Meet Annie Rios | Activist Attorney

We had the good fortune of connecting with Annie Rios and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Annie, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I am from Southeast San Diego– which has greatly impacted my life both professionally and personally. Many people, who are not from Southeast, can view this primary Black and brown, working class neighborhood with a critical eye. They imagine that it is a scary and unsafe place to live. However, for me, the neighborhood is my home. It is where I was born and raised and still live. It is where I have had a community of folks support and stand by me as I went off to college, then law school. And, every time I walk into the courtroom I think of my neighborhood and the struggles that continue to occur there. It reminds me of what I am fighting for everyday with my pursuit of justice and equity.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have melded my passion for art, theatre, and law together to form my own nonprofit: Uprise Theatre. This non profit’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.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In my opinion, one of the most exhilarating, historical, and artistic places to visit is located in Barrio Logan– Chicano Park. I always take my friends who are visiting San Diego to view and muse over the murals located in the Park and share with them the history of a neighborhood reclaiming space and organizing, protesting and fighting for a place to call their own. The nearby shops, restaurants and breweries would be a fantastic place to unwind, hear live music, and soak in the beautiful southern California Chicano culture.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without a doubt, the person who deserves the most credit in my life is my son, Daniel. He has been my biggest inspiration, supporter, cheerleader, you name it– he has been it. He has marched in protests with me, he has watched me perform in theater productions of the Vagina Monologues as we try and eradicate interpersonal violence, and he has interned with me as well, helping teach the community about their legal rights. Many people think of mentors as someone older or with more experience than they have, and while I do have others I look up to in that way, my son is the person who took my hypothetical “lets change the world for our future” and made it very real. I no longer just want to dream up a new world for future generations, I want to find a way to execute my dreams for the future that I literally held in my arms. He is strong, funny, insightful, kind, witty and good and because of that he encourages me to be better. For that I am eternally grateful.

Website: www.uprisetheatre.org

Instagram: uprisetheatre

Twitter: uprisetheatre

Facebook: uprisetheatre

Image Credits
Asian Solidarity Collective