Lucia Durá speaks about nurturing habits of the eye to see the beauty of the pigeon. (Moushumi Biswas/Social Justice Initiative)

Just Story Hour features creative deviance

Just change: media, stories, and actions

By Moushumi Biswas

EL PASO – It was a celebration of innovative minds at Just Story Hour at the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, UTEP, on October 15. The theme for the bright and sunny early fall afternoon was “thinking to make a difference.” It was the signature bi-annual event of the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), which is housed in UTEP’s Department of Communication, held in conjunction with the YWCA’s Week without Violence and the Rubin Center’s exhibit, Shifting Sands: Recent Videos from the Middle East. The SJI’s motto is “cultivating the habits of the heart” instead of the “habits of the mind” to break the status quo in conversations and actions about issues of justice, equity and peace. In accordance with its motto, the SJI invited guests who have created new approaches to tackle existing challenges. For instance, there was “mathemusician” Larry Lesser who composed songs to increase awareness and motivation in mathematics.