Herrera Dance Project is adding another entry into its Echoes of Justice series, this one focused on struggles within immigrant communities.
Audiences can attend showings of “Echoes of Justice: Borders Within: The Silent Cry of a Dreamer” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 29 and Friday, July 31 at the Latino Cultural Center on Live Oak Street.
“This powerful performance delves into the life and tragic death of Joaquin Luna Jr., an undocumented youth whose suicide in 2011 serves as a heart-wrenching symbol of the struggles faced by immigrant communities,” reads a message in the invitation for the event, received by the Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate.
Luna was 18 years old when he killed himself as a high school senior in a town near the Texas-Mexico border, according to an article from The Guardian. He had good grades and a talent for operating computer graphics. But he was born on the other side of the border in Mexico, arriving in Texas as a 6-month-old, and didn’t have legal status in the U.S. Because of this, he was worried about his future, especially the ability to acquire a good job without a social security number.
The national Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act may have helped Luna and others like him as it, broadly speaking, would have offered a pipeline to legal status for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. There have been at least 20 versions of this bill introduced to Congress over the past 20 years, but they failed, despite having bipartisan support, according to the American Immigration Council.
“To date, the 2010 bill came closest to full passage when it passed the House but fell just five votes short of the 60 needed to proceed in the Senate,” according to a 2024 article on the council’s website.
Luna was reportedly depressed by this news, according to The Guardian article. Feeling like he was being blocked from achieving his dreams motivated him to end his life.
(There was also the Texas Dream Act that allowed students without documentation who live in Texas, graduated from high schools/earned an equivalent diploma in Texas and planned to seek permanent residency to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The 2001 law ended when U.S. Department of Justice attorneys sued Texas over it last year, per The Texas Tribune.)
Luna’s story isn’t the only one featured in “Echoes of Justice: Borders Within: The Silent Cry of a Dreamer.” The production is also slated to reference the suicides of Jocelynn Rojo Carranza, an 11-year-old in Gainesville, and Gabriela Aparicio Ortega, a 13-year-old in North Carolina. Both girls died last year, and both were reportedly bullied, with immigration status being explicitly at the heart of taunts from Jocelynn’s classmates.
Herrera Dance Project’s production is expected to combine choreography, spoken words and multimedia to confront systemic barriers and mental health stigma as well as plead for compassion.
“‘Echoes of Justice’ invites audiences to reflect on these critical issues, fostering a deeper understanding of the resilience and emotional pain within the immigrant experience,” according to the invitation. “By merging art with advocacy, this production aims to honor those lost and inspire collective action towards a more just and empathetic society.”
Herrera Dance Project Dancers rehearse to perform “Echoes of Justice: Unanswered for 77” at the Latino Cultural Center. Photography by Judianne Frampton.
Herrera Dance Project, run by Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alumni Madison Frampton-Herrera and Favian Herrera Jr., has tackled heavy subjects before. Echoes of Justice has also covered the death of 12-year-old Santos Rodríguez, who was murdered by Dallas police officer Darrell Cain in 1973, and the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
“Our organization went on the journey of exploring topics of social injustice as a way to cultivate conversations on these hard-pressed subjects that many of us avoid having,” Favian said in a previous Advocate article. “In the times we live today, it’s not a matter of if things happen; it’s a matter of when it happens.”
The performances on Wednesday and Friday are free, and you can reserve your spot here. Herrera Dance Project also accepts donations, which allow the nonprofit to continue producing shows at no charge at audience members.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or have thoughts of suicide, you can reach a skilled and judgement-free counselor through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available all day, every day. This service is free and confidential.
