Bay Area Arts Production Hits Home for Ethnic Studies Professor

Jason Magabo Perez, a Cal State San Marcos associate professor of ethnic studies, served on the creative production team as poet and scholar for “Burden of Proof,” a multimedia dance-theater production recently presented by Kularts, a Filipino arts studio in San Francisco.

The production, which was directed by “Manai” Alleluia Panis, featured six performances between April 17 and April 26.

“Burden of Proof” is inspired by the true story of Perez’s mother, Leonora, who – along with a second Filipina nurse named Filipina Narciso – was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for the 1975 deaths of patients at a Veterans Administration hospital in Michigan. A judge later ordered their release due to the prosecutor’s “overwhelming prejudice.”

According to the website, the production “delves into the generational trauma inflicted by the American justice system and how traumatic experiences blur the line between memory and nightmare, told through the lens of the fictional Calinao immigrant family.”

The original score includes text drawn from the diary of Leonora Perez and the writings of Jason.

Perez has been on the faculty at CSUSM since 2019. In 2023-24, he served a two-year appointment as the poet laureate for the City of San Diego.  

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