THINKING FOR OURSELVES

We have come to connect

By Shea Howell

Michigan Citizen, June 29-July 5, 2008

During the primary campaign we heard a lot about “change comes from the bottom up.” Rarely do we get to see this kind of change actually happening. But last weekend at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit, I saw the world shift toward a much more hopeful direction.

In the midst of phenomenal energy, imagination and joy in the possibilities of what young media makers are bringing to the world, I sat in a room at Wayne State University’s McGregor Memorial Conference Center and witnessed a live video conference between Palestinian youth and media activists from Detroit and Brooklyn. The young people were sharing media they had engaged with in parallel workshops in Palestine and at the AMC. Both workshops had introduced ideas like digital stories, music videos and murals.

We watched a group of about 30 young people in Palestine on a large screen at the front of the room. Sometimes the image would jump, fade, or break up into small distorted boxes, but the thrill of connection was strong and clear.

A young woman from Detroit leaned forward into a microphone to talk about her life here. She said she came from what people would call a poor neighborhood, with gang violence, but that she was most worried about the schools and the money being taken away from them. She said that the budget cuts meant no books, fewer teachers, and many more kids on the street. She wanted the young people in Palestine to know that, because of what is happening here in Detroit, she could understand some of what they were going through.

A young man from Brooklyn followed, saying he had learned about how rough they had it compared to our struggles here, but he wanted them to know “we have walls here too, walls that cut us off physically and mentally.” As a sign of support, he offered a rap about the parallel struggles. He said, “Now it’s time for you and me, Palestine and Brooklyn, to be free.” Talking about the brutality of the police, he concluded, “All we get is disrespect from those who are supposed to protect, so we have come to connect.”

When he finished there were a few seconds as everyone waited for his words to catch up to his image going halfway around the world. Then the room of Palestinian youth broke into applause, acknowledging his gift.

A young woman from the room in Palestine talked about her life in a refugee camp. She said she “doesn’t belong anywhere. Everything you want you have to fight for. Living in a camp is worse than anything. There is no funding for schools or hospitals. You have to build your life every day on your own.”

She concluded, “What hurts most is when people talk about us as violent, as terrorists. It’s hard to know that people outside see us this way.”

A second young woman told of her father being held in an Israeli prison for the last five years. One day her family got a phone call that her father was going to be released, only to receive a second call, saying it was a mistake. This experience of expectations raised and smashed led to the rap song that she shared. She said, “I have a dream on a dream with another dream, that one day we will meet, but not through the telephone.”

As the young people in Palestine played and sang, I thought that one day these young people will weave a peace out of their shared hopes for themselves and our world.

You can see and hear their stories yourself by going to