On July 25, the Illuminated team concluded its national, multi-city portion of our programming. Our students submitted their best photographs and some of them created captions. These photographs are a reflection of many, but not all, of the workshops and trips we took within each city. Reflections and reports from our travels will continue to be posted on our blog. While our LaunchGood fundraising campaign has ended, you can still continue to support our work here.
GENTRIFICATION IN WASHINGTON D.C.
Special Thanks to: Marzena Zukowska and all our hosts at the Lamont Street Collective
1. Story: At the beginning, we didn’t think we were going to make it up these escalators in DC. But, then we reached the top, just like we completed our trip, and we couldn’t believe we did it!
2. During our visit to Anacostia, we were welcomed by Brother Amir Muhammad at the Islamic Heritage Museum, who explained the history of Islam in America in detail and gave our team much to reflect upon.
Special Thanks to: Iman Kandil and Brother Amir Muhammad
3. While Marzena and Zehra were at the radio show, the rest of the team explored the DC area near the White House.
Special Thanks to: Sabiyha Prince, Nicole Cutts, and Sheila Reid
4. Screening of Chocolate City + Discussion by cultural anthropologist Sabiyha Prince
5. The team at Ashoka Changemakers provided the Illuminated team with a series of workshops that were a great introduction to social innovation plans.
Special Thanks: Marzena Zukowska, Tsega Tadesse
BUS-RIDE FROM D.C. TO DETROIT
1. Story: Night fell as we headed to Detroit, and the moon inspired me to stay illuminated as we continued on our 15+ hour uncomfortable bus ride.
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SEGREGATION IN METRO-DETROIT
Special Thanks to our Host-Family: Tasneem Taj Raza, Alina Raza, Yaseen Raza, Salman Raza, Ali Imam, Gohar Taj
1. Story: As we walked through the suburbs, we found no excitement at all, until we looked up and saw the sun setting.
2. Story: Does a temple really need to be this high end? Will God come if the place was a tiny four-wall-room? This is the main place of prayer in the temple, where bar mitzvahs take place.
3. The city of Detroit is currently experiencing water shut-offs and its residents did an emergency protest to show solidarity with those in Gaza and elsewhere experiencing human rights violations.
4. Story: Plastered all throughout Heidelberg Street, clocks remind us that we are all time here spent on earth and that our hands should keep moving until our time is up because, when our hands are moving, we are doing and heroes do.
5. Story: A lot of empty houses run along Michigan, and I don’t understand why. What happened to these people? What happened to their houses?
6. Each night, the Illuminated team did its daily debrief which, among other things, consisted of keeping a journal about five things we appreciated that day because gratitude is linked to happiness and success.
REVERSE MIGRATION IN CHICAGO
Special Thanks to our Host-Families: Baljinder Singh Bathla, Sagina Hanjrah, Sharan Kaur Singh and family, and Amrit Kaur
1. Story: Sleeping below these images for three nights made me wonder why humans give their unwanted food to animals if they don’t even want it.
2. Story: Illumination by SWOPing our VOYCE‘s
3. Story: Chicago’s downtown area is so nice, but those from other parts of the city do not always get to enjoy this beauty. This makes me wonder if the only reason it’s this nice is because those other people aren’t there.
4. Sharan Kaur Singh, the host-mom from our suburban host family graciously arranged a visit to the gurdwara, a Sikh Temple, for our team. Our teacher was Simerneet Singh who explained many concepts in Sikhism.
Special Thanks to: Amrit Kaur, Sharan Kaur Singh, Simerneet Singh
5. We were able to have a discussion about reverse migration and what community revival means with LeAlan Jones, author of Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago, who was 13 years old when he began reporting about his community, the Ida B. Wells Projects. Both photographs, old and current, below were taken around the area where the Ida B. Wells Projects existed before they were demolished.
Special Thanks to: LeAlan Jones, Hana Worku, Marzena Zukowska
UPON ARRIVAL: AIRPORT + UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MIGRATION + ERIC GARNER’S FUNERAL SERVICES
1. Illuminated Youth-Fellows had been invited to be judges at the United Nations Organization of Migration‘s Pre-Screening of PLURAL + Youth Video Festival. With most of us on one hour of sleep, the team had a pretty hard time. But, we made it through!
Special Thanks to: Syed Mehmood Kazmi and Jordi Torrent
2. The Illuminated team attended funeral services for Eric Garner to show solidarity.
FINAL SUMMER 2014 EVENT IN NEW YORK CITY
1. Our evening began with the Illuminated team describing their summer and answering questions that the audience had such as, “What were some of your most challenging and most exciting moments?” and “What is your understanding of heroism after this program?”
Special Thanks to: Sharmin Hossain at Ya-Ya Network and Catalina Spinel
2. In collaboration with Catalina Spinel, we screened 5 Broken Cameras.
3. We used the space at the Ya-Ya Network, a youth political education program.
4. We had two birthdays during our travels that we did not get a chance to celebrate. So, some team members decided to surprise us all!
5. In the words of Youth-Fellow Anthony Ramos, “We have made history. We are the first group who has made it through the local, national, and global Illuminated program this summer!”
