Summer Enrichment Program Eyes Women's Issues

For the 12 students in Illinois Wesleyan University’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), Wednesday became their favorite day of the week.

On Wednesdays the students selected for SEP came together to hear guest speakers, discuss current events and debate questions such as “do women have to possess masculine characteristics to be considered effective leaders?” Students learned about professional development from experts and talked about their SEP internships.

SEP is a longtime Illinois Wesleyan program for students of color and was extended to international students two years ago. The 10-week summer program focuses on academic, professional and personal growth. Participants complete a paid internship, learn from formal training workshops and work together on a service project in order to enhance students’ team building and leadership skills. This year’s theme was “Women at the Intersections” which complemented Illinois Wesleyan’s annual theme of “Women’s Power, Women’s Justice” for 2016-17.

The program’s highly regarded reputation inspired Ayrren Calhoun (Class of '18) to apply. “I just felt like it would be a really good fit for me,” said Calhoun, noting SEP has exceeded her expectations.

A cherished SEP tradition is lunch each week at a different ethnic restaurant in the Bloomington-Normal area.

“It’s a really inspiring and really encouraging program,” said Calhoun, an International Studies major from Homewood, Ill. She said the group interactions during “SEP Wednesdays” opened her eyes to varying points of view held by those from different backgrounds or ethnicities.

Internships are an important component of the program. An aspiring attorney, Calhoun interned at local law firm Allison & Mosby-Scott. She secured the position with the help of her Titan Leadership Program mentor, attorney Matt Majernik (’07). Calhoun said she’s grateful for the opportunity to get an inside view of a legal practice, but has also discovered family law is not the area for her. “I just don’t have the heart for it,” she said of the specialization, “but that’s what the learning experience is about, determining what you like and what you don’t like and following your passion.”

Students also noted they learned from each other. Emani Johnson (’18) said she recognizes that her views as a black woman will differ from those of her peers of a different race, gender or culture. “Everyone has some type of privilege, so it’s been very eye-opening to hear from other people in acknowledging that privilege, whatever it may be. I like the fact that we talk openly about those things,” said Johnson, a sociology major from Berkeley, Ill.

SEP Wednesdays also served as an opportunity for students to lift up each other. On a recent Wednesday, students were encouraged to give a tap on the shoulder to a peer who has had an impact on their lives in some way.

For Hunain Anees (’19), a simple tap on the shoulder turned out to be something that had a tremendous impact on his entire summer. “I was very surprised by the number of taps I received and I felt very happy about it,” said Anees, an accounting and economics double major from Karachi, Pakistan. “I later realized we all can make a change in people’s lives in more ways than we can imagine.”

The 2016 group of SEP participants are:

  • Hunain Anees ’19, accounting and finance double major, Karachi, Pakistan
  • Anuvrat Baruah ’18, economics and financial services double major, New Delhi, India
  • Cindy Basilio ’17, mathematics major, Streamwood, Ill.
  • Shravya Bommaveddi ’18, biology major, Bloomington, Ill.
  • Meri Brown ’18, accounting major, Chicago
  • Ayrren Calhoun ’18, International Studies major, Homewood, Ill.
  • Ruby Garcia ’17, Hispanic Studies and educational studies majors, Evanston, Ill.
  • Guadalupe Hernandez ’18, business administration and computer science double major, Chicago
  • Emani Johnson ’18, sociology major, Berkeley, Ill.
  • Tung Nguyen ’17, International Studies and political science double major, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Nancy Qu ’17, art major, Changshu, China
  • Alani Sweezy ’19, philosophy and political science double major, Chicago

Camille: What Lives Matter?

Camille Taylor

WJBC Forum

Which lives matter most of all to you? If you are a parent or grandparent it could be your children, grandchildren, or spouse. If you are a child, it is likely your parents.

For most people it is usually their family and/or the people that are closest to them. There has been a lot of controversy around the Black Lives Matter movement, and here is my understanding of what their goals are.

The movement started shortly after the Trayvon Martin murder in which the 17 year old was shot as he walked back to his father’s home from the store with an iced tea and skittles. He was wearing a hoodie and George Zimmerman, who shot him, didn’t think he looked like he “belonged in that neighborhood.” Zimmerman was acquitted after using Florida’s “stand your ground law.”

Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors are three of the founders of the movement who wanted to speak out against what they felt were repeated unjust actions by officers of the state across the country. They wanted to be a voice against not only the shootings, but police officers who were never charged with crimes and those that were acquitted.

Repeatedly the victims of these shootings were black, and the police officers were white. The phrase “black lives matter” is an affirmation and a commitment to the attention and work that needs to be done on behalf of black people who have been profiled and consequently killed due to an initial reaction to their skin color. The leaders of this movement already know that “all lives matter,” but from the beginning they wanted the attention drawn to what has become a disturbing pattern of repeated reports of the over use of force towards black people.

