Room At The Inn

It’s hard to think of a more politically apt metaphor for immigration than the story of the birth of Christ: Mary and Joseph, away from their homeland, suffer rejection after rejection as they look for a place to give birth to their son, the savior of all humanity. Interestingly, the...

By Jef Otte

December 16, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

It’s hard to think of a more politically apt metaphor for immigration than the story of the birth of Christ: Mary and Joseph, away from their homeland, suffer rejection after rejection as they look for a place to give birth to their son, the savior of all humanity. Interestingly, the reenactment of that story also happens to be a Mexican folk tradition called las posadas, in which a crew of “pilgrims” goes from house to house in their neighborhood, looking for the proverbial room at the inn.

The tie-in potential has not been overlooked by Rights for All People, an Aurora organization devoted to organizing the immigrant community for social justice. “The immigrant leaders and the people we serve have taken that story and written their own script for it, turning it into a metaphor for the immigrant experience,” says RAP organizer Nicole Melaku of Posada Sin Fronteras (“sin fronteras” means “without borders”), a theatrical rendition of the tradition with a rabble-rousing touch.

That performance is the centerpiece of a celebratory RAP fundraiser that also includes dinner, music and — of course — piñatas, and runs from 4 to 8 p.m. tonight at Rangeview High School, 17599 East Iliff Avenue in Aurora. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children; for more information, go to www.rap-dpt.org.
Sun., Dec. 19, 4-8 p.m., 2010

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.