VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 25
((AIR DATE: 07 06 2018))
((FULL TRANSCRIPT))
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Latino Muslim Solidarity
((SOT))
We wanted to bring two communities together to strengthen themselves, to show a strength, not only for each other, but like in face of community and come in solidarity with each other.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Rejoining the Mainstream
((SOT))
Everything about your old life gets stripped away, burnt down, and the person that rises from that old life is a phoenix. It’s a better person.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Community Radio
((SOT))
It isn’t dot Coca Cola or Pepsi or a huge company that supports it. It’s the people down the street.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Banner: Better Understanding…))
((PKG)) MUSLIM MARINE
((Banner: Through Faith…))
((Reporter: Niala Mohammad))
((Camera: Imron Jadoon))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Baltimore, Maryland))
((Banner: A group of Muslim Marines and military veterans have joined forces to foster understanding.))
((MANSOOR SHAMS, US MARINE VETERAN))
29 veterans are being selected across the country to come in and spend a night at the home of a Muslim.
((NATS))
((MANSOOR SHAMS, US MARINE VETERAN))
So, we believe that if veterans take the lead, they go and spend a night at house of a Muslim, what we’ll have is other people watching them and hopefully saying, “I can do this too”.
((LT. COL. SCOTT COOPER, US MARINE))
I was reminded of the hospitality of people of Islamic faith, but also how welcoming they were to their traditions and their rituals. Them allowing me to participate in their worship of their god was amazing.
((MANSOOR SHAMS, US MARINE VETERAN))
Muslims have been a part of the American fabric for well over 200 years. A lot of people may not know that but that’s actually true. So, they’ve been serving in Armed Forces. They’ve died for this nation.
((LT. COL. SCOTT COOPER, US MARINE))
I have probably had more interaction with Muslims overseas than I have in America. You know, only 62 percent of Americans have met Muslims. And I don’t come into contact with them daily.
((MANSOOR SHAMS, US MARINE VETERAN))
On top of it, hate crimes have increased, and this is according to not my word but the FBI. So, we have found that it is important to go out and start being proactive in reaching out to people who have not met someone who looks like myself.
((NATS))
((LT. COL. SCOTT COOPER, US MARINE))
I’m terribly worried about the state of our country and this is an opportunity to use my platform as a veteran to try to be a bit of a civilizing force that we so desperately need today. I hope this is the start of something that we are able to have conversations, that we are able to reach out, maybe get out of our comfort zone. There is a number of veterans that I have reached out to. And they were suspicious at first and they said, “You know, I need to get out of my recliner. I need to get to know somebody who doesn’t look like me.” I hope it continues.
((MANSOOR SHAMS, US MARINE VETERAN))
One of the main things that we are trying to achieve is really just become a unifying voice in America. I think that our country is increasingly divided. This is just dangerous, I would say, for the nation. So, my job, when I see my country hurting, my country bleeding, my service doesn’t stop once I take off the uniform.
((PKG)) TACO / MOSQUE
((Banner:…Through Food))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((Banner: Taco Trucks At Every Mosque is an initiative aimed at building a Latino-Muslim coalition))
((NATS))
((BEN VAZQUEZ, CO-FOUNDER, #TACOTRUCKATEVERYMOSQUE))
Right now we’re in an African American mosque. And Muslim can also be Asian American. Last week we were in a Cham Mosque of folks from Cambodia.
((NATS))
So, Muslim is worldwide, multi-ethnic, very diverse. Latino as well is multi-ethnic, worldwide. We’re light skinned, blue eyes, dark, Moreno. We’re African descent. We’re everything. So, we mix as well.
((NATS))
((RIDA HAMIDA, CO-FOUNDER, #TACOTRUCKATEVERYMOSQUE))
All of our sisters and brothers in humanity...Whatever happens to an oppressed community will eventually happen to another oppressed community.