The phrases “Blue lives matter” and “All lives matter” emerged in response to “Black lives matter” as if to say why is the focus only on black lives? The founders of the movement explain that they are giving a call to action for the black liberation movement. They want to end systemic racism across institutions, but particularly in the criminal justice system.

The solution to whose lives matter is not a mystery. A person’s life is precious thing. If everyone respected one another and followed the “Golden Rule,” I wouldn’t be writing this forum. However, even deeper than that, until our country acknowledges that we have systemic racism within our institutions, we will not be able to deal with the root of the problem facing our nation. 

Pride Health Center Fundraisetr Next Week

Health for All :: A fundraiser for Central Illinois Pride Health Center, is set from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 17, at Bloomington's The Bistro, 316 North Main St.

YWCA of McLean County will support the Central Illinois Pride Health Center with a fundraiser to help continue to grow a common space for the LGBTQ community to network and support each other as well as to receive medical, mental, and social support.

Donate at www.ywcamclean.org/CIPride or mail your donation, made out to Central Illinois Pride Health Center, to P.O. Box 441, Bloomington, IL 61702.

Kiki's Delivery Service August 17 and 21 at Normal Theater

Kiki's Delivery Service, a Japanese animated film, is scheduled for 7 and 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, at the Normal Theater.

From the legendary Hayao Miyazaki comes the beloved story of a resourceful young witch who uses her broom to create a delivery service, only to lose her gift of flight in a moment of self-doubt. It is tradition for all young witches to leave their families on the night of a full moon and set out into the wide world to learn their craft.

When that night comes for Kiki, she embarks on her life journey with her chatty black cat, Jiji, landing the next morning in a seaside village, where a bakery owner hires her to make deliveries.

The 103-minute film is in Japanese with English subtitles and is rated G.  It will also be presented on Sunday, August 21, at 1 p.m. with an English language track.

At the Museum: Karaoke, Kawaii, Kami, and Culture

Through Sept. 11, experience Tokyo’s vibrant culture in a new interactive traveling exhibit at Normal's Children's Discovery Museum.

In "Hello from Japan!," families are transported to two distinct areas of Tokyo that exist side by side: One serene and exquisite, the in the words of the museum, "too cute for words."

The beautiful, natural Shinto shrine park invites children to build a bridge, crawl through a forest, encounter Kami spirit, and make a wish at a wishing tree.

Kawaii Central is a streetscape inspired by Tokyo’s bustling Harajuku district, bursting with color, trendy shops, and Kawaii styles. Kids sing karaoke, smile for the photo booth camera, serve up a seasonal Japanese meal, and design adorable mascots for their families.

Kawaii is defined as the quality of cuteness in the context of Japanese culture. It has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.

The word kawaii originally derives from the phrase kao hayushi, which literally means "(one's) face (is) aglow," commonly used to refer to flushing or blushing of the face.

Together, the exhibit highlights how old and new traditions coexist in Japan, giving visitors a family-friendly window into Japanese culture.

This exhibit was created by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and is part of the Asian Culture Exhibit Series, funded by the Freeman Foundation and administered by ACM.

Meanwhile, the Children's Discovery Museum will coordinate and host the 2016 Bloomington-Normal Worldwide Day of Play (WWDOP) and Uptown Block Party from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 on Beaufort Street in Uptown Normal.  

For information, visit http://www.childrensdiscoverymuseum.net/.

Hanna: The Immigration Project Undertakes 'Compelling' Mission

Amid global poverty and violence and current U.S. rhetoric, many individuals and families are seeking basic safety or stability in the U.S.

Hanna Tarbert, AmeriCorps VISTA communications and development coordinator with the Normal office of The Immigration Project, is committed with Project attorneys and volunteers to helping provide it.

The Immigration Project provides quality citizenship and other legal assistance for immigrants in 85 counties across downstate Illinois, from Kankakee on the east to Moline on the west and on a north-south line from Fairmount City to Carbondale. Statewide, the Project serves an estimated 53,000 undocumented immigrants.

Tarbert previously worked for six months with refugee resettlement in Dayton, Ohio, where she met several immigration attorneys and became interested in legal advocacy for those who’ve sought a better or simply safer life in the States.

“There are people fleeing conflict; they’re fleeing for their lives,” she related. “From a human element, I don’t think there’s anything more compelling than that. Refugees have literally lost everything, and they’re starting over.

“We did get a lot of people coming out of Central America who were fleeing gang violence. There were people there leaving poverty, or they were reunifying with family. There are a lot of good reasons to work in immigration and help people get status here.”

The Project’s largely rural-regional approach includes regular local information clinics with staff attorneys and partnerships with area groups who set up permanent webcam sites to facilitate long-distance interviews and case preparation. An August 19 clinic is set for Bloomington-Normal.

Tarbert – who graduated with a Master of Arts in International and Comparative Politics and a Master of Arts Certificate in Women’s Studies from Wright State University in 2015 -- must grapple with a variety of “huge misconceptions” particularly about undocumented immigrants. “A lot of people don’t think immigrants pay taxes, and they do,” she said, noting Project clients must document that “they have been contributing.”

