DREAMWEEK

Dream Week is known for creating an environment for discussion to promote equality, diversity, and tolerance, but one event is striking a chord with some in San Antonio.

DreamWeek organizers have been criticized for allowing the Rwandan ambassador to speak at their event after the government arrested Paul Rusesabagina of Hotel Rwanda fame.

Port San Antonio is using DreamWeek’s initiative to help spark innovation.

City leaders will kick off the day’s events in a press conference at 9:30 a.m. on Monday followed by a virtual march.

Despite cancellations due to COVID-19, there are still ways to commemorate the holiday and the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Getting you ready for Dream Week + how to become an axe master!

SAN ANTONIO – She astonished people across the world during the presidential inauguration, with her brilliant rhetoric and inspirational spoken word. DreamVoice is the organization that puts on DreamWeek in San Antonio and is dedicated to advancing the voice of tolerance, equality and diversity. Shokare Nakpodia, known as 'Sho,' Founder of DreamVoice, an organization that puts on DreamWeek in San Antonio spoke about Amanda Gorman. “We also might have Amanda’s on the south side of San Antonio and on the East side of San Antonio. For example, San Antonio has its own poet laureate, Andre “Vocab” Sanderson, who performed at several events at DreamWeek.

SAN ANTONIO – Everyone has a story. However, Deborah Omowale Jarmon, the Executive Director of the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, says the trailblazing stories of people of color -- have been historically harder to find. It’s why SAAACAM is hosting a tour in Eastview Cemetery on Saturday of local African American historical icons and the impact they made in the community. “They can expect a safe, socially-distanced tour,” Jarmon said. She was one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, establishing the local chapter in San Antonio.

Actress, singer, producer and star of Netflix's "Dear White People," Ashley Blaine Featherson, will make her way to San Antonio next week to speak on Tuesday at Trinity University. The actress' big break came in 2014 with the release of the "Dear White People" Netflix movie, which was later adapted into a series. Besides her work on Netflix, Featherson also co-created the digital series "Hello Cupid" with Lena Waithe in 2012. The show, distributed by Black & Sexy TV, follows the subsequent drama that unfolds after one character replaces her online dating profile picture with her roommate's pictures. She earned her BA in journalism from the University of Cincinnati and moved to San Antonio in April of 2020.

click image Instagram / dreamweeksaFor the ninth consecutive year, DreamWeek will celebrate the unveiling of its annual Notable People of San Antonio portrait collection, honoring the city's civic, cultural, business, religious and political leaders.The 2020 collection, titled “A Collective Vision,” was created by lauded photographer Kevin G. Saunders. He created in the exhibit of black-and-white portraits in collaboration with DreamVoice President Shokare Nakpodia.The nonprofit DreamVoice facilitates DreamWeek, a weeklong series of events aimed at advancing tolerance, equality and diversity across cultures and communities. "This is a signature, milestone event from my long career that I am proud to share with all of our community and beyond," Saunders said in a release. "San Antonio's 2020 Notable People are simply inspiring. "The 2020 honorees include Tobin Center for the Performing Arts CEO Michael Fresher, alt-country artist Garret T. Capps, Texas Public Radio CEO Joyce Slocum and retired Fiesta San Antonio Commission Executive Director Amy Shaw.The Notable People exhibit will open in-person and virtually Thursday, January 14.

click to enlarge Sarah Brooke LyonsDreamWeek, San Antonio’s annual celebration of the multicultural legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., is in its ninth year, and its calendar is as full as ever. The only 2021 caveat is that many of its events have moved into the virtual sphere.Local organizations will use virtual discussions to build civic engagement around issues of tolerance, equality and diversity, all fitting into DreamWeek’s 2021 theme of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”Here’s a selection of events happening during the ten-day summit. For details on other DreamWeek-affiliated events, visit dreamweek.org Hosted by the Center for Health Care Services, this panel discussion will center around ways for organizations to incorporate mental health initiatives and better support employee wellbeing.Board members of police accountability group Fix SAPD will discuss police oversight in San Antonio and ways citizens can take action. Topics include a petition drive by the group, SAPD collective bargaining and Texas’ proposed George Floyd Act.The Migrant Center for Human Rights is hosting a five-part podcast series discussing the incoming Biden Administration’s likely approach to immigration policy and how citizens can advocate for positive change.San Antonio’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace will facilitate a panel discussion on the pursuit of happiness during the fight for civil rights. Community leaders from diverse backgrounds will discuss how marginalized groups are disproportionally affected by gun violence.

