Spotlight: Vox Cultural Ambassador!

Introducing Sunisha Choksi, Vox Culture's Cultural Ambassador! As we seek to continue to build bridges amongst our audience, Sunisha is helping the organization stay in touch with the community and bringing to light some of the awesome cultural components of Houston! Whether it be a trendy social or art event, or an amazing restaurant or unique spot in the city, Sunisha is the one to learn from! 

I am an attorney, and have been practicing in the area of intellectual property law for the past 10 years. The one thing I truly enjoy about my job is having the opportunity to work one on one with small start-ups and entrepreneurs who are incredibly passionate about their new ideas, innovations and endeavors. In my free time, I enjoy traveling and learning about different and diverse cultures from my own through art, music, film and food.

What is your favorite ice cream? There are a few favorites, but I absolutely love Amy’s Ice Cream’s Mexican Vanilla.

What is one thing you love about your culture? My parents are originally from India, and I was blessed with opportunities to visit my family there over the holidays as a kid. One of my favorite events is the annual kite festival in my mom’s hometown of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. Everyone heads to the rooftops to fly paper kites or “patangs”, and the sky is filled with these colorful paper kites all day long.

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas, because of all the traditions, from putting up the Christmas tree to breakfast/brunch after opening presents with loved ones. Almost every year, my family hosts the annual Christmas party for our extended family and close friends, including an always-memorable rendition of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”.

How do you express yourself? I try to spend time getting together with friends where we do an art project together. It’s a great way to carve out time to be expressive and creative while catching up with everyone.

March Newsletter: In Full Spectrum

a. 2013 Theme "In Full Spectrum"
b. Journeys Collide Fundraiser
c. Houston Arts Alliance - Remembered, Regained Series
d. 4/13 Crawfish Boil 3.0      

The year is rolling out strong and Vox is excited to be a stage where you can LEARN about poverty & injustice, BE CONNECTED to local organizations making great change, and DISCOVER your creative gifts and leverage it for good.
 
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a. 2013 Theme "In Full Spectrum"

 Setting the framework for 2013, Vox has chosen the theme "IN FULL SPECTRUM". 

[Def: A spectrum (plural spectra or spectrums) is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum.] In the 17th century the word spectrum was introduced into optics, referring to the range of colors observed when white light was dispersed through a prism.

Our aim is to disperse the perceptions that people have about the issues we want to tackle and to reveal the varying degrees of diversity, beauty, pain, and hope of stories untold within these categories.

Through your input on the desired causes to highlight, Vox looks forward to journeying with you through different perspectives in:

• Immigration Stories
• Hunger Stories
• Drugs & Alcohol Stories

b. Journeys Collide Fundraiser

On Saturday, March 23rd, Vox Culture celebrated its five year anniversary at the "Journeys Collide" Fundraiser. The banquet was held at Chateau Crystale, the venue where Vox had its very first event, "Global Cafe", in 2008.

The audience enjoyed a hors d'oeuvres buffet, art, music and dance lesson while learning about the organization's journey of growth, how it has combated issues of poverty and injustice through creativity, and its vision moving forward.

Some of the food and drinks featured during the evening included ouderves from The Original Marini's Empanada House and Café Pita+ and bubble tea from Urban Leaf Truck. Other sponsors of "Journeys Collide" included Houston's First Baptist Church; Rickmers Linie-America; Gillenwater Law Firm, PLLC; and Galleria Rotaract Club.

 

Featured artists included:

• Yan Shen - Chinese Pianist
• Kristopher Butler - Local Rapper and Musician
• Albanian-American Student Organization of Houston, Texas - European Folk Dancers
• Darnell Allen & Ruby Rivera - Salsa Instructors
• Amanda de Rosario - Latin Painter

Check out more photos on our facebook! 

c. Houston Arts Alliance - Remembered, Regained Series

Vox Culture continues its role of Cultural and Community Collaborator for the Houston Arts Alliance, for the Remembered, Regained: Immigrant Arts of Houston series! The goal of the series is to celebrate the rich artistic and cultural traditions that reside in Houston’s immigrant communities. The latest events of the series that Vox has helped HAA with have been, Telling the Immigrant Story, The Language of Lullabies, and Houston's Immigrant Advantage. Be sure to visit our blogs to check out our reviews for some of these recent events!
 
Events Remaining:
 
¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tres!
April 13, Saturday @ 6:30PM
MECA Outdoor Pavillion
(Colombian Music/Concert + Workshop)

¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tres!
May 18, Saturday @ 6:30PM
5th Ward Jam Outdoor Stage
(Garifuna Music/Concert + Workshop)

Anointed and Adorned
Thursday, May 23 – Friday, July 12
HAA - Alliance Gallery
(Indian Weddings in Houston, Exhibition)

Click here to obtain more information from the HAA on the Remembered, Regained: Immigrant Arts of Houston series, and to also see event details.

d. 4/13 Crawfish Boil 3.0

It's that time of year again... the Access Live Cooking Group/Vox Culture Crawfish Boil 3.0!!! April 13, 2013 from 11:00AM to 2:30PM at the Warehouse (8570 Katy Fwy, Suite 116).