In fact, unauthorized immigrants in Illinois paid $499.2 million in state and local taxes in 2010 alone, according to data from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. That includes $85.4 million in state income taxes, $45.8 million in property taxes, and $368 million in sales taxes.

Further, the 2012 purchasing power of Illinois’s Latinos totaled $46.1 billion — an increase of 422.2 percent since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $28.7 billion — an increase of 463 percent since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

While U.S. immigration debate focuses largely on Latino populations, The Immigration Project deals with immigrants from across the globe, including a growing influx of French-speaking arrivals from Togo and other African countries and Canadian and European immigrants.

Immigrants who currently must remain in the legal shadows effectively are “living in limbo,” Tarbert said, limiting work or educational opportunities. On a national level, she argued the Immigration Project and similar groups would benefit from a U.S. Supreme Court re-review of the currently court-deadlocked case challenging President Obama’s immigration reform plan, which had reflected elements of a stalled bipartisan Senate package. The 2012 purchasing power of Illinois’s Latinos totaled $46.1 billion—an increase of 422.2% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $28.7 billion—an increase of 463% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

The case, United States v. Texas, concerned a 2014 executive action by the president to allow as many as five million unauthorized immigrants who were the parents of citizens or of lawful permanent residents to apply for a program that would spare them from deportation and provide them with work permits, called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA).

“Just having those programs implemented would go a long way toward helping a lot of people,” said Tarbert. “It would really have made a lot of things easier for a lot of our clients.”

Project clinics in 2014 and 2015 nonetheless covered a range of issues beyond DAPA, including citizenship application assistance. The group also assists in visa petitions, consular processing for family members, and waivers of inadmissibility, and provides immigrant crime victim support addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

“We tend to be more service-based than advocates,” Tarbert advised. In 2015, 37 percent of client “intakes” involved those seeking naturalization and citizenship. Nearly 30 percent of clients sought support for childhood arrivals.

Clients pay an initial $25 consultation fee, though many other services are free or charged based on a sliding financial scale based on case type, family size, and household income.

The Project also taps a healthy volunteer base, which provides English/Spanish/French translation, case follow-up management, or coordination of legal clinics and area citizenship workshops.

“There are a lot of people who want to support the attorneys,” Tarbert noted.

--

The Immigration Project receives no federal funding, depending instead on low legal fees, donations, and grants. Those who wish to support the Project can check to see if their employer is eligible for Matching Gift Programs to match personal donations or offers any Volunteer Grant Programs which allow an employee to volunteer a set number of hours.  Amazon donates 0.5 percent of the price of an eligible purchase to The Immigration Project for every purchase made through AmazonSmile when the buyer opts to make it the charitable organization of their choice. And PayPal enables donors to use their credit card without making an account.

BLM in B-N Book Club Explores Race and School

The BLM in B-N Book Club will be discussing Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria and Other Conversations About Race (2003) by Beverly Daniel Tatum, at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3, at the Bloomington Public Library.

New and occasional members are welcome. Those who recruit an interested high schooler (or anyone under 25) will receive a prize.

Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, asserts that we do not know how to talk about our racial differences: Whites are afraid of using the wrong words and being perceived as "racist," while parents of color are afraid of exposing their children to painful racial realities too soon.

Using real-life examples and the latest research, Tatum presents strong evidence that straight talk about our racial identities-- whatever they may be -- is essential if we are serious about facilitating communication across racial and ethnic divides.

Advocate Plans Central Illinois LGBT Clinic/Center

Paul Sweich

The Pantagraph

Community advocates hope to open, by next June, Central Illinois' first health clinic and community center for the lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer or questioning, and intersex populations.

"Our vision is to provide health care, mental health and social support to the LBGTQI community and its allies," said Len Meyer, executive director of the Central Illinois Pride Health Center. Meyer and health center board President Jan Lancaster spoke with The Pantagraph on Friday.

The goal is to provide primary health care, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics and hormone replacement therapy within three years.

But they hope to open the center next June, beginning with meetings and mental health counseling.

The board is working on its 501(c)(3) status to be tax-exempt and is searching for space, Lancaster said. The center already sponsors a youth group, and a parents group will begin meeting in August, Meyer said.

"We want to offer our community a safe atmosphere to get care and to not be made to feel less of a person," Lancaster said.

Meyer is a retired emergency medical technician who is operations manager for Merry Maids, the Normal-based residential cleaning company. Meyer has a bachelor's degree in health care administration.

Lancaster, who owns The Bistro in downtown Bloomington, is a member of the Bloomington Human Relations Commission and vice president of the Downtown Bloomington Association.

Meyer is transgender. People who are transgender don't identify with the sex of their birth.

Meyer has been put off by doctors' offices whose choices for patients' sexual identity was male or female. One doctor didn't understand transgender issues and didn't care, Meyer said.

Lancaster said Meyer's experience isn't unique. The result is that LBGTQI people are less likely than others to seek primary care, Meyer said.