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In DreamWeek event, homeless youth help people recognize biasPublished: January 16, 2020, 9:22 amDreamWeek 2020 features a spoken word event with the experiences of homeless LGBTQ youth in San Antonio. "When You See Us" will take place Thursday evening at Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.

DreamWeek hits close to home with its screening ofThe 2018 documentary achieves broad appeal by illustrating a rich and proud history too often unheard. From local politics and culture to national news that hits close to home, San Antonio Current has been keeping San Antonio informed for years. Its never been more important to support local news sources. If quality journalism is important to you, please consider a donation to San Antonio Current. Every reader contribution is valuable and so appreciated, and goes directly to support our coverage of critical issues and neighborhood culture.

From local politics and culture to national news that hits close to home, San Antonio Current has been keeping San Antonio informed for years. Its never been more important to support local news sources. A free press means accountability and a well-informed public, and we want to keep our unique and independent reporting available for many, many years to come. If quality journalism is important to you, please consider a donation to San Antonio Current. Every reader contribution is valuable and so appreciated, and goes directly to support our coverage of critical issues and neighborhood culture.

Paul Rusesabagina, the former hotel manager on whose story the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda was based, made a home for himself in San Antonio in 2009. Mayor Ron Nirenberg, San Antonio poet laureate Octavio Quintanilla, and DreamWeek founder Shokare Nakpodia also spoke. Rusesabagina has only visited Rwanda once since leaving in 1996; he traveled with the Hotel Rwanda filmmakers in 2003. As Martin Luther King had a dream, I also have a dream, Rusesabagina said. As Martin Luther King suggests, like Mandela, like Mahatma Gandhi, I believe dialogue and forgiveness will be the best solution.

Do some yoga with adoptable puppies, listen to a San Antonio Symphony musician play at Mission Branch Library, look at local art in Southtown, or stop by one of the many DreamWeek events. DreamWeek Opening CeremonySan Antonios annual DreamWeek festival kicks off with a Friday opening ceremony at the Briscoe Western Art Museum. Friday, 7:30-9 a.m.Jack Guenther Pavilion at the Briscoe, 210 W. Market St.$65 and upTree Planting with San Antonio River AuthorityThe San Antonio River Authority needs volunteers to help plant bald cypress, Mexican buckeye, Mexican sycamores, and pecan trees along the rivers edge on the Mission Reach. The musician will play at Brick at Blue Star, celebrating his birthday and raising money for the San Antonio African American Community of the San Antonio Area Foundation. Brick at Blue Star Arts Complex, 108 Blue Star$20Miss SaigonThe touring production of Miss Saigon hits San Antonio this weekend with one Friday evening performance and two performances on Saturday and Sunday.

It will also screen three of Cedric Thomas Smiths films, including(2018), a story of familial reckoning with a buried pattern of abuse. From local politics and culture to national news that hits close to home, San Antonio Current has been keeping San Antonio informed for years. Its never been more important to support local news sources. If quality journalism is important to you, please consider a donation to San Antonio Current. Every reader contribution is valuable and so appreciated, and goes directly to support our coverage of critical issues and neighborhood culture.

In its eighth year, San Antonios annual DreamWeek will kick off on Friday with the theme A Collective Vision, a nod to the year 2020. The march, which is organized by the City of San Antonios MLK Jr. Commission, will be on Monday, Jan. 20, beginning at 10 a.m. at the MLK Jr. Academy and ending at Pittman-Sullivan Park. San Antonios march is among the largest MLK Jr. Day marches in the nation with an estimated 300,000 people participating last year. DreamWeeks closing event will be the Mayors Ball on Jan. 25 at the University of Texas at San Antonios Institute of Texas Cultures. A full schedule of DreamWeek events can be found here.

She's written three books on the Rwandan genocide, including the forthcoming, in which she covers "how the gnocidaire from the moment the crime began denied it and turned the UN into a sort of forum for their denial. "Contacted by phone, Rusesabagina insisted that Melvern and other critics in the West could not possibly know what transpired at the Htel des Mille Collines. "Despite the widespread criticism, Nakpodia asserts that DreamWeek didn't choose Rusesabagina to promote his political agenda. "Our goal here is not to invite somebody to have a political platform to spew anything," he said. "However, Melvern said she doesn't think Rusesabagina can be considered as separate from his politics.I dont think thats possible in this case, she said.

From local politics and culture to national news that hits close to home, San Antonio Current has been keeping San Antonio informed for years. Its never been more important to support local news sources. A free press means accountability and a well-informed public, and we want to keep our unique and independent reporting available for many, many years to come. If quality journalism is important to you, please consider a donation to San Antonio Current. Every reader contribution is valuable and so appreciated, and goes directly to support our coverage of critical issues and neighborhood culture.