My Final Stop of the Semester: We Day Illinois

Two weeks ago, I was invited to We Day Illinois to tag along as my honey project co-founder Nick Helfand spoke to a crowd of tens of thousands about the work we do in Ecuador.  We Day is an annual series of stadium-sized events that brings together “world-renowned speakers and performers…with tens of thousands of youth”, and “offers educational resources and campaigns to help young people turn the day’s inspiration into sustained action”.  The venue was ornate. Filling the entire Allstate Arena, the stage was decorated with projectors and monitors showing recorded videos and a live feed of the show, massive speakers lined the walls, and the presenters were superstars.  My personal favorites included Selena Gomez, Magic Johnson, and Ezra Frech, a nine-year-old record-breaking paraplegic runner.

As one of three panelists speaking about what it means to be a young entrepreneur, Nick had the opportunity to be interviewed by Dennis Haysbert (the actor featured often in Allstate Commercials).  The crowd roared in applause when he answered Mr. Haysbert’s questions, and we realized how lucky we were to have been featured in this incredible event.

My favorite part of the experience was having the opportunity to meet other incredible young social entrepreneurs. In the “green room”, waiting for Nick’s turn to take the stage, we introduced ourselves to a group of other young adults anxiously waiting for their names to be called to take the stage.  I was blown away by the work that these individuals were doing. Trisha Prabhu, a 14-year-old student at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois, for example, designed “Rethink”, a computer program that gives adolescents who are trying to post an offensive message on social media a second chance to reconsider their decision.

Reflecting, while We Day may not have directly connected to international relations, it was the most inspirational public event I attended this year.  Most of the crowd was comprised of students from public schools in lower-income areas of the city. The event brought these students together and inspired them with motivational messages from people they recognize from their TVs, radios, and the movies.  In terms of how this connects to my inquiry strand, what did strike me was the potential that these types of events have in bringing cultures and people of different backgrounds together.  If there were We Days dedicated primarily to combating xenophobia and familiarizing American children with other cultures, our youth’s understanding of the world might be a little different.

For my independent research, I couldn’t help but look into the type of press coverage We Day Illinois received.  A CBS local news story, for example, raved about the day, citing performances by Common and Jennifer Hudson.  The article (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/04/30/celebrities-help-young-volunteers-mark-we-day-in-illinois/) also explained something I did not previously know, that schools got free tickets by “performing both a global and a local act of volunteerism or charity.”

"Bolero and Other Works", Reminding Us That Dance Can Bridge Divides

On Sunday, March 15^th, I was invited to attend Chicago Repertory Ballet performance of Bolero and Other Works at the Victory Gardens Theatre.

The show, described as Modern or Contemporary Ballet, was divided into a number of different pieces, each with a unique backdrop, musical beat, costume set, and style of movement.  Some pieces were light and up beat, and others were darker and slower, with dancers taking long pauses to breath deeply or sit motionless.

This event was quite unlike any dance show I had previously attended.  Perhaps the most apparent dissimilarity could be seen in the dancers themselves. In other experiences, I had watched mostly petite, flawless ballerinas leap in the air. Their male counterparts, with bulging legs and v-shaped torsos, would pick them up and then perform their own, gravity-defying jumps to the crescendos in the music.  A new experience to me, the dancers in Bolero and Other Works were less dancer-like and more gymnast-esque. The women were far more muscular and broad than other dancers I had seen.  They were in incredible shape, but they also defied the stereotypes for what a dancer’s body should look like.  

While I wasn’t able to immediately draw a connection between the performance and my inquiry strand, “how countries relate to one another”, reflecting on the show, I now recognize how this event connects.

A lesson I’ve learned through attending public lectures and actually visiting foreign nations in both South America, Central America, and Europe is that sometimes, formal political discourse is not the most effective means of cultivating healthy international relationships.  Instead, it is often valuable for countries to rally around a shared appreciation for culture as a way to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s ways of life.  In many cases, dance can bring nations together.  Whether it be that two countries express their cultures similarly through dance, or have wildly different performing arts traditions, exchanging cultural experiences can be worthwhile.  To offer an example, the dance company that my sister belongs to is beginning an exchange program with the Escuela Nacional de Ballet Cubana (National Cuban Ballet), in which dancers from each school will be visiting the opposite school.  This program is not only meant to improve the dancers’ abilities, but also to help bridge the divide between Cuba and the U.S..