"There definitely is a need for this in our community," Lancaster said.

Asked why the group doesn't focus on education and advocacy rather than opening a clinic, they said education and advocacy take longer than growing a clinic.

"The time to do the clinic is now," Lancaster said. "We are trying to add to the quality of care in Central Illinois. We are not trying to replace existing doctor's offices."

Advocate BroMenn Medical Center and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center were given opportunities to comment.

Tony Coletta, Advocate BroMenn human resources vice president, said: "Advocate BroMenn is supportive of any group that is working to improve the health and well-being of members of our community.

"Our own organization has made a concerted effort to be inclusive and sensitive to the needs of the LGBTQI community ... Through ongoing leadership and staff education in health care-specific areas of diversity and inclusion, we continue working to ensure that our processes, communication and environment work together to create a welcoming atmosphere for all of our patients and their loved ones."

A fundraiser for the center — in partnership with YWCA McLean County — will be 6 p.m. Aug. 17 at The Bistro, 316 N. Main St., Bloomington.

"Our mission informs us to provide justice for all," said Jenn Carrillo, YWCA mission impact director.

BCAI Seeks Support for Community Arts Education

Bloomington-based BCAI School of Arts is seeking community support to unleash “The Voices of Our Youth.”

BCAI provides an “expression platform” and arts education to everyone regardless of income or background. Its objective is “equipping individuals with increased awareness of self, community and various cultures through unique training in the arts,” but donations are needed to help cover the discounted cost for the program that some families could not afford.

Visit http://www.bcaiarts.org/#!donate/w02as to help.

Jim: Love All Into Unity

Rev. James Warren

Bloomington First Christian Church

As a father of 10 culturally diverse children, the senior pastor of First Christian drew upon his unique experiences to offer a message of love and unity at NIOTBN's July 11 vigil for the victims of Minnesota, Louisiana, and Dallas.

              Good evening, and welcome to this prayer vigil.  I truly thank each of you for being here and for being committed to making our community better, stronger, and ever more united.

                Let me tell you how I’m feeling tonight.  I’m tired.  I’m just plain tired.  Aren’t you?  Every few days we hear of another tragic event.  Young black men killed in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis.  Police officers shot in Dallas.  How long has all of this been going on?  I can’t remember.  It feels like forever.  Certainly much too long.  And I’m tired of it.  How many more have to die?  How many more prayer vigils will we have to hold?  How long will this go on?  I’m tired of it.  Kelley Becker, our Associate Pastor, preached last Sunday and articulated for me what I’m feeling, and what many of you are feeling.  I’m just plain tired.  Aren’t you?  Something has to change.

                Let me begin by telling you a little something about myself, specifically about my family.  I do this not because my family is anything special, but because of the formative impact my wife and children have had on me and my life.  My wife and I have ten children.  Whenever I tell someone that, I immediately learn something about that person.  Almost everyone will look at me wide-eyed and say with a hint of sympathetic weariness something like, “Oh my.”  But if the person is Roman Catholic, she’ll undoubtedly say, “God bless you.”

13147745_1156245901076331_7576735213596747918_o.jpg

                My wife and I have ten children.  Our oldest two children are birth children.  Then we adopted a girl from India and another from China.  Next came two African American boys from Chicago.  Our youngest four were born in Ethiopia: twins who are eleven and two girls who are ten.

                You see, my wife and I have not been disinterested outside observers of the role race plays in our country.  We’ve been in the midst of it.  However, I don’t for a minute pretend to understand the complex issue of race in America.  I’ve lived a privileged life because of my race, and I know it.  But I’ve seen what my children have endured.  My wife shared some of our family’s experiences at a recent Black Lives Matter forum.  Inasmuch as I can, I’ve witnessed the ongoing, pervasive, and negative role race plays in our country.

                I start this evening with my family because I believe that’s where we must begin.  Change must begin with our families, with those who are closest to us, with our friends and neighbors.  Only as change occurs in these intimate circles can real change affect our nation.

                Let me share with you something that Katherine, our oldest daughter, wrote on Facebook today.  She was responding to a long-time friend’s post about his family and ours.  Katherine was born in India, is twenty-four, just received a graduate degree, and is in her first real, full-time job.  I feel like shouting, “Praise the Lord!” when I say that!  She did her master’s project on the difference between how white students and African American students are treated at a large university that proudly declares itself to be inclusive.  In her Facebook post she writes about us, her family.  Her friend, whose family also adopted a girl from India, was reflecting on what he learned in his transracial family.  Let me emphasize that I’m sharing this with you not because my wife and I are somehow remarkable, but because the message our daughter took to heart while growing up is one many of us are attempting to pass on to our children.