((ALONDRA MORALES, DACA RECIPIENT))
We face a lot of dehumanization every day, you know, as women, again, as DACA recipients, as people of color. So, again knowing other communities are going through the same thing, it’s very heartbreaking, but again, it leads back to coming to events like these, really getting to know every community, getting to know why we all belong here and why we all have a reason to be here and why we all deserve and should be here.
((RIDA HAMIDA, CO-FOUNDER, #TACOTRUCKATEVERYMOSQUE))
We’re already struggling with people trying to define us in the way that demonizes us and demoralizes us.
((BEN VAZQUEZ, CO-FOUNDER OF #TACOTRUCKATEVERYMOSQUE))
So, the idea of just pigeonholing either group into one place is like a falsehood. We’re many things. We’re all human and we’re being pushed and attacked, so we come in solidarity to support each other.
((Reporter Genia))
Do you like tacos?
((DACA RECIPIENTS))
Yes, of course.
((Reporter))
So, what was good about it?
((DACA RECIPIENTS))
Well, we got the veggie option, but it was good. Yeah. The rice was amazing. Yeah, the rice was amazing.
((BEN VAZQUEZ, CO-FOUNDER, #TACOTRUCKATEVERYMOSQUE))
A lot of food, that we got that we created, comes from Arabic influences.
((NATS))
((JIHAD SAAFIR, IMAM, ISLA LOS ANGELES))
In regards to what we see in our holy book, our Koran, the emphasis is on serving our neighbors. So, in reality our neighbors, some are documented, some are undocumented. We’re in South Los Angeles. So, of course, we have our undocumented brothers and sisters here. So, regardless of their status, they have been honored as human beings and God honors them. You know, so with that, we see them as our brothers and sisters and we are here. We have been a resource center. We offer resources for our neighbors. When our neighbors come and they need something, we don’t ask them if they’re documented or undocumented. That’s not our concern. They’re human beings. They’re part of the human family. So, we make sure we figure out what are their needs and we serve them.
((BEN VAZQUEZ, CO-FOUNDER, #TACOTRUCKATEVERYMOSQUE))
We wanted to bring two communities together to strengthen themselves, to show a strength, not only for each other, but like in face of community and come in solidarity with each other. We are something beautiful within each other and as we talk and we break bread with each other and we’re able to talk, we take off those prejudices that was put upon us by other people.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…
((Banner))
Life After Prison
((SOT))
We have a chip on our shoulder and we actually want to prove you wrong.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: Back in the Mainstream))
((PKG)) SECOND CHANCE FOR EX-CONS
((Banner: Culinary Reform))
((Reporter/Camera: Yahya Barzinji))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Cleveland, Ohio))
((BRANDON EDWIN, OWNER, EDWINS RESTAURANT))
The goal of the project, here at Edwins, is to change the face of re-entry. To take when, you know, what someone normally looks like and looks at is someone coming home from prison, and to change that because the perception is false, right?
((JEREMY MATHEWS, STUDENT, FORMER INMATE))
We have a chip on our shoulder, and we actually want to prove you wrong, as far as saying that we can’t do. Because if you have come from a society that you have been in a lot of trouble, you have had things happen, and then you find a way to return, to turn your life over, and then you have that chip on your shoulder to prove wrong, that I can do this.
((BRANDON EDWIN, OWNER, EDWINS RESTAURANT))
Six-month training program helping men and women out of prison learn culinary arts, hospitality, business basics, and leadership skills, so that afterwards they can lead, they can provide, and they’re not beholden upon anyone. This is all born out of a break that I received. This mission is all being driven by this one moment in my life. Many moments, but one moment in particular where I got arrested and thrown in jail, and I was facing 5 to 10 years in prison, but the judge gives me probation instead. And on probation, I found a mentor who was a chef in Detroit, who taught me the fundamentals of cooking and hospitality, and it allowed me to get out of the city, travel the world, and, you know, now create this, Edwins.