For my independent research, I found a piece written in the Huffington Post entitled “‘Dancing In Jaffa': Ballroom Dance Champion Brings Israeli, Palestinian Kids Together To Dance”. The article covered a 10-week program directed by world champion ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine in which Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children come together for an extensive course in Latin Dance.  As referenced in more detail in the video attached to the link, Dulaine explains, as I attempted to above, why dance “can be powerful tool for teaching the value of mutual respect”. To access this page, please click this link (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/dancing-in-jaffa_n_5682927.html). 

An Evening With Sister Helen Prejean: Abolitions And the Morality of Punishment

On April 27^th, I had the pleasure of attending another moving public event, An Evening With Sister Helen Prejean: Abolitions And the Morality of Punishment, at the DePaul Campus in Chicago.

Unfortunately, prior to the event, I had not had the opportunity to read or view A Dead Man Walking, but I had heard wonderful things about both the book and the movie. I had, how  During my first semester of senior year, I was enrolled in “Civil Liberties”, a class focused on Constitutional law and specifically past and current Supreme Court cases involving questions over civil liberties.  In addition to gaining exposure to issues revolving around the death penalty during my month-long unit concentrated on the Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment), I also recently attended a Chicago-Kent College of Law forum on Glossip v. Gross, a current case regarding botched executions.  For obvious reasons, this event sparked my interest.

ever, previously studied the death penalty and our country’s flawed judicial and penitentiary systems.

As soon as I entered the gothic lecture hall in the heart of DePaul’s campus, I observed the solemn mood of the room. Lining the walls by the entrance were hand-written letters from inmates at Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum security prison right outside of Chicago. The notes were heartbreaking.  Stories ranged from inmates who were told not to take plea deals and ended up with life sentences to individuals being given life sentences due to “guilt by association”. On the floor, the event planners laid down blue tape – which had to be no more than four feet by ten feet – to mirror the size of a prison cell.  I walked around slowly, taking it all in.

When Sister Helen Prejean was introduced, I expected a nun in full garb to take the stage. Instead, a stout woman with short, dark hair and typical street clothes stepped up to the podium and began speaking with a faint yet impassioned tone. Sister Helen Prejean explained exactly what I expected to hear.  She shared a personal narrative about a Louisiana death row inmate she had corresponded with before his execution, and then she went into her spiel about how imperative it is that members of society – and especially those who are well off – take up an active role in advocating for the abolition of the death penalty and the reform of our penitentiary system.  There was one comment she made, however, that did catch me off guard.  She noted that it doesn’t take witnessing an execution to recognize how our prison systems suck the life out of people. According to her, one visit to a prison will make you realize how the current system ruins life and does more harm than good. Prior to this event, I had decided that visiting a prison did not appeal to me because I would be disturbed by being surrounded with the perpetrators of serious crimes. Now, I think I would still feel wildly uncomfortable at a prison, but for a different reason.  I think it would be difficult for me to witness my fellow humans being deprived of liberty because (in many cases) of a flawed judicial system and an irrational dependency on our prison system.

For my independent research, I found an article titled “Would Jesus Pull the Switch?” written by Sister Helen Prejean. In it, the Sister depicts her first experience watching an execution and how horrifying it was.  She then goes on to rationalize why, on a religious basis, she cannot be in support of the death penalty.  She explains, “Nor do I believe that God invests human representatives with such power to torture and kill. The paths of history are stained with the blood of those who have fallen victim to ‘God's Avengers.’ Kings, popes, military generals, and heads of state have killed, claiming God's authority and God's blessing. I do not believe in such a God.” These few lines speak to me because I feel (minus the religious aspect) very similarly. I do not understand how citizens can feel comfortable with a judicial system – a system that us humans devised – can have the power to decide who will have life and who will have death.

