Everything Nac

Despite strides made throughout the decades to improve women’s rights, gender bias continues to create barriers for many women who still must struggle with equal economic opportunities and gender-based violence.

This ongoing struggle takes center stage when the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre presents Lynn Nottage’s award-winning play “Intimate Apparel” Tuesday through Saturday, Feb. 28 through March 4, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Set in 1905, the play is about Esther, a black seamstress who sews intimate apparel for clients who range from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. Trapped between high society and its sordid shadow world, her heart is constrained by race, religion and class. Throughout her story’s suspenseful turns, her resilience reflects America’s enduring hopefulness, according to the School of Theatre’s guest director, Jiles R. King II.

Dr. Dianne E. Dentice, associate professor of sociology at SFA, commented on how the timeless intersections of race and gender play out in Nottage’s work.

“During the time of the play (1905), American women still did not have the right to vote,” Dentice said. “African American women in the South were still in bondage, even though slavery had ended back in 1865 with the end of the Civil War. White women, even with higher-class status, were not on equal status with men.”

Although these are just a few examples of gender bias that characterized that time in America’s history, women of color – especially African American women – have always had to deal with “double jeopardy,” Dentice said, ” … gender and race.”

“Although Esther was technically illiterate, she was artistically talented, and her ability to sew spectacular undergarments was in demand,” Dentice said. “Her character was appealing on other levels, as well. She was well liked by her peers and her clients, many of whom were upper class women. She also knew how to navigate the spaces where her work took her – brothels, nice homes of proper ladies, fabric shops.

“Esther and the other African American female characters in the play were survivors who refused to let barriers keep them down,” she said. “They dealt with problems they encountered head on, and they never looked back.”

Working class women of all races and ethnicities are fighting alongside their male counterparts for a living wage. Looking at the Black Lives Matter movement, Dentice believes parallels can be drawn historically between abolitionists and suffragists.

“Black women wanted the right to vote just like their white sisters, but they also understood the impact of racial oppression on the life chances of families of color,” she said. “They were not willing to throw their men under the bus just to make a point. It has always been difficult to tease out gender from race for historically disenfranchised groups like African Americans.

“To say we are living in some interesting times is an understatement,” she continued. “Women of all races and ethnicities and socioeconomic statuses have got to become more active if we are going to promote positive social change that will benefit all Americans.”

Dentice will be among the participants in an interdisciplinary discussion that will take place immediately following the Friday night performance of “Intimate Apparel.” The exchange will be between the director and several SFA faculty members regarding the socio-economic concepts the play has regarding race, gender and class and the roles they play in the story. The discussion will be in Griffith Gallery, located across the hall from Turner Auditorium.

Winner of the 2004 New York Drama Critics Circle and the Outer Critics Circle Awards, “Intimate Apparel” will be presented at 7:30 nightly. Turner Auditorium is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building. The play is recommended for mature audiences. A content advisory may be viewed at www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

Single tickets are $15 for adult, $10 for senior and $7.50 for student/youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

It’s tax season, and Stephen F. Austin State University students enrolled in the Rusche College of Business’ Schlief School of Accountancy are performing free tax-preparation services for community members at Goodwill in downtown Nacogdoches.

The school partnered with Goodwill to offer the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic for qualified individuals — those whose annual income is $54,000 or less, people with disabilities and limited English-speaking taxpayers. Students will be providing the tax services from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 3, 24 and 31 and April 7.

Tim Stephenson, Cedar Park accounting graduate student at SFA, is the VITA student coordinator for the clinic.

“It’s offline, so people get human interaction and can understand the tax process better,” Stephenson said.

Most of the student volunteers are members of Beta Alpha Psi, the professional accounting fraternity, and serve as tax preparers during the clinic.

“Getting experience outside the classroom helps you put together and understand the concepts you learn in class,” said Jennifer Nicely, SFA accounting graduate student from Tomball. “You can see that what you’re learning has the potential to help others in real life.”

Stephenson agrees the clinic provides a valuable community service.

