Waiting to Experience the Tunnel

Tunnel of Oppression, Day 1

The day began with all staff of the “Tunnel of Oppression” running around finishing up last minute tasks and hoping for a successful festival. Douglas’ role was to interview students on their experience and Sheila’s role was to work with GMU’s Multicultural Research and Resource Center staff to welcome participants to the “Area of Hope”.

As students slowly walked into the room, we switched on John Lennon’s famous song, “Imagine”. While participants listened to the soothing music, positive messages appeared on a screen in front of them. They were then asked to get rid of feelings of hate or oppression by writing them down and throwing them away in our “Throw your Hate Away” trash can. If they had positive words to offer and/or their hope for the future, they were asked to write it on our “Wall of Hope”. Then they were asked to be seated for a short debriefing session with professional counselors.

As the day came to a close, almost all volunteers and staff had taken a tour of the tunnel. We shared our personal feelings around the different rooms. Since most of the organizers discuss and confront these issues of oppression frequently, it did not affect us much. On the contrary, it made us realize how much work there needs to be done.

Day 1 was slow, organizers and volunteers did not know what to expect. By the end of the day, we all let out a sigh of relief and prepared ourselves for another full day of discussing issues of oppression as we said our “see you tomorrow”s.

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GMU Multicultural Center Final Prep. Mtg.

"Tunnel of Oppression" Prep. @ GMU

Our partnership with George Mason University comes into play once again. GMU will be hosting the “Tunnel of Oppression” Festival tomorrow and Wednesday for students and faculty members to confront and discuss critical issues around racism and diversity. Specifically, “The Tunnel of Oppression” is an interactive, walk-through museum experience that highlights contemporary oppression. Each room both educates and challenges students to think about how they are oppressed and their roles in each type of oppression.

The annual festival is organized by students and faculty and is hosted on campuses around the country. This year’s event will highlight issues around hurricane Katrina, LGBTQ issues, Palestinian struggle, body image, airport security, amongst others.

Our role in the festival is to support the final room of the tunnel being the “Area of Hope”. The “Area of Hope” is a safe space in which participants will discuss feelings that came up for them when they walked through the tunnel and share with us their hopes and strategies to decrease oppression around them.

Tarik Perkins

Welcome Tarik Perkins!

Recently, Tarik Perkins of Rising Roots International joined our team as a volunteer to conduct free computer trainings with our community. Rising Roots International is dedicated to creating connections between and supporting grassroots movements from communities around the world. With the goal of collaborative analysis for action, they use popular education to build with the experience of the community. In a world where technology can mean exclusion or empowerment, they strive to equalize access to resources that facilitate communication and collective action across and within regions and cultures.

Tarik is currently working on his M.A. in Economics through Georgetown University. On November 2nd, Tarik and Sheila did outreach in our new base of Trinidad/Ivy City promoting “Free Computer Trainings” as a part of Worldyouth Media. Today, two siblings attended the first class. They are full of energy and seemed very excited about the computer trainings and upcoming media trainings they will receive immediately thereafter.

Computer Trainings will happen through December. In January, we will evaluate the program

The trainings are held every Wednesday, 6pm – 8pm @ YLSN office, 1119 Montello Ave. NE (Back Alley Entrance). To attend “Free Computer Trainings”, Please call (202) 215-3817.

For more information on Rising Roots International, please visit www.risingroots.org.

Discussion on Hate Crimes GMU to Russia

Russian Delegates @ George Mason University

YLSN Hate Groups Briefing Local 2 International

On Tuesday, October 25, YLSN and George Mason University Multi-Cultural Research and Resource Center provided a briefing on hate crimes, organzing and conflict reduction/resolution programs for GMU campus programs and a visiting delegation of eight Russian judges, prosecutors, police officials and NGO reps who were in Washington on a US State Department professional visitor program on preventing, investigating and prosecuting hate crimes. YLSN, through it’s SHINE Program, follows hate crimes and organizing in the region and internationally. The situation is Russia is very dire and this was a great opportunity to speak to decision-makers on how to define and approach their work. The following is an article from GMU’s Broadside Newspaper followed by related resource links.

The Broadside 10/31/05
Russian Researchers Visit Fairfax Campus to Research Hate Crimes
By Amy Hamilton
Broadside News Editor

A number of Russian representatives visited George Mason University on Tuesday as part of their research on how countries other than their own deal with hate crimes.
Doug Calvin, the founding director of the Youth Leadership Support Network, attended the discussion, and said “this group of Russians…is dealing with a very serious problem of hate crimes and … are here to seek ideas and resources from programs in the States that have experience with effectively addressing [the formation of hate crimes], from prevention to prosecution.”