                Katherine writes:

I am thankful that parents like yours and mine raised us in such a way that different skin colors were seen as nothing but beautiful. The way our families instilled in us the love of God and taught us how to share that love with others was one of the many gifts we were given. It amazes me [notice her word choice: amazes] that some people are threatened by those who look different from them, and yet people like us so naturally embrace others who appear to be different. In our world, families do not have to look like one another in order to love each other. I have seen how people like you and my brothers willingly loved little brown girls and were proud to declare these little girls your sisters.  I guess we have our parents to thank for that.  We can thank our parents for being good people: honorable and tender role models of equality and love. Your family is beautiful, and mine is, too.

I am so proud of Katherine.  I am so proud of the woman she’s become.  I want to emphasize it was not just our family who taught her to value and love others.  You were a part of it, too.  She learned these lessons right here in Bloomington.  She grew up here and went to Bloomington schools: Sheridan Elementary, Bloomington Junior High, and Bloomington High School.  You made a difference in her life.

When you and I come to treat our children, all children, our neighbors next door, our neighbors across town, and our neighbors on the other side of the world, with the love Katherine experienced in her family and community, we will come closer to the unity you and I long for.

                Our job, first and foremost, is to love others, regardless of who that other person may be.  Jesus’ teaching, which I’m sure is very similar to teachings in all of the religious traditions represented here tonight, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” should guide us in all of our relationships.

                My eighteen-year-old son has a tattoo that says, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  May we be the light and love our world needs.

                Of course, none of this will be easy.  The roots of our country’s racism go back centuries to the arrival of the first European colonists, their disregard for the indigenous peoples, and their enslavement of Africans in pursuit of wealth.  We aren’t going to remedy racism and find a new way to be in a month or a year, nor maybe even in our lifetime.  It’s taken us centuries to get here; it will take a very long time to get from here to where we need to be

And we’re tired, tired of struggling for peace and justice while more and more good people are killed.  Every time we’ve come together after another tragedy, we’ve done so with great resolve and the best of intentions.  “We’ll do something about racism this time,” we tell ourselves.  We leave these gatherings determined to make our society different.  But what happens?  We get busy.  We have jobs and families.  We go to school and volunteer to help others.  We struggle with the everyday tasks of living.  Before we know it, we’ve lost our passion and put our resolve on hold.  “We’ll get to it tomorrow.”  And nothing happens: the promised tomorrow never comes.  Everything goes on just the way it always has.

                We have to awaken from our lethargy and do something sooner rather than later.  We have to do something now.  If we don’t, more young black men will die senselessly.  More courageous police officers will be shot down mercilessly.  We can’t, we just can’t, let this continue.  Let’s make a difference.  Let’s make a difference now!

                One observer of the racial tensions that exist in our country likens our contemporary situation to a broken mirror.  The mirror has been broken and has shattered into a thousand different pieces that now litter our nation.  Those pieces continue to reflect an image, but it’s a partial and fractured image.  It’s impossible to see what the image may be.  To heal the brokenness of race that lies in these splintered pieces, we have to pick up all of those pieces, one piece at a time, and reassemble our mirror, so that it may reflect an image of wholeness and healing.

                Pick up the fragments of peace and justice that lie at your feet.  Love those closest to you, and love them into loving others.  Love those who are different from you, perhaps even your enemies, and love them into the unity that is ours as sisters and brothers.  Amen

Friends Forever Aims to Unite Teens From Israel

Lenore Sobota

The Pantagraph

Friends Forever participants at a Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church service in Bloomington.

Friends Forever participants at a Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church service in Bloomington.

Seeing the transformations of students involved in the Friends Forever program is one of the rewarding aspects of Megan Gonsalves' job.

She is the site manager spending two weeks in Bloomington-Normal with a group of 10 teens from Israel — five Jews, five Arabs — in a program designed to improve understanding between the groups.

The visit is part of a year-long program that also involves activities in Israel involving the Jewish students from Ma'ale Shaharut Regional High School in the far south of Israel and Arab students from Rama Technical High School, about six hours north.

This is the fourth year Friends Forever has come to Bloomington-Normal, sponsored by Rotary Clubs in the Twin Cities and others.

Friends Forever was formed more than 30 years, starting with youths from Northern Ireland, later expanding to Israel and, now, Uganda.

“It's not a challenge that's about politics and Israel,” Gonsalves said. “It's connecting person to person.”

Mikhail Barkan, a student from Ma'ale Shaharut, has lived in Israel less than a year. He emigrated from Russia, attending a boarding school on a kibbutz. He saw Friends Forever as “an opportunity to see who the Arab people really are.”

In Russia, he only knew what he read in the media, he told a group of about 20 people at a public meeting last week at Illinois State University's Bowling and Billiards Center.

Barkan was expecting all the boys to be terrorists with knives and all the girls to be wearing hijabs.

“When I came to Israel, then I saw they are all different and most of them want peace,” Barkan said. “I saw these nice boys who look just like me.”

He and Ali Abed of Rama have become close friends.

“He is my friend, my brother, my teacher in the last eight days,” Abed said of Barkan. Abed said he has helped Barkan with his Hebrew and Barkan has taught him some Russian.