“You talk with people and help them with a task that can be pretty challenging,” Stephenson said. “It’s a more direct way to help others, and you can see the results of your efforts.”

Kacie Czapla, senior lecturer at SFA and clinic supervisor, teaches tax courses and explained that through this endeavor students learn the basics of federal and state income tax preparation and how to interact with clients.

“Students gain real-world experience and help taxpayers file their tax returns,” Czapla said. “Students are providing a service to the community while also getting experience.”

For information on what to bring to the VITA clinic, visit https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-you-by-volunteers.

Photographs of the Upshaw family of Nacogdoches County taken by Texas photographer Richard Orton are now in the form of a traveling exhibition to be shown in galleries, museums and community centers.

Orton’s book “The Upshaws of County Line: An American Family” is a documentation of the community’s history through photographs and oral histories of the families who lived there. Orton became acquainted with the Upshaw family, which had lived for decades in the northwest Nacogdoches County community of County Line, in the late 1980s and began taking photographs for this project, which evolved into a book that was published by the University of North Texas Press in 2014 after 25 years of preparation.

John Handley, director of art galleries at Stephen F. Austin State University, and Chris Talbot, director of the SFA School of Art, discussed the possibility of turning Orton’s photo project into a traveling exhibition. After a number of art venues, including universities, expressed interest, the show was printed, framed and prepared for touring.

“The first venue recently opened at Southwestern University,” Handley said.

Three brothers, Guss, Felix and Jim Upshaw, and their families established County Line in the 1870s. What stimulated Orton’s curiosity about County Line was how quickly emancipated slaves were able to own their own land, and, as a result, had the opportunity to live relatively autonomous, self-sufficient lives while raising their families in the time of Jim Crow.

“That is why I wanted to make photographs there and collect their oral history,” Orton explained. “I was most fortunate to be allowed to do that.

“The story I tell in my book and through the photos is personal and universal,” he said. “It’s about the strength of family and community and the resilience of humankind. Because I am white, and the community is black, it speaks directly to the potential for black/white relationships. In County Line, I am on cultural turf not my own, which, in a different sense, is the common experience of black people in America.”

Being in County Line, and being accepted there, gave Orton the opportunity to learn this family’s story, and in telling that story, it became part of Orton’s own, he said.

“The story I tell is the story of a white man given the opportunity to ‘integrate’ into a historical African American community (so to speak),” Orton said.

He does that through images captured through the camera lens and through the words of people born and raised there.

Orton, who is a native of Nacogdoches and returned to East Texas in 2007 after living and working in Austin for 36 years, is active on the boards of the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and the African American Heritage Project in Nacogdoches County.

Aside from the Southwestern University venue, the exhibition will travel to Institute of Texan Cultures, Angelina College, Denton UNT Gallery on the Square, and the Lost Pines Art Center in Bastrop, to name a few.

Institutions interested in hosting the exhibition should contact Handley at 936-468-1131.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs will host the first Women’s Empowerment Summit beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, March 3, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Twilight Ballroom.

SFA and Nacogdoches community members are invited to develop relationships with other women who strive to make an impact, learn professional development skills, discuss current women’s issues, learn how to improve personal wellness and more.

“The idea came about as we began to plan events for Women’s History Month, which is held throughout March,” said Veronica Weaver, OMA director. “We wanted to get women together to discuss issues relevant to them today. This event will be for all women from various backgrounds and for anyone interested in women’s issues.”

The event provides a full-day experience with multiple workshops led by SFA faculty and staff members. Keynote speakers include local TV personality Anissa Centers; Dr. Nina Ellis-Hervey, assistant professor in SFA’s School of Human Services; and Cyndra Krogen-Morton, Title IX compliance specialist.

“It is important in this day and age for women to uplift each other,” Weaver said. “There are so many powerful voices around SFA’s campus and community, there just needs to be an outlet to hear them.”

The event is free and open to the public. Individuals wishing to attend must register at www.sfasu.edu/oma. Check-in will take place from 8 to 8:50 a.m. at the door. Pre-register by Friday, Feb. 24, to receive lunch.

For more information, contact the OMA at (936) 468-1073.