Adults: $15 / Kids: $5 ALL YOU CAN EAT!!! Bring your own drinks.

RSVP at http://new.evite.com/l/6GLPE4F73D.

If you'd like to volunteer, please sign up at http://bit.ly/XDUfrH.

Have a great Easter weekend!

2/27 Houston Arts Alliance presents: Houston's Immigrant Advantage

On Wednesday, February 27, Dr. Stephen Klineberg and Ms. Claudia Kolker came together to discuss the changing face of Houston, for the third event of the Remembered, Regained series "Houston's Immigrant Advantage", at the Asia Society Texas Center.

Dr. Klineberg presented numerous statistical findings showing the significant demographic shift Houston has experienced over the last few decades. Houston has shifted from a Caucasian majority to one that has a mixed balance amongst all races. The Latino/Hispanic community is the new majority, however the African American population has remained strong in the city and the Asian population continues to grow. With an aging group of people, it is only the Caucasian population that continues to decrease. With new economic promise and a strong young vibe, Houston as Dr. Klineberg puts it, is the city of the 21st century. With this new promise and new diversity in the city, it also provides us with new opportunities, as Ms. Kolker explains, to learn about and maybe imitate great concepts found in other cultures, such as showing greater respect and more rights and understanding for all expectant mothers, as found in the Latino/Hispanic culture.

2/24 Cultural Ladrones: Celebrating Thought, Poetry, Music & Art!

Support our friend from the hip-hop community, Marlon Lizama! He is hosting Cultural Ladrones at House of Blues on Sunday 2/24 @ 8PM-1AM. Join the celebration of thought, poetry, music and art next weekend! Details below:

"Cultural Ladrones is an event celebrating true grassroots artists. Focusing on artists who not only embody the grassroots mentality but also contribute to their community. The term Cultural Ladrones was chosen on the fact that "OUR" type of artists generically taught him or herself by combining cultural,sub cultural,the conventional, and the un conventional route. We focus on the power of art, music, words to create and reach as many people as we can to movements, ideas, and social justice."

Remembered, Regained: “Telling the Immigrant Story” Review

On Wednesday, February 13, Vox Culture took part in the Houston Arts Alliance’s second event of its Remembered, Regained series, Telling the Immigrant Story. The event took place at the premises of the Houston Museum of African American Culture. Panelists for this event consisted of three individuals who shared the stories of their immigrant backgrounds with the audience.

The first individual was Rathna Kumar. She is a dancer, choreographer, musician and teacher. Anjali, the center for performing arts that she established in Houston in 1975, has trained over 2,000 students from all over the U.S. Rathna has received numerous honors, both for her excellence as a dancer and for her pioneering contributions as a teacher and promoter of classical performing arts. Her immigration story began in her home country of India, and found her way to the United States following her marriage to her husband. Her experience in America was one of both culture shock while also learning of how accepting Americans were of other new and previously not well known cultures. Through the curiosity presented by these Americans she was able to introduce them and teach them dances from her home country, and make a living from what she has a strong passion in.

The second individual was Eugene Irikannu, a native of Nigeria and a member of the Igbo ethnic group, as well as finance manager for the Houston Arts Alliance. He came to the United States in 1997 and moved to Houston for family and community. His immigration story had to do a lot with luck, given that the same day his visa status had expired and was due to leave for Nigeria, he received a phone call saying that he had been selected the winner of the Green Card lottery. Another key aspect that he shared as part of his immigration story was the importance of a good education and for the children of immigrants to keep their culture alive through them, while teaching them values and understanding. To ensure that his children know their mother culture and appreciate their current home, he sends them to Nigeria every summer to live with their grandparents.

The third individual was Michael Cordúa; a Nicaraguan-born American restaurateur, entrepreneur, owner of Cordúa Restaurants and award-winning, self-taught chef. Michael is the owner and executive chef of six restaurants in the Houston, Texas area. He was the first to introduce Houston to Latin American cuisine that was not Mexican. His immigration story began when he came to the United States to pursue a college degree. He graduated with a degree in economics and finance from Texas A&M University in 1980. It was during this time in college that he began to find a certain passion for cooking, when cooking for his friends and roommates. With political upheaval occurring in Nicaragua during this time, Cordúa chose to stay in the United States and worked for a Houston shipping firm, sailing and working as a cook, until it was liquidated in the late 1980s. It is during this period that he would truly teach himself how to cook, with the main reason being that he missed the foods from home.

The event ended with a performance by two of the individuals. Eugene’s son sang a sweet and beautiful Nigerian song on the importance of education. Rathna gave an inspiring and show stopping rendition of a traditional Indian song and dance, called Legend of the Bluebonnets, that left everyone in the room marveled.

What the audience took away from this event was that the immigrant story is different for each individual. Each has their own paths, struggles, opportunities, goals, and achievements. More importantly, every immigrant (like other regular individuals or American citizens) has something to give to this country that makes a lasting impact, whether it be in the form of creating businesses or working hard to make a living, or sharing their gifts in the form of dance, music, food and more. The immigrant story is in fact not only their story, but it’s a story of all of us… one where we all play a part in making a mark on this world for a better life for the generations to come.