of the greatest effects of the current immigration policy is to dehumanize people. Enrique’s Journey was such a human story.
I asked my grandson Isaac who was 12 during the rehearsal process, what was Enrique’s Journey and he said. “Enrique is journeying to find himself”. We forget how powerful the basic elements of our existence, love and family are. And what does that then means for people whose lives have been disrupted by larger factors such as poverty and violence.
Enrique’s Journey is a beautiful, sad and powerful testimony to the power of love and loneliness. Although love does not solve everything for Enrique, without it he cannot survive.”
La Travesía de Enrique es un testimonio bello, triste e inspirador del poder del amor. Aunque el amor no resuelve todo para Enrique, sin el amor el no podría sobrevivir.
Enrique’s Journey is a beautiful, sad and inspiring testimony to the power of love and loneliness. Although love does not solve everything for Enrique, without it he cannot survive.
We are excited to have the opportunity to continue to extend this experience to a broader audience. Enrique’ Journey is but one story, there are thousands more. There are millions more, the sharing of these
How can art move this conversation? Art is the external manifestation of all we experience as human beings, it is an affirmation of our humanity with all our flaws and imperfections. It is also through that sharing that we grow stronger. It is a place to challenge and affirm our beliefs, it forces us to move out of our silos and realize that we are all connected. Enrique is all of us, traveling to connect with that which fulfills us.
If we can see the world through the eyes of one human being, and realize that we are really one in the same. Will it matter what their legal status, the color of their skin or which side of the border they are borne? Art allows us to take the “journey” with and Enrique and discover ourselves.
Si podemos ver el mundo a traves de los ojos de un ser humano y podemos realizer que some lo mismo. Que le hace, el estatus legal, el color de su piel y de cual lado nacido. El arte nos permite caminat el el “jornada” con Enrique y dscubrir nosotros.
See Enrique’s Journey November 5th with musical guest Sudaca Project and 12th with musical guest Los Mocochetes at 7PM at The Dairy Center 2590 Walnut St. Boulder, CO 80303, 303-444-7328-tickets www.thedairycenter.org addition information at www.nocredits.com or @nocreditsproductions on facebook.
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