Alon Herlinger, a teacher at Ma'ale Shaharut and a paramedic, is one of two teachers accompanying the group.

He decided to become a teacher after a trip to a World War II concentration camp in Poland with his son and his son's class.

“I don't want this to happen again,” Herlinger said. “I want to teach kids about tolerance and that all human life is precious.”

The students, who are in their second week in the Twin Cities, are required to leave their cellphones at home when they come to the United States. While here, they have no access to technology or mass media.

Gonsalves said, “The amazing thing to see is they stop looking to home for support and they start looking to each other.”

The students first met in Israel in what is called the group building phase of the program. The U.S. phase focuses on skill building — communications, empathy, resilience, impact and perspective. The final phase, when they return to Israel, is community building.

While in the Twin Cities, they have been involved in several activities together.

The students, ages 15 and 16, many of whom have never left their country or been away from their families before, face challenges. Gonsalves said being challenged is “the place where growth is possible.”

When one student was reluctant to participate in the high ropes course at Timber Pointe Outdoor Center at Lake Bloomington, the group reminded her “we make an agreement to always enter the growth zone.”

They persuaded her to put on the harness and helmet and walk to the edge, setting her own personal goal beyond her comfort zone, and she wound up doing the whole route, Gonsalves said.

Michael Gizzi, an associate professor at ISU involved in the Friends Forever program locally, said of the students, “They're going to be ambassadors for peace.”

Cultural Festival: Connecting With Cultures

Julia Evelsizer

The Pantagraph

On a green paper leaf, Brenda Joyner of Bloomington wrote the word “patience.”

She glued the leaf to a cardboard tree representing strengths in the community at the Cultural Festival Saturday at Illinois State University.

“I strive to be patient and I’m trying to grow in that direction,” she said.

Joyner has attended the annual festival, in its 37th year, for “many, many years.”

“If you’re interested in connecting with other cultures, you can start somewhere like this,” she said. “Then spread out to make diversity a big part of your life. Your life is not the only life.”

The purpose of the festival is to connect the wide variety of ethnicities in Bloomington-Normal through music, dance, art and fellowship.

Some of the performances in the Brown Ballroom included the Sugar Creek Cloggers, Odyssey World belly dancing, Japanese sword demonstration, a fashion showcase and solo singers.

“It provides an easy opportunity for the community to experience ballet, clogging, jazz, belly dancing...they can see a huge variety of cultures in one place,” said Tony Jones, program coordinator.

“With everything going on in the world, we need events like these where people can come together, mix and mingle, and enjoy a diverse environment.”

NIOTBN Arts Chairman Angelique Racki at the Festival.

NIOTBN Arts Chairman Angelique Racki at the Festival.

Community groups like Not In Our Town, the local NAACP branch, 100 Black Men of Central Illinois and BN Parents, shared information with visitors. Face painting, crafts and inflatables were available for kids.

While the Odyssey World belly dancers swayed to Middle Eastern music, 4-year-old Wynter Mann hopped off her seat in the audience and started to dance next to her grandma, Virginia Mann.

“It goes to show how people of other cultures can come together,” said Virginia, of Normal. 

Amber Schrlau of Stanford came to the festival for the first time with her kids Maeva, 4, and Murphy, 2.

“They need to know love and what better way than this event,” said Schrlau. “Not everyone is the same and that’s a good thing.”

The young dance group, Ballet Folklorico de Central Illinois, took the stage in authentic Mexican dancing costumes. The girls wore full red skirts and the boys wore sombreros. The group is part of Conexiones Latinas de McLean County, a non-profit organization with the goal of intercultural collaboration and connecting Latinos in the community.

“They are so excited about sharing this with the community,” said Javier Centeno, vice president of the organization. “This sort of event is about love; giving love to the community and respecting each other."

Illinois State Debuting 'Queer Studies' Program This Fall

This fall, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program (WGS) will officially launch a new Queer Studies concentration at Illinois State. Years in the making, the concentration  reflects the dynamic evolution and growing popularity of "queer studies" across the United States.

“Every respectable women and gender studies program, or gender and sexuality program, has strong queer content,” said WGS Program Director Alison Bailey. “Students need to have a critical vocabulary, so that they can be able to talk about issues of social justice with respect toLGBTQ issues.”

The new Queer Studies concentration can be viewed as part of a movement, slowly gaining momentum toward culture change across campus, said Bailey. In the last few years, Becca Chase, Paula Ressler, and Dave Bentlin of the Office of the President started the LGBT/Queer Studies and Services Institute on campus, currently run by Danny Mathews. WGS associate Mandy Dartt led a campus-wide committee to establish a Lavender Graduation ceremony.

“Programs like Lavender Graduation and resources like the LGBT/Queer Studies and Services Institute send a message to LGBTQ and allied students that they are valued and an important part of our community and Redbird family,” said Mathews, director of the Institute. Bentlin noted the efforts are “vehicles that continue our journey toward a more fully-inclusive campus. Their presence hopefully reassures the LGBTQI+ student community that we are moving forward as an institution while recognizing that it is an ongoing process in which students are active partners.”

