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City celebrates human rights
The sixth annual Human Rights Day Celebration took place Wednesday
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor Warren C. Bowles, with the Mixed Blood Theatre Company, plays the role of Jackie Robinson in a performance during the Human Rights Day Celebration Wednesday night at the St. Cloud Civic Center. The act was set in the World Series locker room.
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 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor Amanda Euteneuer, a volunteer with Multicultural Children’s Art Connection, designs Indian mendhi art on the hand of Noel Sanchez, 13, of St. Cloud during the Human Rights Day Celebration Wednesday night at the St. Cloud Civic Center.
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The civic center was filled with positive energy Wednesday night as people of all ages and from all backgrounds gathered to share culture, swap resources, eat and of course, learn from each other.
At St. Cloud’s sixth annual Human Rights Day celebration, one could find anything from Indonesian gamelan performances to the Chinese dragon dance to plays to belly dancing. In between performances, by walking from table to table, participants had the opportunity to get information from organizations from both grass roots and institutional levels, get names written in an assortment of languages, try samples of cultural food and art, and learn about language camps.
For Sophia Nguyen, who migrated to St. Cloud 16 years ago from Vietnam, the gathering was both refreshing and rewarding.
“This is a wonderful program and it’s a good thing for my daughter to be able to see so many different cultures and so much diversity in St. Cloud,” Nguyen said.
Since entering St. Cloud with the ability to speak only a limited amount of English, Nguyen has come a long way on a personal level and seen St. Cloud progress as a city along with her. Now, as a translator and very fluent speaker of English, Nguyen attributes her ability to successfully become a part of the community to her English as a Second Language teachers.
“I encounter a lot of curiosity about my culture in the community, but I’ve had a good experience here,” Nguyen said. “ESL teachers are the bridge for integrating the newcomers into the U.S. culture.”
Therese Putz and her seven-year-old daughter attended the Human Rights Day celebration for the first time. As a Lebanese American who was spent much of her life in Africa with her parents, who worked there and lived in St. Cloud for the past nine years, Putz believes this is a vital time to bring many kinds of people together to celebrate and learn about culture.
“Since Sept. 11, some have hate and feelings of anger and seem to look at Arabs and Muslims as bad people,” Putz said. “People need to look at people as people (without stereotypes, wrong assumptions, and assumptions).”
Putz was especially excited about being able to see belly dancing.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s a part of my culture I cherish. I’m proud of it and I feel especially proud when I can see people of other cultures performing it.”
For Hedy Tripp, an ethnic studies professor originally from Singapore, Human Rights Day has become somewhat of a tradition. Along with several volunteers, Tripp and her children did Indian mendhi art for participants.
“For us, this is a way to network with others and stay involved in the community,” Tripp said.
“I like getting to learn more about other cultures,” said Tripp’s daughter Azania, who was among the mendhi artists.
Even as the evening came to an end, participants of the event left with smiles on their faces and lots of energy.
“It’s great to see community from a diversity of backgrounds gathered in one spot watching and learning about different cultures together,” said James Neppl, the chair of the St. Cloud Human Rights Commission.
Neppl has been involved with Human Rights Day for the past two years and intends to stay involved in the future.
“There’s a need in our community for education, welcoming, and awareness of different people of different cultures,” Neppl said.
Sharon K. Sobotta can be reached at: [email protected]
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