((TONYA DUQUENSE, STUDENT, FORMER INMATE))
Brandon turns you into this phoenix. Everything about your old life gets stripped away, burnt down, and the person that rises from that old life is a phoenix. It’s a better person. It’s a better life. It’s a better opportunity, like, that’s the best way I can explain it.
((MIKE DODD, STUDENT, FORMER INMATE))
As soon as I graduated, I hit the ground running. I mean, my resume was already good. I had been a chef for 30 years, but that representation from Edwins opened the doors.
((BRANDON EDWIN, OWNER, EDWINS RESTAURANT))
So here, the recidivism, we talked about the rate of return, we have less than one percent. So, when someone finishes, we have over now 250 graduates, you know, only two people, maybe a third have gone back to prison. That’s it. Now, nationally, if I took the same percentage, it would be half.
((STUDENT, FORMER INMATE))
It changed my life. It gives me an opportunity to pursue a career in culinary arts. It gives me a chance to acquire leadership skills, and learn what it is about fine dining.
((BRANDON EDWIN, OWNER, EDWINS RESTAURANT))
Doing this, I don’t think is too heroic. Everyone can do it. Everyone can do it. But I appreciate the awards.
((PKG)) REFORMED JIHADIST
((Banner: A Change of Heart and Mind))
((Reporter: Carolyn Presutti))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum, Carolyn Presutti))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Courtesy: YouTube))
((Locator: New York, New York 2009))
America wants to conquer your land, conquer your resources, kill you brothers, maim your sisters.
((Locator: Arlington, VA 2018))
((JESSE MORTON, FORMER JIHADIST, PARALLEL NETWORKS))
I found Islam as a means to project my pre-existing grievances. So, rather than gravitate towards an Islam that in the beginning gave me structure, gave me five prayers a day, gave me fasting in Ramadan and ability to control my desires, a code to live by that was spiritual, that was ethical, I quite naturally was more interested in a politicized, radical and revolutionary interpretation of Islam, but that had much more to do with the fact that I was abused as a child, ran away at a very young age, never really, I was an old soul too soon, so to say.
((MITCHELL SIBER, FORMER NYPD INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR))
Jesse was a marked man for us. Younus Abdullah Muhammad, he was the boogey man.
((JESSE MORTON, FORMER JIHADIST, PARALLEL NETWORKS))
In my own mind, in the mind of Younus Abdullah Muhammad, I should say, my grievance was that the United States was waging a war against Islam, that the only way for human beings to live was under Allah’s commandments or his legislation, and that it was incumbent upon every Muslim to work for the establishment of that Islamic system all over the globe, wherever they might find themselves. So, my grievance inside of myself I thought it was a projected grievance about an objective understanding of the world around me, that the United States was an imperialist force, that it was heading a war against Islam.
((MITCHELL SIBER, FORMER NYPD INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR))
Well, it really started as a partnership just about an article. For him to talk about what it was like being a leader of an Islamist group in the United States, that was responsible for 15 plots, or attempted attacks around the world.
((JESSE MORTON, FORMER JIHADIST, PARALLEL NETWORKS))
There’s no formal de-radicalization initiative inside of the Bureau of Prisons and there’s no real formal or informal program that seeks to approach these individuals and try to engage in correspondence with them throughout their time of their incarceration. There’s also no program that’s official or unofficial with regard to providing re-entry and re-integration services, and I do know that like people inside of government, particularly inside the Bureau of Prisons, are interested in doing something, but the first rule should be, “Do no harm”.
((MITCHELL SIBER, FORMER NYPD INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR))
We have about in excess of 60 people who are going to be released from jail in the next five years, who have served time for terrorism-related crimes, yet there is no program in the U.S. to re-integrate them into society. And that could be a fear that these individuals, without some type of program, recidivize into terrorism.