Note*: While I admit that my reflections have little to do with countries relating to one another, it is worth mentioning that when it comes to conversations about the death penalty, it is very relevant to cite how other countries approach the death penalty.  Most interesting is that America is not in great company when it comes to the list of countries that administer the death penalty.  The group includes – but is not limited to – Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Somalia, all countries with which the U.S. rarely likes to align itself when it comes to foreign or domestic policy.  The issue that pro-death penalty advocates have with this argument, however, is that the United States Constitution should not and has never taken into account the standards of decency shared in outside nations.  The Constitution strictly applies to the United States.

Exploring My Jewish Identity with the Anti Defamation League

Today I had the opportunity to attend an event organized by the Anti Defamation League called, “Words To Action”.   For those of you who are unfamiliar with this organization, the ADL is a human rights agency that "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, and defends democratic ideals and civil rights".

This afternoon's forum, which was my first with the ADL, was comprised of both Jewish and non-Jewish high school seniors from around the city. We met at Pizzeria Serio on Belmont where we were greeted warmly with pies and salads, and given time to “schmooze” before jumping in to the heavier political discourse.  

The topic of today’s discussion was “Empowering Jewish Students to Address Bias on Campus”. The young man who led began by having us briefly explain why we decided to join the group. Answers varied little, ranging mostly from, “I came to learn how to defend my beliefs on a college campus,” to, “I just want to learn more about the Jewish experience.” He then had us play a game of “stand up if this applies to you”.  Specifically, he read us five questions, all in regards to our experiences with anti-Semitism, and asked us to stand if we had experienced what he was describing. Interestingly, almost every single person stood up for everything – an occurrence the group-leader promised he had hardly ever seen before.  Yet the questions never got personal; it was always, “have you read about anti-Semitism in the papers”, or “have you heard about anti-Zionism on campuses”.  What he never asked was, “have you yourself ever felt personally attacked our isolated because of your religious identity?” Had he asked that question, my guess is that hardly anyone would have stood up. 

Speaking for myself, I recognize that my experience in Chicago has not been exactly representative of what it is like to be Jewish in America and especially not the world. My experience over the past 18 years has been one of hardly any exposure to anti-Semitism.  In a way, I guess, I was kind of hoping the meeting today would act as a reality-check.   My feeling was that some of my peers in the room, including myself, have no idea what we are going to encounter in the future.  I do not say this because I want to feel more prepared to cope with being unreasonably hated; I’m actually not particularly afraid of people hating me because of my religion. I’ve determined that anyone who wants to be belligerently discriminatory or offensive because of my religion is not worth my time or worries. Rather, what concerns me most is not having a logical rebuttal to anti-Israel sentiments. 

I know I love Israel, and for basic reasons I can argue why I believe Israel has a right to exist and why I stand by its policy of remaining a majority Jewish state. Yet I get lost when it comes to the mistreatment of Palestinians.  When words like “apartheid state” get thrown around, I become very uncomfortable.  I don’t feel like I know enough about Israeli domestic policy to reasonably argue on behalf of the country, but I also feel compelled to defend Israel because of my Jewish identity.  I know the ADL conducts groups geared more towards how to approach these situations, but I’m also not sure I want to be told how to respond. Is it authentic if I’ve just reciting facts and figures relayed to me through a Jewish organization? I feel like I should be developing my own position on these topics. The only problem is, aside from living in Israel, I’m not quite sure where to start.

For my independent research, I read through a Huffington Post Article titled, "Anti-Semitism Is a Big Problem At American College Campuses, According To New Report." What I found most interesting in this piece was a comment that the author made about how at times anti-Israel sentiments "crossed the line into anti-Semitism." This line is curious to me because one of my lingering questions through today's discussion was whether anti-Israel sentiment is actually mostly anti-Semitism manifesting itself in a political discussion.  It seemed to me that our forum leader seemed to believe that way. This is a question I struggle to answer now becasue I have not yet experienced anti-Israel rallies on college campuses, but it is something I reasonably see myself having to think about in the near future. 

