Volunteers : Latina Playwright Targets Racism

Margie de la Torre Aguirre is an artist with a mission: promoting understanding and denouncing racism. “As a Latina, I’ve experienced discrimination in many ways,” said the 42-year-old playwright, songwriter and poet. “It’s everywhere, and it hurts.” Aguirre, who writes much of her work for charities, will present her latest play, “The Sun Worshiper,” at a benefit this weekend for Latino students who want to become lawyers.

The play, which took seven years to complete, is about a white man who journeys to Mexico, where he learns tolerance for people of color and those with physical disabilities.

“This is a redemption play,” Aguirre said. “My intent is to address the psychological pain caused by racist attitudes and remarks, and to show the value of differences.”

Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor Vivian Blevins, also a playwright, describes the drama as inspiring and Aguirre as “a balanced woman who really understands essential values and what’s important.”

Aguirre, she said, is “so empowering as she spends her life fighting for human rights in everything she does.”

Drama is not Aguirre’s only area of expression. A longtime volunteer for several human rights organizations, the Yorba Linda resident also writes essays and poems that espouse compassion and understanding.

Born in Mexico but a U.S. resident since early childhood, Aguirre said she sometimes feels like “a Don Quixote fighting the windmills of racism. But it’s a worthy quest.”

“The Sun Worshiper” will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday at St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School and Theater, 16791 E. Main St., Tustin. Tickets are $10, with proceeds going to the Wally Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund. Information: (714) 773-0992.