The Color of Fear
Loren Moye
During the filming, he surprised me by his moving stories and insights. He was an important contrast to Victor and, to me, equally effective and memorable. I will always remember his Appalachian speech and the one about having to still shuffle in corporate America.
Roberto Almanzan
Therapist, Diversity Trainer Roberto was probably the one person in the film that I knew the longest. Roberto and I met during the time I was doing a great deal of group work with men. I instantly found him to be a kind and passionate Latino man. He had a way about him that made
David Christensen
David was one of the last ones I chose for the cast because he was the only one I didn’t know personally. From the beginning, I had a very strong sense of the type of EuroAmerican man I wanted – a middle aged man who was racist and didn’t know it, but might be willing to hear a different point of view.
Yutaka Matsumoto
Yutaka was someone I knew when we were organizing Men of Color Conferences. As a therapist and friend, I found him very thoughtful and considerate.
Victor Lewis
He struck me as very charismatic and knowledgeable about race issues. I chose him, very much like Hugh, for his diversity training experience and for the passion he might bring to the film. Obviously, he exceeded my expectations.
Gordon Clay
I felt that his role in the film was to represent my experience of many EuroAmericans – seeing something happen that was discriminatory, but not saying anything. Much like the “don’t ask, don’t tell” process operating in this country.
David Lee
He has a way about him that is direct, yet persuasive – much like a lawyer, which he is. He has a keen sense of taking what seems very complex and making it into a simple, yet important point.
Hugh Vasquez
Hugh worked with New Bridges (a youth-oriented camp dealing with diversity issues) in Oakland, California, along with Victor. I chose him because he had a sense of fairness in him that came across when the moment got heated and polarized.
If These Halls Could Talk
Maiv Ntxhiav (Sia) Yaj (Yang)
Hmong Asian American Woman Pronoun: She/her/hers Maiv Ntxhiav (Sia) was a vocational rehabilitation counselor where she provided counseling and worked with people with disabilities to gain meaningful employment to regain a quality of life and independence. She is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor.
Vera Salayma
Vera is a Palestinian woman living in Jerusalem with Israeli citizenship. A journalist by profession, activist and self-care advocate. Vera established her own production company, Vera Media, in 2016 which provides video production, fixing and translation services for foreign media outlets in Print, Radio and TV outlets. Her most prominent clients include BBC, CCTV, Sputnik
Marc Thompson
Marc Thompson was born in Oroville, CA, in 1989 and raised by a single mother and is the youngest of three. For the past 7 years he has been in college and found his calling within the social sciences. Marc is currently pursuing Bachelor degrees in: Sociology, Psychology and Women’s Studies, he currently has his
Leif Mattern
My name is Leif Mattern, and I am 23 years old. I was born and raised in Ukiah California, on about 40 acres of vineyard. After high school, I spent two years at Santa Rosa Junior College, where I studied abroad in London, England during the Fall semester 2010. After completing my general education credits, I transferred to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where I am majoring in Sociology with a minor in Anthropology.
Tyanne Conner
Tyanne is a teacher, writer, photographer, traveler, dreamer. She obtained her M.S. in Sociology from Portland State University and is currently living and working in South Korea. Committed to equality and social justice, she was excited to be invited to participate in the film. Though it was challenging, it has led to some much-needed personal
Marilyn Mercado
Marilyn has completed her clinical intern hours and facilitates adolescent, adults, and family groups for the Intensive Outpatient Program and the six-bed residential at Malibu Balance Treatment Center. Marilyn is passionate about working with diverse clients and families so that they may become more aware of the link between the mind and body as they work toward recovery.
Carmela Muzio Dormani
Carmela is a dancer and a Ph.D. student in New York City. She first heard about If These Halls Could Talk through the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Fordham University and initially wanted to participate in order to continue learning and dialoguing about institutional racism
Will Amado Syldor Severino
My name is William Amado Syldor Severino. My name is important, as it captures the lineages that have culminated into me and my kin. This name also holds the brutality inflicted on the Taino people, the Haitians, the Dominicans, the Africans of my island. My beautiful mother is the lovely Amada Severino and my super
Joe Rogers
I’m a white, gay, HIV positive, male native of northern California and currently (Spring 2014) a student of Sociology with a quantitative research focus. Currently I work with student organizations to provide assistance with campus policies, paperwork, and resources, leadership education, and serve as the area IT technician for the campus office of Student Life and Leadership.
Jon Henderson
My name is Jonathan Henderson. I am 23 years old, and a Sociology major currently studying at California State University Dominguez Hills for my BA and eventually my MA. I am the middle son amongst two brothers, born in Long Beach California and raised in Oceanside California. If someone chose to characterize me with one sentence, I would want them to say that I am a person that is committed to the cause of racial justice and to the equity and autonomy of my people.
Last Chance for Eden
Carlo Cervantes
“If a white person starts to cry or admits to having racist feelings and tendencies, then everybody immediately starts taking care of that person, and the whole world stops.”
Debbie Eriacho
“I don’t feel safe unless I leave all of what I feel and issues that are important to me outside of whatever door that I’m walking into. If I leave it all outside and just come in and be how I think you want me to be, human being, then I fell pretty safe. If I leave all of that out the door, that’s when I feel safe – when I leave the best part of me elsewhere, so that you can feel good.”
Dennard Clendenin
“People want to hear what it’s like to be black and male, and I tell them. Then they go ‘Well, I was poor too. I got stopped by the Cops.’ What purpose does it serve to bring that up? It makes me feel like I’m being told to just shut the fuck up and get on with your life. That’s the way it feels.”
Karen Schwartz
“When Carlo said that you weren’t going to hear the worst…I agree with you 100 percent. I know I have done racist things, and what I think is scarier – it’s people like me, blatant racists are there, but people like me, we’re more dangerous because we’re so unaware.”
Pat Burson
“I’m just saying to all you white people – welcome to the pain! You know, we’ve been drowning in it. Welcome! I hope you struggle as much as we have struggled. I hope you go under as many times as some of us have gone under. And I hope you fight your way back to the top and just keep fighting to stay alive. Welcome to the pain.”
Rhonda Cervantes
“People of color don’t get to be seen as individuals. It’s very easy for white people to say ‘Well, I think people should all be seen as individuals.’ People of color don’t have that option with white people.”
Sandy Hill
“I guess most white people don’t realize the depth of the fear. We assume that after a while people get tough,learn to adapt, get calloused, and we admire that. But I guess we’ve never allowed ourselves to get to that pain because it’s a frightening concept to have no hope for the future,, as far as being safe in the world. To be constantly threatened, to not be yourself – it’s something that we take for granted. I don’t think we’ve ever really been able to hear how terrifying that can be, and how much a person has to sacrifice to survive. I have no words…”
Tom Burke
“You can’t hide from this. There’s only so many gated communities that you can create, but your children aren’t going to be safe. Only so much moeny that you can throw into more private schools and prisons. You can only go so far before there will be a reckoning.”
Yvette Camacho
That must feel good to just be able to walk in and say ‘This is me.’ That’s not something that comes easy to people of color, because we don’t have your features, we don’t have your rank, and the status that you have in this society. I get up every day and it’s a live and die for me, sometimes.”