By: Kyla Wetmore
Ruthie Roque, a junior business administration major, sat in front of dozens of Polaroid images featuring participants in this year’s Latin American Cultural (LAC) Night, which will begin Saturday at 9 p.m. in Iles Physical Education Center.
As director and sole scriptwriter for LAC Night, Roque flipped through the pictures as she spoke about how the importance of memories played a significant role in the creation and theme of the event.
“The purpose of these photos is actually tied to the message,” Roque explained during a recent interview. “When I was making the story, I knew that I wanted to incorporate memories and the power of photos—and what that means for us as people who so often forget until we see a picture.”
For inspiration, Roque pulled from her personal history as the daughter of Cuban immigrants. She shared that the story of how her mother, Barbara Roque, immigrated to the United States impacted her deeply while growing up.
As a young Cuban woman in 1995, Barbara had heard about the opportunity to immigrate to America while working at a government facility called La Casa de Cultura, or “The House of Culture,” according to her daughter. At the time, the Clinton administration was offering only a few thousand visas to Cuban citizens, and Barbara Roque immediately knew she wanted to apply.
“I didn’t want to live there without freedom of expression and with so many shortages that not even money could fix,” she stated in an email to the Accent that was translated from Spanish to English.
Because applicants submitted their paperwork at La Casa de Cultura, Barbara Roque as an employee could have been fired or banned from ever securing a visa if she had applied there for her papers. So, according to Roque, her mother had to drive to another town to apply.
Eventually, Barbara received a letter, and the first thing she saw was a stamp with the American flag. Roque remembers her mother telling her the piece of postage was the first thing she owned with the U.S. flag on it.
She tearfully described her mother’s reaction to the letter.
“She said she shook; she fainted,” Roque said. “She didn’t believe what it was. She didn’t believe she deserved it or that she would have the chance.”
While Barbara described the opportunity to come to America as a “miracle,” Roque reflected on the many sacrifices her mother made to be here.
“She came alone. She had no idea how to speak English. That alone is super scary,” she said. “It’s an uncomfortable feeling to be somewhere new and to have to get used to a new culture that almost doesn’t even want you there, you know. So that is the sacrifice. It’s the loss.”
After immigrating to the United States, Barbara Roque settled in Miami and began working at a manufacturing factory. She began dating the owner, Moises Roque, and they married in 1998. Six years later, Roque was born, and she remains the couple’s only child.
While raising her daughter, Barbara answered many questions Roque asked about why she left Cuba.
“She has always been impressed by my decision not to have children in Cuba, so they wouldn’t suffer what I suffered,” Barbara explained in her email.
Roque recalled that growing up, her mother was never upset or sad when recalling her experiences.
“She was happy because at the end of the day, this was the destination,” Roque said. “I was the dream that she achieved.”
According to Roque, the recognition of past generations’ sacrifices helped inspire the message behind LAC Night. She said the messaging at previous events focused on self-identity, but this year, she wants to bring a new conversation to LAC Night.
“To me, this is a love letter to the generations before us, saying, ‘Thank you for doing something that would have never crossed my mind,’” she explained.
That message is very personal to Roque, and she wants it to be meaningful to everyone involved. One way she worked to achieve this was by not naming the characters as she wrote the script.
“When I was choosing the actors, I told them, ‘Pick a name [of someone] in your family that you want to pay tribute to, and that will be your name that you will have in the story,” Roque said. “It’s been really hard for them, because I am putting them in that position [of] like, ‘This is a tribute to Lucio, or this is a tribute to Isabel. What do you want to say to Isabel?’”
Heidy Medina, a sophomore nursing major, is acting as a main character for LAC Night and named her character after her mother.
“It kind of just shows the characters and embodies like this really strong, determined woman,” she said. “I feel like what my mom has shown me has directed me to be [who I am] my whole life—to be someone strong [and] determined—and she has also encouraged me a lot to do things for myself, no matter how, no matter the circumstances or what anybody else might feel.”
Medina said she has enjoyed working with Roque because of how she cares about actors personally, the time and effort she has put into the night and the creative direction she advocates for.
“She has a very creative mind,” Medina explained. “Like, it’s crazy how she was able to put stories together.”
Roque’s best friend, Macana Suvichai, remembers going on a drive with Roque the day that Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter, released his album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, or “I Should Have Taken More Photos” in English. While they drove, Roque shared all of her ideas for LAC Night before she reached out to the club’s officers.
“She had a really beautiful story,” Suvichai said. “Now I’m getting to see her be crazy busy, and she’s been doing things like filming and some things that I would never think that she would have done, but it’s been really cool to see it all [take shape].”
Paola Vasquez has been friends with Roque since they were freshmen at North Dallas Adventist Academy, where Roque served as Student Association president their senior year. She believes Roque will be successful as LAC director because of her ability to see the best in people, to effectively communicate with others and to have a clear vision and goals.
LAC Acting Assistant Manager Lauren Mason said Roque has a strong vision and knows exactly what she wants. Mason encourages everyone to attend LAC this weekend.
“I would just say 100% you don’t want to miss it,” she said. “The script is amazing.”
