Friday, April 29, 2022
5:00 p.m. CST
Macbride Auditorium (room 201), Macbride Hall
The Anne Frank Sapling was planted on Arbor Day 2022 (April 29) on the University of Iowa Pentacrest. Talks, spoken-word performances, and live music preceded the planting.
Watch the ceremony:
Lyrics:
May my tears water a sapling
May my life support its growth
May I walk with care and healing
For new life upon the earth
May our breath move with the Spirit
Flowing free around the earth
May we listen to the sunshine
And feel the moon reflect our worth.
The following events are free and open to all.
Immediately following the ceremony — Community Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz and Josh Hare, Iowa Hillel, Phillips Hall auditorium (Room #100)
6:30–9:00 p.m. — Let Me Be Myself exhibit, Phillips Hall (main floor, Center for Language & Culture Learning). The exhibit will be on display in Phillips Hall from April 25–30, 2022.
7:30-8:30 p.m. — Young Writers Respond, Phillips Hall Auditorium. The Iowa Youth Writing Project, IC Speaks, and the UI Center for Human Rights asked students to respond to the legacy of Anne Frank, reflecting on her experience as a hidden person and her message about social justice. In this event, writers from junior high through undergraduate will share their entries. You’ll hear from local voices, as well as video addresses from young people around the world who participated in these calls.
Please consider your transportation well ahead of time!
If you arrive by car, we recommend parking in one of these ramps near Macbride Hall:
To find the best bus service and route for you, visit the Iowa City Area Transit Services website. When you arrive on campus, get off at any Pentacrest stop.
There are many bike racks near the Pentacrest buildings.
Led by UI faculty member Mary Cohen, the Oakdale Community Choir provides choral singing experiences for men (“inside singers”) in the general population of the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (Oakdale Prison) who are not restricted to their units and for women and men (“outside singers”) in the community who have an interest in learning more about issues in the prison system. The outside singers will perform a song written by Cohen, “May My Tears Water a Sapling” and invite the audience to join them.
Mary Cohen is an Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Iowa. In 2009, she founded the Oakdale Prison Community Choir. Her research centers on music education as a tool for abolishing the prison industrial complex.
An MFA candidate at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Emma Silverman will perform a monologue from her upcoming UI New Play Festival work Stars and Stones. The work focuses on a young Jewish woman reckoning with the ghosts of her past and the apparitions of the present during and after a research trip to Poland. As she is launched back and forth through history, she is forced to consider the nature of her project while a scattering of strangers embark on their own moralistic journeys.
Amal Kassir grew up with a white Iowa-born mother and an Arab father, giving her a unique cultural experience that allows her to empathize with those struggling to balance their religious identity with their American one. A spoken-word artist, Kassir has performed in a dozen countries and over 50 cities, presenting in prisons, refugee camps, art fests, and colleges. With a strong belief in the power of storytelling to bring people together and help heal personal wounds and communal rifts, Amal is honored to participate in this event and help carry Anne Frank’s legacy into the current moment.
Jhe Russell holds an MFA in dance from the University of Iowa. He is a choreographer, teacher, and poet.