First steps

Providing LGBT students a visible space and ceremony on campus were vital first steps, that needed to be followed with a strong movement of queer studies into the curriculum.  “Really good conversations in the classroom—where there is room for disagreement and intelligent, even kind, discourse—will hopefully spill out into the larger culture and community”, said Bailey.  It was four years ago that the first course in the concentration, WGS 292: Introduction to LGBT/Queer Studies, was developed. Since that time it has been taught by at least three different WGS faculty members.

The new concentration is centered on several core courses: WGS 292 and WGS 392: Queer and Transgender Theory, and a number of electives including ANT 270: Anthropology of Sexuality and POL 337: Gay and Lesbian Politics. “This is a respectable beginning for the concentration,” Bailey said. “It allows students to develop a core working understanding of the basic critical tools in queer theory and a choice of topical courses that focus on contemporary issues.”

Although faculty members from across campus contributed to queer studies, WGS did not have a faculty member with extensive graduate studies in the area. That changed last year when College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Simpson approved a joint position between the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, enabling the University to hire award-winning scholar Erin Durban-Albrecht. “Because so much of the work of the College of Arts and Sciences is interdisciplinary, she is the right person to take the lead in teaching the Queer Studies sequence,” said Simpson, who added Durban-Albrecht has already developed the QUEERtalks speaker series at Illinois State. “I think that students, staff, and faculty will all benefit greatly from these initiatives.”

Durban-Albrecht noted the field of LGBT/queer studies is interdisciplinary, and builds upon women’s studies’ critiques of gender relations. “It offers tools to think about gender beyond the categories of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in addition to thinking critically about sexuality and power,” said Durban-Albrecht, who designs her classes to provide students with the analytic tools to understand the intersectionality of queer studies.

“Our conversations about sex, gender, and sexuality are always taking into account relationships to other social categories, such as race, economic class, nation, (dis)ability, and religion,” said Durban-Albrecht. “To understand what happened in Orlando, for instance, it is not enough to think about homophobia and transphobia or toxic masculinity. The people who lost their lives at the Pulse Nightclub were predominantly Latina/Latino, and my classes discuss histories of racism in the United States that foreground why queer and trans* people of color are made more vulnerable to violence.”

The new Queer Studies concentration is only the beginning, noted Mathews. “We need to do a better job at helping dominant identity groups understand that they, too, are stakeholders in the conversation around gender and sexual diversity,” said Mathews. “These are all aspects of who we are, but sometimes it isn’t until we have the language to describe such aspects of our identity that we can begin our own journey of consciousness.”

Friends Forever Aimed at Bridging Israel's Cultures

Friends Forever, a program that brings Jewish and Arab teens from Israel together for an intensive, two-week experience, will host a talk at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21, at the Bowling and Billiards Center Activity Room at Illinois State University. The event is free and open to the public.

During the event, youth leaders will speak about their own experiences in the program, and the impact of the year-long program in Israel that focuses on community service, self-exploration, and leadership training. Students taking part in the Bloomington-Normal Friends Forever will work on projects that include building a motorcycle together, taking part in a social media workshop, and creating a photo collage with University Galleries.

The goal of the program is for participating teens to return to their communities in Israel, prepared to be ambassadors for peace. Friends Forever works around the globe to help those who live in conflict-prone regions to build lasting friendships across cultural, religious, and political divides. Through the program, Friends Forever brings groups of young peacemakers to New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Illinois.

Find out more about the Bloomington-Normal chapter of Friends Forever.

Cultural Fest July 23 at ISU

The fun-filled Cultural Fest will bring music, dance, and more to the Brown Ballroom on Saturday, July 23.

The festival runs from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. with performances throughout the day, including the Adam Larson Quartet at 6:30 p.m. and the band Miles Ahead at 7:30 p.m.

Showcases during the festival will include a jump rope team, belly dancing, a Kendo sword demonstration, and a salsa demonstration. Find a full schedule at www.culturalfest.com.

This is the 37th year of the festival, designed to promote and foster appreciation of cultures through entertainment and educational activities. The day also provides a forum for community organizations to promote positive activities for civic, educational, and social purposes.

The festival is free and open to all ages.

Revitalization Project Offers Bilingual Surveys

The West Bloomington Revitalization Project Community Input Survey is now available in Spanish. Please share it with your Spanish-speaking neighbors.

Access the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdx41loE-2An4i0yeUAwCjJ5J20VRqXMx98LhhygTfRhO02-Q/viewform.

“Driven by the voice of residents, the WBRP leads impactful, collaborative efforts of neighbors and local stakeholders that honor our historical and cultural roots, build on the pride and strengths of our neighborhoods, and empower residents to be leaders and achieve a vision for a better community,” according to WBRP’s mission statement.

The project features a tool “library” to aid in neighborhood projects and needs, the west side Book Bike, the West Bloomington Community Garden, a computer lab, and a home restoration effort. See more at http://www.westbloomington.org/#!our-programs/bipxg.

