Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Rios.
Hi Annie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am from Southeast San Diego. I always begin all of my interviews like that– regardless of the question– because that particular proclamation is applicable as an answer to almost anything. Whether it be where I came from, where I started, or why I do what I do. I am from a vibrant neglected thorny rose, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My neighborhood of Encanto is where my beautiful single immigrant mother raised me, where she sent me to school and where I graduated. It is what gave me the foundation to succeed at UC Berkeley and the reason why I ultimately returned home, so I could raise my magical son in the same spots that cradled me. I started in Southeast and still remain because as an adult and as an attorney I know that my home needs more than love. It needs equity, justice, and power.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to where I am now has not always been smooth. As mentioned, I grew up as poor working class. When I had my own child, I was a law school student struggling to keep up with affluent classmates that could dedicate endless hours to the library. My struggle as a single poor mom was not the same as others, nor was it easy. Now, as a practicing attorney, the road has not been smooth either. I have been a human rights attorney for the past decade. I have witnessed and experienced trauma; I have held stories that should have broken my heart apart; and I have fought entities as large as the United States government. No, the road hasn’t always been smooth, but it has always been worth it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have melded my passion for art, theatre, and law together to form my own nonprofit: Uprise Theatre. This nonprofit’s mission is to take art and activist lawyering and disrupt systems of oppression and reclaim power with the people. The Vision of Uprise Theatre is that now will be the time in history in which all peoples are treated by the legal system as full human beings with corresponding full human rights. We maintain the Values of Uprise Theatre by being authentic in the way we relate to ourselves and others; we are unapologetic in our desire of liberation for all people; and we are a community-based organization. We do this primarily through art. Uprise believes art can and should be used to promote social justice. The best example of how we use art to promote empowerment is our flagship theatre program: a legal course that teaches topics including domestic violence, immigration, sexual assault, LGBTQ+ rights and hate crimes, 4th and 5th Amendment rights, and gang and conspiracy charges. Participants of the program turned peer-educators re-teach the information they have learned to the community through live performances.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
If you would have asked me this question even a year ago, I believe I would have described success as how many times people mention your name, how many newspaper articles quote you, or even how many legal cases you have won. Now, after experiencing the most challenging year of my life in regards to my mental health, I define success as peace, love, happiness, and completeness.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.uprisetheatre.org
- Instagram: @uprisetheatre
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UpriseTheatre
- Twitter: @uprisetheatre
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbtCODdigpDX8EomdYr_kwA
- Other: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/uprise-theatre