((JESSE MORTON, FORMER JIHADIST, PARALLEL NETWORKS))
So, immediately you come out of something and you realize that you don’t want to be a part of it, right? But then you don’t really know why you don’t want to be a part of it until you process it. And it’s my theory that until you can write about it, you haven’t recovered from it. Until you can write to your old self and say, “This is where you were wrong and this is what you were feeling at the time”, and you can get that out. It’s one thing to be able to say it. It’s another thing to have to sit down with yourself and be able to articulate it. Because then you have to scrutinize it.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…
((Banner))
Talk of the Town
((SOT))
We’re back and you’re listening to Talk of Takoma, on WOWD-LP, Takoma Park, 94.3 FM.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((Banner: Making Connections))
((PKG)) COMMUNITY RADIO
((Banner: Community Radio))
((Reporters: Mariah Espada, Asia Hester))
((Camera: Asia Hester, Mariah Espada))
((Map: Takoma Park, Maryland))
((Banner: In recent years, the US Federal Communications Commission established Low Power FM radio as a non-profit, community alternative to commercial stations.))
((NATS))
I’ll be watching you on Old Soul Collective every Sundays from noon to one.
And we’re back and you’re listening to Talk of Takoma, on WOWD-LP, Takoma Park, 94.3 FM.
((ERIC BOND, SENIOR EDITOR, TAKOMA VOICE))
Really, we’re kind of a magazine, interview program. I find out what’s going on in the community and I try to bring in people who can talk knowledgeably about, you know, different issues. What’s interesting about Takoma Park, that if something is happening on the national level, I am curious to find out, you know, how it affects our communities.
((NATS))
We have limitations on assault weapons here and you can get them more easily in other states. Do you feel that living in Maryland, do you have a sense of maybe relief or greater safety because we are a state that has more strict laws?
Silver Spring, Takoma Park area is particularly really safe just because we have really…..
((WEASEL, WOWD-LP))
The unique thing is that not only are we hyper local, but we are actually bringing this community of Takoma Park to the world because there are people who are actually listening (online) everywhere from Singapore, to Hong Kong, to the Asian countries, to everywhere around the world. And they are hearing about this little place called Takoma Park and I imagine that they have some sort of fantasy. "What is Takoma Park like? Who are these people? What is a Takoma Park?" They actually get a taste of Takoma Park. So, it’s hyper local, but it’s global.
((NATS))
((JAMES LEPINSKY CONTRERAS, OLD SOUL COLLECTIVE, WOWD-LP))
Well, Old Soul, a lot of it is music. We are primarily focused on music although we do have a lot of talking portions as well. I think the importance of local radio is that, I think, it gives a diverse audience for people who are listening and for people who make programs. There are a lot of people of different age ranges and, I guess, racial backgrounds and different sort of identities and different sorts of walks of life that come here to just play music or have a certain program prepared.
((NATS))
((MARIKA PATRIDGE, FOUNDER, WOWD-LP))
We are your friend. We are a companion. We are not the Prairie Home Companion. We are like literally the urban, inside neighborhood companion. We can tell you if the Red Line (metro) is running in a very kind, competent way. Nor do we require our DJ’s to say that. This is people’s radio. We go from, you know, Bayou Boogie to ad infinitum like a Trans music show. We go from a DC poetry show to 17-year-olds talking about what life is like in high school. And then to experimental music show.
((WEASEL, WOWD-LP))
It isn’t dot Coca Cola, or Pepsi, or a huge company that supports it. It’s the people down the street. So, to have a unique, independent community voice is absolutely amazing and it’s just sort of a wish and a dream come true.
((NATS))
((PKG)) PIA -- ZARELA MOSQUERA
((Banner: Community Design))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((ZARELA MOSQUERA, DESIGN STRATEGIST))
What inspires me to create is a constant need to challenge myself and also to problem solve. Being a designer or creative almost becomes like a lifestyle because you are constantly surrounded by challenges and beautiful things and ugly things and you are just always observing the world.
I was born in Brasilia, Brazil. I lived there for maybe like three years of my life, very little, and then my parents and I moved to the Dominican Republic, to the capital Santo Domingo. That is where I learned English. And then I moved to the States where I did high school, so that crucial time where you are hitting your teenage years.
