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Page 4 NCBI Newsletter “Which Way is Home?” - NCBI In High schools “The arts combined with NCBI principles and practices created a powerful alchemy for healing and change.” Ensemble cast of the Social Justice Theater Program. “Pain that is not transformed is transmitted. Story telling Once in a while a perfect storm of courage, voices, collaboration, and love comes together and a miracle happens. In the 2015 – 2016 school year at Albany High School, Albany, NY the Capital District Chapter of NCBI was asked to build bridges and to reduce tensions between immigrant/ refugee and African American student groups. NCBI focus groups and coalition building workshops were held. Where the magic happened was when we brought the speak out stories into an after school Social Justice Theatre Program to form the basis for a student written production. As each participant told the story of their journey to find a place in Albany, NY a common thread of alienation and prejudice that both groups had experienced in their search for a place of home, a place of belonging came through. "The project helps people find a place of home in themselves and you learn from it and then you get to share it with the high. But you will hear this beautiful black girl’s voice because I matter.” -Camille, 10th grade participant The students became characters in each other’s story and in some cases they even took the lead in another person’s story. Slowly, steadily, they literally walked in each other’s shoes. Strong bonds of friendship and family were formed. The play began with this narrative: “Pain that is not transformed is transmitted. Story telling transforms our pain and your pain. Here in this room, tonight, there is no difference between those telling the story and those listening. Our stories are yours as well. Tonight we are one. “ “Stand up if your place of birth archive/2016/12/11/which-way-ishome. This coming school year, the students who were in the play will become a Bridge Builder Team of Artist Activists and with training from the NCBI Chapter they will bring their filmed stories into classrooms and lead discussions. They will continue to meet after school to prepare and to create a safe haven for other students to come to share their stories. An audio and video library of student’s stories is being established. The students voices sang out like trumpets, they turned their swords into ploughshares. The arts combined with NCBI principles and practices created a powerful alchemy for healing and change. Through acting in each other’s stories, the students learned to understand each other’s pain and journey. Each day in rehearsal they lived being allies for each other. As audience, we became witness and participants in their effort to build bridges. Their lives were changed and so were ours. transforms our pain and world.” is outside the United States …” The final verses of the play read: your pain.” -Bianke, 11th grade participant. “You can never take what I fought for as a child in the refugee camp, the love of my life, the opportunity to learn.”-Ar, 12th grade participant “Try to take away my pride, take away my hopes leaping Which Way is Home was performed in May 2016 at the community repertoire theatre and at the Albany High School. After the play was performed, funding was found to have Youth FX, a local non-profit film arts program video and produce films of the students’ stories. You can see the films by going to: http:// www.artslettersandnumbers.com/ “Why do I feel like if I go out I’ll die Why is it I can never feel peace If we continue to do this we’ll cease To exist in a world that’s full of hate And always fearing that horrible fate Mommy, Mama, Mother, Mom Tell me that some day it’ll be
2017 Issue 1 Page 5 NCBI in high schools—Continued better And I won’t live in fear forever Tell me that there’ll be a bright future ahead And I won’t have to fear of soon being dead We’ll stop reliving the horrors of the past And mankind will forever last” “Through acting in each other’s stories, the students learned to understand each other’s pain and journey. “ Ira Baumgarten & Tawana Davis NCBI Capital District Chapter Men Embracing the Gender Spectrum Fourteen men spen t the morning of November 17th, 2016 in Rochester NY connecting and getting closer as we broadened our perspectives regarding the gender spectrum. Moving away from the traditional male/female binary, we explored a much more fluid and dynamic interpretation of gender, gender identity and gender expression. This NCBI workshop, led by Steve Jarose, Pete Navratil, Al Dickerson and Rick Olanoff, looked at gender liberation as a new frontier. St. John Fisher College and Dr. Yantee Slobert, Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity Programs, were our generous hosts. We shared personal experiences and considered the possibilities that accelerate men’s liberation by moving away from restrictive male gender roles. We imag- ine a world where embracing and exploring the full gender spectrum is how we can view all of humanity. We watched a powerful Ted Talk on gender by Ashley Wylde with the following link: The Gender Tag: Authentic Gender Expression | Ashley Wylde . The workshop gave us the opportunity to re-evaluate how we as men are conditioned into 'maleness' and how we can become more authentic in expressing the full nature of our humanness and combatting sexism. The result is that we can have a new understanding of how to be better allies to one another, to women and to anyone who identifies as gender non- conforming. One day soon, we hope, that will include all of us. Rick Olanoff Syracuse, NY Dr. Yantee Slobert, Director of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity Programs at St. John Fisher College and Steven Jarose, Director of NCBI Rochester, at the recent Diversity Day activities at the college.”
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