The power of empathy.
Beyond Borders: Anger, Destruction, and Rebuilding
Beyond Borders: Anger, Destruction, and Rebuilding is a culmination of solidarity building workshops between the United Women of East African and San Diego State University Transfronterizo Alliance Student Organization (TASO).
Anger as a tool within Social Justice
In this piece, participants explored the role of anger as a tool within social justice movements and how, when reflected on and used, can impulse individuals and communities to mobilize and speak out against injustice. Participants were asked to create photographs that symbolize something that makes them angry about the world they live in. Participants deconstructed and altered their images in some way, shape or form. They were prompted to: Rip it. Crumple it up. Step on it. Throw it. Stitch it. It was important that they added to the piece or changed it in some way.
The piece accompanied both groups on a binational field trip to Friendship Park, a space separated by the U.S. / Mexico Border wall. Each group created a symbolic act of solidarity on their respective sides of the border in an attempt to question and challenge the physically separation that the border fosters ultimately transmitting the power of collective anger and unity beyond physical limitations.
EMOTION PORTRAITS AND THE POWER OF RADICAL LISTENING
Emotion portraits and the Power of Radical Listening is a culmination of solidarity building workshops between the Somali Bantu Community of San Diego City Heights Youth for Change and the United Women of East Africa.
For this collaboration, participants dug deep into the theme of mental health, how it relates to health equity, and how human connection plays a role out health and wellbeing. Participants brainstormed how mental health is perceived among the systems that impact them - the larger community, family and friends, and self. The collective reflected on the different emotions that define their personality and identity. Using radical listening, the group discussed how these emotions were accepted and or rejected among systems. Participants symbolized these emotions through partner based portraiture- used the experience of radical listening to work with one another to create images.
I AM.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.