Exploring the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations

This past Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend “The Critical Risk in America’s Relations with Putin’s Russia”, an event coordinated by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.“ The lecture featured John Beyrle, the U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2008 and 2012, and, previously, a special adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell.  Rather than focus on the current Russia-Ukraine crisis, as I had expected him to do, Beyrle decided to center his presentation on characterizing the past and present U.S.-Russia relationship. Specifically, his overarching thesis seemed to be that despite how irrational Russia’s foreign policy may seem, it is as vital as ever that the U.S. engage with Moscow.

Beyrle set up this argument by pointing out that over the past 200 years, Russia and the U.S. have actually shared an overwhelmingly peaceful relationship.  He cited, for example, Russian support for the North during the U.S. Civil War, and U.S. aid in resolving the Russo-Japanese war during the early 20^th century.   The only interruptions during this amiable relationship, according to Beyrle, have been the Cold War, and the period of tension the two powers are experiencing now.  Beyrle went on to explain that Russia is at a particularly transitional time, and that the population is at a point in which it is developing a new national identity.   What this means, according to Beyrle, is that it is as important as ever for the U.S. to develop and nourish a productive relationship with Russia.  Because the population is especially impressionable at this moment, it is important to counter the mostly anti-western conservative movement coming out of Moscow with an ideology that Russia can coexist productively with the west. As the former Ambassador put it, “we have a responsibility of avoiding the worst possible outcomes of Russia defining what kind of nation it wants to be.”

An article I recently read called “In post-Soviet Russia, A Quest to Define National Identity” seemed to share Beyrle’s message.  Specifically, Felix Razumovsky, a historian who shares his perspectives throughout this piece, explains “there’s no agreement among the population about the country’s post-Soviet identity.”  For this reason, according to Razumovsky, it is important for Russians to understand the impulse for revolution and radical reinvention, especially because results of this impulse are often so tragic.

Choosing a "Strand"

Today we were tasked with selecting a “strand” for the final months of our civic engagement experience.  In other words, rather than attending a group of events untied to a central theme as we had been doing since September, the next phase of our community engagement curriculum is to become involved in events that all revolve around the same topic.  Inspired by my passion for Model United Nations and my experience last year attending events run by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, I chose to sign up for the “How do countries today relate to one another” strand. Under the guidelines of this inquiry, I have the opportunity to attend events that focus on either specific region of the world or global conflicts and immigration in the U.S.  What excites me most about this “strand” is the opportunity to attend more events run by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.  This organization puts on riveting lectures and discussions throughout the city.  I’ve put together a list of events I plan on attending with topics that range from the U.S.-Cuba relationship to our conflict with ISIS and Iran.

The following is a list of all of the events that interest me up until the end of February:

02/04: (5:30 pm) My Enemy's Enemy: The US and Iran in the Era of ISIS

02/09: (6pm) The Last 90 Miles: Ending the US and Cuba's Cold War

02/10: (5:30pm) Latin America: Economic Growth After the Commodity Boom

02/12: (5:40pm) A New Deal for New Delhi

02/24: (5:30pm) The North Korea Conundrum

My Fall Feast Extravaganza

On a cold November Friday afternoon, I attended the Francis W. Parker Fall Feast. Walking towards the cafeteria of our school, I could smell the pumpkin pies, the roasted pig, and the hot apple cider. I stepped into the line of people at the door and peered into the brightly lit, crowded room.  There were young students chasing each other around, high schoolers running around the kitchen making final preparations, and parents filling their cups with warm apple cider.

Within ten minutes, I remembered how special and unique our school community is. The event, which included upper school students, lower school students, parents, and teachers was completely run by the environmental committee and was created for the sole purpose of bringing together the community.  The food was delicious and the conversation was great.

Further, it reinvigorated my hope in our student government system.  It reminded me of the impact that our student government can have when it is operating at its finest.  More student government committees should learn from the environmental committee and focus more on bringing the entire community together and demonstrating the thoughtfulness of the student body.

In the future, I would love to see the Fall Feast opened to the entire neighborhood.  I think it would have been really great to invite the entire community to Parker to show how thoughtful our school is and how warm the student body can be.  The Fall Feast can become a broader event that our school is known for!