Inside the Ethnic Studies Studio...Featuring Patrick Mureithi

March 7, 10:30am - 11:15pm
Mānoa Campus, Dean Hall 5/6 Add to Calendar

This presentation will feature Patrick Mureithi, a motivational speaker, musician and documentary filmmaker residing in Springfield, MO. He has produced two documentary films, "ICYIZERE: hope" and "Kenya: Until Hope is Found." "ICYIZERE: hope" is about a 3-day gathering of 10 survivors and 10 perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as they are taught about PTSD and go through a series of group exercises that help to build trust. "Kenya: Until Hope is Found" is about healing from trauma after Kenya's 2007/8 post-election violence. His first film was shown at the Rwanda Film Festival, Rwanda Television, the National University in Butare and Gisenyi Central Prison (both in Rwanda), where one of the subjects of the film was imprisoned for his crimes during the genocide, and to Stuart Symington, the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda. In Kenya his film was shared with medical staff and students at the Aga Khan University Hospital, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Nairobi Peace Initiative, and the Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on Peace. In the United States, his films have screened on various campuses across the country, including Harvard, Yale, the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, Drexel University, Virginia Tech, College of the Holy Cross, University of Missouri (in Columbia), University of Missouri (in Kansas City), University of Maryland, Southern Methodist University, Haverford College, at the opening night of Clark University's Genocide and Psychology Conference and at the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International's Midwest Regional Conference. Both of his films are about the power of, and the need for, forgiveness, and both contain themes that are not just about the African story but the human one. They explore the issue of unresolved psychological trauma which, in his opinion, is not just the greatest malady in Africa but around the world. This is the main point of his presentations, and he leaves the audience with tools that they can employ in order to release the traumas in their lives that are holding them back from living up to their fullest potential.

After more than a decade-long hiatus, Mureithi has also reentered the music world with his 10-song debut album, "This I Believe," a melange of Delta blues, folk, reggae, and hip-hop, with songs that range from hopeful to forlorn to whimsical, all deeply spiritual. Ten songs, written over the past decade, feature Patrick singing and playing acoustic guitar, slide guitar and ukulele.

In this presentation, Mureithi will address his films and music.


Ticket Information
This event is free and open to the public.

Event Sponsor
Dept. of Ethnic Studies, Ethnic Studies Student Association (ESSA), Afrocentric Society of Hawaii (ASH), Office of Student Equity, Excellence & Diversity (SEED), Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-6915

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