Skip to Content
  • Browse
  • Past Issues
  • Search

Arts and Letters

Wagner History

Wagner News

Inside Sports

Alumni Stories

Obituaries

Alumni Events

From the President

Feature Stories
Winter 2022
Winter 2021
Fall 2021
Summer 2019
Winter 2018–19
Summer 2018
Fall 2017
Summer 2017
Fall 2016
Winter 2015-16
Summer 2015
Fall 2014
Winter 2013-14
Summer 2013
Fall 2012
Summer 2012
Fall 2011
Summer 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010
Fall 2009
Summer 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008

You See Me
…Every Time

SHARE
PRINT
BACK TO TOP
You See Me
…Every Time
Opening Convocation,
a Time-Honored Tradition, Revived
A Kitchen Collaboration

Almost as soon as the performance began, I found myself choking back tears — an unexpected surge of emotion provoked by the powerful images, sounds, faces, and words I was experiencing in a stuffy room at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

It was the annual show put on by the Sound of Port Richmond, a community theater program started in 2013 by Wagner College, Imagining America, and local residents. Only 12 days earlier, this troupe of 15 non-professional actors had started meeting to develop this performance. They did not (yet) have a script, but they did have a mission. “It’s about bringing forward those difficult things that we don’t talk about much,” said Diana G. Daniels, one of the performers and Sound of Port Richmond organizers. “But mostly we want it to be entertaining.”

“It’s about bringing forward those difficult things that we don’t talk about much,” said Diana G. Daniels.

From its inception, the Sound of Port Richmond has been dedicated to promoting conversation about challenging issues via artistic self-expression. In a year fraught with racial tension, set off by incidents such as the death of Eric Garner only half a mile from the ferry terminal, race and class were the obvious topics of conversation for the Sound of Port Richmond. So, on July 17, 2015, a year to the day after Garner’s death, this volunteer crew of white and black and Hispanic, young and old and middle-aged, offered their reflections upon racial dynamics and their hopes for a better day.

The show’s title, Every Time You See Me, borrowed the first words Garner said on the famous video capturing his final moments. “Every time you see me, you want to mess with me,” Garner complained to the police officers who confronted him. The show did not take a point of view on that specific incident, but reflected on the larger resonance of those simple words: the universal human desire to be seen — that is, to be understood, not stereotyped and dismissed.

After many stories and skits — in turns funny and heartbreaking, and always authentic — the show concluded with a powerful ensemble piece. Facing each other in pairs, they first repeated the phrases, “See me,” and “Every time.” Then suddenly, one person grabbed the other in a chokehold-like grasp. After a few long and painful seconds, however, they transformed this violent gesture into a gentle embrace. Together, the cast declared, “I can breathe.”

All of our commencement speakers this year also emphasized that all lives matter, and that appreciating each other allows people to “breathe” — to flourish and thrive. Wagner’s new Citizen Alum video series showcases the work of alumni who live this ideal — people like Nadia Lopez ’99, a school principal in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and many more. I hope you will read and watch these stories, and feel pride in how the Wagner family is helping our human family realize their full potential.

— Laura Barlament, Editor, Wagner Magazine

Summer 2015

  • Port Richmond
SHARE
PRINT

Related Stories

image description

A Thriving Partnership

Aug 05, 2019 The Port Richmond Partnership celebrates its 10th anniversary.
image description

Seahawk Graduates to the Ravens

Jun 18, 2018 NFL’s Baltimore Ravens draft the multi-talented Greg Senat ’17.
image description

A Family Built Around Wagner

Jan 31, 2017 Robert and Marycatherine Farrell met at Wagner in 1957. Their descendants now include nine more alumni.
CLASS NOTES
OBITUARIES
CONTACT US

LATEST NEWS

image description

Pride Collection comes to Horrmann Library

The Horrmann Library is the home of a unique collection of over 2,000 titles on …

image description

Yuliya Johnson: Global Health Guardian

Alumna Yuliya Johnson helps keep her adopted country safe from pandemics, bioterrorism.
by Tim O’Bryhim

image description

Chris Cappelli: Global Health Guardian

If nothing happens, it means alumnus Chris Cappelli has done his job right.
by Tim O’Bryhim

image description

President Araimo makes Staten Island Power 100

City & State N.Y., a magazine dedicated to New York’s local and state politics and …

  • About the Magazine
  • Give to Wagner
  • Wagner Newsroom
  • Wagner Home
FOLLOW US

© 2025 All Rights Reserved