The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras - Day Labor Theater without Borders, TJSF

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Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras (Day Labor Theater without Borders, TJSF)  is a Los Angeles (LA), California (CA), United States (US)-based ensemble theatre group made up of day labourers. Its mission is to improve the lives of day labourers everywhere through the creation of plays by and for the day labour community, over 25,000 strong in the LA area. "Responding to an often degrading and hostile work environment and an increasingly anti-immigrant climate nationally, the troupe uses theatre, music, and dialogue to educate immigrant workers about their rights; inspire day laborers to use theatre as a tool for change-making; empower the community by reflecting their stories in their own voices; and humanise the immigration debate for the community at large.

TJSF "believe[s] society can flourish when its members know and respect one another."

Communication Strategies

Since the Fall of 2008, the 10-member troupe has been developing plays examining social justice issues such as: examining worker and immigrant rights; building healthy families and workplaces; and exploring the creation of transnational cultures. TJSF performs its plays at sites where day labourers gather, mainly the 14 day labour centres supported by the city of LA.

 

For example, "Dreams Without Borders" (see video, below), with a duration of 1 hour and 45 minutes, communicates immigrants' stories, their realities. It was presented in May 2014, during 6 performances for general audiences, with an average attendance of 60 people per night. About the play: "At the Lancaster Detention Center, immigrants are held as they await word on their fate in the United States. Over a 24-hour period, marked by a clock that counts down the hours and a sporadic call of a disembodied voice, the characters recall their journeys across the border and the events that unfolded as they started a new life away from their homeland."

 

Strategies for expanding its reach include:

  • Exchange: TJSF and Santa Rosa, CA, US group The Imaginists were awarded a grant from the Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET) to engage in a week-long exchange in June 2013.
  • Participation: The Alternate Roots Artists Retreat and Annual Meeting is a gathering for those working in the field of community-based art-making, an annual event for many theatre practitioners.
  • Voice: As part of the Democracia project, from a year-long project, TJSF asked the day labour community to share their diverse viewpoints on democracy and participation in US society. "What does democracy mean? What did you think about democracy before coming to the US - and what do you think now? How are immigrants viewed in our democracy and what is the role of immigrants in a democracy?" The thoughts day labourers shared can be heard in interviews on the TJSF website. TJSF wrote and toured a play, Todos Queremos Vivir en Democracia/Everyone Wants To Live in A Democracy, which takes viewers into day labourers’ daily experiences with the democratic process and the court system.
Development Issues

Rights, Mobile Populations, Democracy and Governance

Key Points

During 2013, TJSF expanded its work to both Northern California and El Salvador.

Partners

Cornerstone Theater Company

Sources

Email from National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) to The Communication Initiative on December 16 2013; the TSJF website, January 20 2014 and October 3 2014; and emails from Lorena Moran to The Communication Initiative on October 3 2014 and October 6 2014.