 

Tiny Houses An Answer for Homeless, Businesses?

Willis Kern and Mike McCurdy

WGLT

City of Bloomington officials are working on one aspect of a possible solution to the homeless problem downtown.

Alderman Karen Schmidt, whose ward includes the business district -- which has seen an increase in homeless individuals, says so-called "tiny houses" may help the situation.

Tiny houses are small, moveable homes generally under 500 square feet that underscore a lifestyle of simple living.

Schmidt said the homes could be located together near downtown.

"We want to be very thoughtful and try to find a place in our community that doesn't feel isolated in any way. These are our residents and we want them to feel welcome, and we want it on a bus line," said Schmidt.

Schmidt said there seems to be momentum for bringing the tiny house concept into the homeless solution mix.

"I think it has a lot of traction and it has a lot of people at the table from the city, PATH and the shelters," she added.

Schmidt said zoning issues have to be resolved and she says the city's community development staff is working on that. The homeless problem downtown was spotlighted last week during the GLT News series "Homeless in Bloomington."

Pamela: Support and Understanding

Pamela Sweetwood

WJBC Forum

I recorded this on Friday after two incidents of black men dying after police encounters and a group of police ambushed at a protest.   Information is still coming out, a lot is unknown, and that will be the case for some time to come.   There is no guess as to what this will develop into.

Sadly it is not a new or infrequent place for our country to be in.

My wish is that people can be sensitive to all.   Those of us that are white cannot fully understanding the continuous judgment, assumptions, and scrutiny many minorities experience on a regular basis.  We need to be supportive and understanding rather than have this tear the fabric of our country further apart.   To do so, is not to be against the police.  It is not mutually exclusive.

The police have a hard job which is compounded when particular members act in a questionable manner.   In addition to that, add in the perpetual threat of terrorism.  My heart goes out to them and what anger they must face and how impossible their jobs may seem some days.

We need to grieve lives lost, grieve for their families and friends.  The pain is severe.   We all lose when tragedy like this occurs.  So many lives, futures, and families forever effected.

It has been comforting to me to hear on the news those that appreciate the concern, understand the tragedy, and are committed to a fair, thorough response which doesn’t pick sides but rather handles matters with integrity.    This week I personally was impressed with the Mayor of Baton Rouge, the Director of the FBI, and several community leaders from the areas affected.   Instead of dividing us by race or political party, they provide me hope that we can indeed come out of this as a better society.    We need to be.

Pamela Sweetwood was an ISU student, like many, who never left town. She works in higher education and has a history with many community non-profits organizations.

Nuns on The Bus: Heal Gaps, Heed Immigrant Contributions

The Pantagraph

Sister Simone Campbell has a simple message for the Twin Cities on Tuesday.

"We need Bloomington-Normal (residents) to do their part to help heal the gaps in our nation," she said. "It's our same message at all the towns we go to, because if we all get engaged in it, we can heal."

Campbell is one of 19 sisters on the Nuns on the Bus tour of the the Midwest and Northeast. With a theme of "Mend the Gaps," they will spend more than two weeks asking America to promote family-friendly workplaces, living wages, tax justice, and access to citizenship, democracy, health care and housing.

While the group's agenda mirrors traditionally liberal political priorities, Campbell said the sisters are focused on how to bring people together rather than dividing them.

They started Monday in Madison, Wis., and will travel through Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, New York, the New England states and New Jersey before ending in Pennsylvania. Stops will include small cities like Bloomington and big ones like Cleveland and Philadelphia, where they'll visit the Republican and Democratic national conventions. 

"What I'm hoping is we can see similarities in what worries ... and gives hope to Republicans and Democrats so we can begin to speak of where we meet," said Campbell, who organized Nuns on the Bus and is executive director of Network-Advocates for Justice Inspired by Catholic Sisters.

About 75 people came to YWCA McLean County in Bloomington for the afternoon stop.

Attendees heard speeches from the sisters and got the chance to pledge their support and sign the bus. Many chanted "mend the gaps" during a group photo.

The sisters also visited Unitarian/Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal on Tuesday evening.

This is their fifth annual bus tour; they visited Illinois State University’s Alumni Center and New Covenant Community, both in Normal, in 2013.

"We're big fans of Sister Simone," said Margaret Rutter of Normal, who attended the YWCA event with other New Covenant members.

Rutter spoke of the need for respecting immigrants: "It's terrible how many people have lived here for many years doing horrible jobs and paying taxes and we won't let be citizens."

Policy priorities for the sisters include tax reform that makes "corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share"; "significant minimum wage increases"; "paid family leave and paycheck fairness for woman"; "congressional districts that are fairly and accurately drawn"; universal health care; and "a just and inclusive federal housing policy."

"We have a torn fabric in our society with all the name-calling, the violence, the fear. ... We're better than that," Campbell said. "This is about the divides that have grown in our whole nation, and that's why we're on the road."