The picture was of a tiny child bent over from malnutrition, and a vulture waiting for him to die. Just one of many images in the Tunnel of Oppression exhibit held on campus this week, the picture stuck in the mind of junior history major Raquel Smith as a stark example of the poverty and hunger that exists in the world.
“I started crying,” Smith said. “I want to join the Peace Corps now or something, because it’s just not fair.”
Between Monday and Wednesday, about 1,700 people made their way through the third annual Tunnel of Oppression, an exhibit meant to inspire a “roller coaster of emotions” in attendees by exposing them to images and information depicting forms of oppression from around the world, event coordinator Event Coordinator and senior American studies major Naina Boveja explained.
“We were just trying to open people’s eyes to issues going on outside of their world,” Boveja said, “because college is kind of a bubble.”
Last night, Boveja, Smith and about 35 other students gathered at the weekly meeting of the student group Community Roots to reflect on their Tunnel experiences. This year was the first time Community Roots decided to hold the discussion as a way to give students the chance to express their feelings and reactions.
“I think last year a lot of people were like, ‘OK, what now?'” Boveja said. “It’s a lot to take in and talk about right after, so it was really great for Community Roots to let us use their space for a reflection.”
The group organized chairs in a circle around the Benjamin Banneker room in the Stamp Student Union, sharing thoughts on what parts of the tunnel had affected them most deeply.
“This is a chance to reflect on what you saw, what you’d like to see and what touched you,” said Community Roots member and junior African American studies major Kris Burnett.
Junior philosophy major Achieng Ragwar, who went to the Tunnel for extra credit in her criminology class, said she was particularly disturbed by a portion of the tunnel that focused on eating disorders such as bulimia with fake vomit in a toilet.
“I didn’t know it was going to be so graphic,” Ragwar said. “A lot of things were thrown out there without a lot of explanation, so I kinda wanted to come here to get some explanations.”
In addition to poverty, hunger and eating disorders, Tunnel topics ranged from human trafficking and sex slaves to immigration and race issues. Many students also took note of the Tunnel’s exploration of gender roles as social constructions, saying the exhibit opened their eyes to the way social perceptions tend to shape even the mundane aspects of growing up, like which toys their younger siblings are given to play with.
From reactions to the Tunnel exhibits, the group’s discussion segued into a more broad reflection on the underlying issues of war, race relations and social action. “This is a chance to reflect and show people there’s a group on campus that’s continually talking about the [issues put on display] in the Tunnel,” Espinoza said.
Daniel Lewkowicz, Community Roots’ other co-founder and a contributor to the Tunnel exhibit in years past, said the exhibit offered many students a chance to see the types of oppression that exist in the world for the first time.
“American culture is so disconnected from the rest of the world, it’s like we’re in a bubble of complacency,” Lewkowicz said. “People walk through the tunnel and get it all at once because you don’t get it anywhere else.”
Overall, both Tunnel organizers and Community Roots leaders expressed happiness with how the exhibit and the reflection event went, and said both achieved what they had been organized to do.
“The whole shock and awe thing,” Boveja said, “that’s what the tunnel is.”
Contact reporter Kevin Rector at rectordbk@gmail.com.
