Vanessa Roberts, MA
Humor - Education - Performance - Dialogue
In the News
'Afropuff Lederhosen' explores race in context of Germany
February 13, 2018
This article describes an interactive workshop version of "AfroPuff Lederhosen: Experience the Difference Humor Makes" presented at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The event kicked off a series commemorating the 100th anniversary of when Lucile Berkeley Buchanan became the first African-American woman to graduate from CU-Boulder.
Vanessa Roberts, age 8, Germany "Student Voices at CU: What Racial and Ethnic Inclusion Means for Our Campus"
Spring 2016
The two links below provide details of an event Vanessa Roberts helped to plan, organize, and emceed:
http://www.colorado.edu/news/features/students-faculty-staff-tackle-what-it-means-be-inclusive
Hands Up, Don’t Shoot: The high stakes of modern day activism for youth of color by Candi CdeBaca and Vanessa Roberts
November 14, 2016
In collaboration with a community partner, executive director of Project VOYCE, this blog post encourages a new look at activism. Read more here"YOUTH DO NOT LIVE IN A VACUUM. THEIR DAILY LIVES TAKE PLACE IN A MATRIX OF OPPOSITIONAL IDEOLOGIES, EDUCATIONAL MODELS, AND ACTS OF RESISTANCE."
October 7, 2009
This article ran the day following the "Vanessa Roberts, Visiting Scholar/Artist of Color Presentation Series" at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Due to some issues with the link, please find a copy of the article below:
'Afropuff Lederhosen' speaker mixes stereotypes with humor
By KJ LANG klang@lacrossetribune.com | Posted: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 12:15 am
Actress Vanessa Roberts gave her audience a good laugh Tuesday night - and an invitation to re-think how they view race.
The 24-year-old Roberts of Brooklyn, N.Y., showed real photos of herself living in Germany from ages 4 to 8 during her one-woman show, "Afropuff Lederhosen: What happens if you take a black baby and raise it to be German" at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
She performed as Dr. Klaudia Von Rassenberg, decked out in in a bleach-blonde wig. Von Rassenberg pointed to the photos - including one of a 7-year-old Roberts with a 2-inch afro and lederhosen, a traditional German pair of leather overall shorts - and admitted being baffled by "the contradiction."
Another photo showed Roberts with her mother, partaking in the "German tradition of hiking in the forest."
"Please note the subject's scowl ... it is clear that her blackness will not permit her to fully appropriate this German custom," said Von Rassenberg.
The character's over-the-top view that race programs people to act in certain ways allowed Roberts to break down racial stereotypes.
"I view stereotypes as the fast food of cultural exchange,"
See Roberts, B2
Roberts said in an interview. "Stereotypes are cheap, easily accessible but not very sustaining."
UW-L sophomore Peter Moua said he's Hmong, but people sometimes ask if he is Chinese. He said Roberts' presentation was a good way to educate people about race.
"It was creative how she discussed a heavy topic of race through comedy and performance, and was able to convey ideas in a way that was not too preachy," said Mahruq Khan, professor in women's gender and sexuality studies at UW-L.
Roberts said the humor helps her connect with the audience.
"I feel that a lot of diversity work and workshops that I've taken part in were often detached or somewhat clinical or somewhat preachy," she said. "I'm trying to re-infuse humanity into this work, using humor and personal stories."
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/article_34ded130-b2f3-11de-854a-001cc4c03286.htmlThis article ran in the local newspaper based on one of several interviews I gave as co-chair of Black Student Union. The interviews were prompted by an intense incident which place at Colorado College involving involving four members of the hockey team who painted their faces black while portraying the cast of "Family Matters" at a team-bonding golf game. Instead of responding in an angry manner, I calmly sought to find the cause behind the behavior and focused on the ways in which the campus could move forward, together, and learn from the circumstances which allowed such an offensive act to take place at all within our community.