Mason was asked to host the event by the National Coalition Building Institute, located at the Multicultural Research and Resource Center, according to the Center’s assistant director, Barbara Davis. Associate Dean of University Life, Kathryn Trump, said that “this was a State Department event,” and Mason was likely chosen as host because of its proximity to D.C., as well as its reputation as a diverse university. A document released by the International Visitor Leadership Program says that, among other things, the visitors wish to “explore the role of federal/regional authorities in addressing the issue of tolerance and how authorities raise public awareness of the issue.”

The 2005 Annual Security Report (available through www.gmu.edu/police) released by University Police reported no hate crimes in 2004 and one in 2003. Davis shared some of Mason’s attempts at solving the problem of hate crime at the discussion and “how we go into classrooms to talk about stereotypes,” she said. According to their website, the MRRC offers a number of diversity workshops, including one on prejudice reduction and one on conflict resolution. For more information on the MRRC, visit their website at www.gmu.edu/student/mrrc or call the center at 703-993-4003.

Resources for futher investigation:
** This is a good piece about the neo-nazi riot in Ohio recently. It includes many links included for further reading. See David Neiwert's "Toledo: The other side"
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2005/10/toledo-other-side.html

** Russian gang kills Peru student **
One foreign student is killed and two others injured in central Russia, amid an unprecedented wave of xenophobia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4327634.stm

** For more info on similar stories throughout Europe, visit www.searchlightmagazine.com Steve Silver, the editor, did a workshop for GMU students ten years ago or so.

**In 2002 YLSN produced a report on hate organizing in the area, including select national and international events at the end of the report. We hope to produce updated one in the near future.
http://www.worldyouth.org/programs/shine_incidents.htm

Tariq Khan Speaks

George Mason Students Support Tariq

GMU Student Arrested for Speaking his Mind

On September 29th, just five days after the anti-war march in DC, Tariq Khan, a student from George Mason University was brutalized, arrested, and taken to Fairfax Country Jail for passing out anti-military-recruitment flyers on his campus. Four days later on October 3rd, GMU held a rally in support of Tariq Khan to drop all charges made against him. YLSN staff and members attended the rally. It was a huge turn out. About 200 students, youth, and community members attended. Tariq spoke of his experience, the importance of informing young people of the reality about joining the military, and that youth and students should not be treated as “terrorists” when they are speaking their mind.

YLSN youth organizer, Sheila Mirza spoke of her experience with police and airport security always stopping her for “random checking”. She performed her well known poem, “Terrorist”. Meanwhile, campus security stood on a rooftop across from the clock-tower, where the rally was held, to video tape the entire event.

Anti-War March, September 24th

September 24th anti war march in DC was an amazing gathering. YLSN staff and volunteers worked hard to organize a peace parade leading from Mt. Pleasant to Adams Morgan to Dupont Circle and then joining the larger march. We made over a hundred arm bands, wrist bands and sashes to pass out and lead the larger march with our banners and music.

Our mission for the day was to build awareness around and collect donations for our newest initiative, NOLAMAYA (New Orleans Louisiana Musicians Artists Youth AID). The focus of NOLAMAYA is to organize New Orleans artists now relocated in DC and provide them with instruments, housing, donations, and gigs. We raised over $200 in donations. We also ran into our supporters from all over the country. One of which being Ursula, a 16 year old youth organizer from Milwaukee.

Ursula and YLSN

In the September 24th anti-war march, we were reunited with Ursula whom we met at the Great Labor Arts Exchange in 2004. She attended again in June 2005 and informed us of her activities since 2004. She began organizing her peers in Milwaukee to speak out against the war and other community issues.

She traveled from Milwaukee with her youth contingent to speak out against the war. At the Arts Exchange earlier this year, Ursula and YLSN staff facilitated a Youth and Labor workshop and initiated the Youth and Labor Culture Fund which will incorporate more youth from around the country in GLAE next year and years to come.

Youth Leadership Support Network is spearheading this project to increase awareness about the labor movement to young people and bring more DC youth to the arts exchange.

For more information on attending the Great Labor Arts Exchange in June of 2006 or information about Youth and Labor Culture Fund, contact Sheila Mirza at 202-215-3817 or dcfresh@gmail.com

YLSN Moves to North-East, DC

In Early September, YLSN moved from St. Stephen’s Church in Northwest, DC to Trinidad/Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast, DC. We are treating this new, smaller office, as a community art and media space. With help from our newest volunteer, Tarik Perkins, co-founder of Rising Roots International (www.risingroots.org) media project in Kingston, Jamaica, we have set up a small computer lab. In November, we will begin training community members basic computer skills including web design, internet research, excel, powerpoint, and other programs.

In addition, we have begun painting banners and teaching young people visual arts skills. This new space also houses our DC Youth Activism Archives with information of youth movement history including Paul Robeson, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and student/campus organizing in the 80s and 90s around anti-apartheid and war on El Salvador.
We will begin poetry and theatre workshops in the upcoming months. For more information on these projects, volunteer opportunities, or developing collaborations, please contact Sheila Mirza at 202-215-3817 or dcfresh@gmail.com