I mean, I always knew that I had like a connection to the arts as a kid, drawing and painting, but I never thought I am going to be able to make money out of this.
So right now, my position is called a design strategist, and my role is to basically find what is the best solution for what the client needs. I wanted to create an experience that made you reflect. The walkway became to be through the Department of Arts and Humanities in Washington, D.C., and they put out a bid that they wanted to see public art that was related to street harassment and to the public realm and how that affects pedestrian safety.
Seeing as we are architects and we are designers, we see the public realm as a way of communicating a lot of messages through design. So, there was a lot of research at first that was like the phase one is what I would say, and then a lot of ideation, a lot of sketching. Just conceptualizing what it could entail and also how do you communicate this message that is very politically charged, but also has to be presented in a very safe manner because there’s families. It’s a public project.
We wanted the form of it to create an impact in you. So, the walkway, first and foremost, it integrates itself with the pedestrian flow that is already in the city. So, the walkway is wider at the ends and as you walk in, it narrows in, and in conjunction with that, we have stories that, on the wider ends, are more harmless, possibly more positive, and as you are walking in it, the stories become more darker, more violent, more threatening. A lot of, especially with women, when we asked them, they said “I see myself in here.”
What people were kind of mentioning or commenting about is how diverse it is. So, that brings up the conversation as to what is a right way to talk to each other in a public space. Should we talk to each other at all? So, people were really questioning that and that is what public art is meant to do.
((PKG)) STORYCORPS / THE NATURE OF WAR
((Banner: Unexpected Connections))
((Banner: StoryCorps
Credits
The Nature of War
In 2005, Specialist Justin Cliburn deployed to Iraq with the Oklahoma Army National Guard.
While serving in Baghdad, Justin befriended a group of neighborhood children.
At StoryCorps, Justin told his wife, Deanne, about two Iraqi boys who made a lasting impression.))
((JUSTIN CLIBURN))
One day, we saw this child walking through the compound. His name was Ali and he did not want to talk to us.
((DEANNE CLIBURN))
As opposed to a lot of the other Iraqi kids that you encountered?
((JUSTIN CLIBURN))
Yes. He was very shy. And the second or third time that I met him, he brought his best friend Ahmed and Ahmed was much more outgoing. And so, Ali really opened up. And once I met these children, it made every day something I looked forward to. We would play rock, paper, scissors. We would kick around a soccer ball. We were about as close as people that don't speak the same language can be. I had never been really good with children and this was the first time I felt like I loved someone who wasn't my family member.
But one day, Ali showed up and I could tell something wasn't right. He kept saying, "Ahmed, Ahmed…Boom." We learned that Ahmed and his mother went to the gas station and a suicide bomber detonated. Ahmed's mother is dead. She died instantly, and Ahmed is in a hospital somewhere.
And so, other soldiers and I collected what cash we had and gave it to Ali and said, "Go take this to Ahmed's father." But later, I saw Ali walking up very slow and he sat down on the curb next to my Humvee. He dug a hole in the ground with his fingers. He picked up a rock and put it in the hole, and then he put the dirt back over it, and he just pointed to the ground and said, "Ahmed." And I knew that Ahmed was dead.
And so, I sat on the curb with him, me in desert camouflage, carrying an M-4 rifle, and him just a North Baghdad kid. Just sat there and cried.
I don't know what came of him. That's the nature of war I suppose. But whenever I see any footage from Baghdad, I'm always, kind of, looking around, wondering if he's in the frame.
BUMPER
NEXT WEEK
((Banner))
After Graduation
((SOTs))
I feel like I have really been out of state before. I have never like really experienced anything other than like life around reservation.
I ended up kind of falling love with engineering. I am really excited to work in this field.
Currently I work as an intern at the Dearborn police station and after I graduate, I plan on going to the national guard.
I am interested in immigration law. My mom is an immigration lawyer so I have kind of grown up hearing about it. And now more than ever I think that the topic is super relevant.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
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