tagged w/ Oral History
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May 16th marks the 100th anniversary of Studs Terkel’s birth and an occasion to memorialize one of the most prolific writers and cultural critics in the history of Chicago letters. As an author, broadcaster and oral historian, legendary Chicagoan Studs Terkel celebrated the lives of ordinary Americans. Some of Terkel’s many friends and fans are hoping to return the favor with a series of events marking the 100th birthday of a man whose work is a chronicle of the 20th century.
The Studs Terkel Centenary, a group headed up by Terkel’s friends, including Chicago Tribune reporter Rick Kogan, on Saturday will rededicate the Division Street Bridge, which was named after Terkel 20 years ago. On Wednesday, The Newberry Library will host a birthday party featuring guest speakers who will share stories about Studs. Terkel’s friends will ensure that his memory lives on with a day of Studs-only programming on WFMT-FM on his birthday, with performances of passages from Terkel’s 2001 book “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” at Steppenwolf Theatre next week and by phoning in personal anecdotes about Terkel to a hotline set up by Chicago’s Hull House Museum.
This piece includes a number of photographs, an animated short and five documentary short films about the life and works of Studs Terkel.
http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/the-studs-terkel-centenary-chicago-celebrates-legendary-studs-terkel/May 16th marks the 100th anniversary of Studs Terkel’s birth and an occasion to... more
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There’s Ben & John, best friends and Community Ambassadors. Both Oakland natives, they exude an infectious positive energy. Before he dies, Ben wants to skydive to see why anyone would want to jump out of an airplane.
There’s Myles, a nine-year-old poet from New Jersey who enjoys playing PlayStation in his spare time. When he’s President he’s going to outlaw beer companies and eliminate taxes for those who make less than $250K a year.
There’s Chris, a tough-looking guy with a scar across the side of his face that he got in a fight. He sells food stamps for a living now, but since he was a child he’s wanted to be a biologist. He’s still working on that.
There’s Lordleon, a crossing guard on the corner of Grand and Lakeshore since 1996. When they tried to relocate him, the store owners offered to pay for him to stand on the same corner. He could “cook an elephant if it would stand still” and is terrified of snakes.
There’s Dillan, a drop-dead gorgeous aspiring model who began to transition from male to female about a year ago. She can’t afford the hormone treatments yet. Modeling is helping her gain confidence. She hasn’t been able to come out to her father.
Every day, Projet En Vue is adding to a growing archive of the stories of people who make up the social fabric of Oakland. Oakland is a community of artists, entrepreneurs, rebels, and immigrants. The people here don’t just live their lives. They live their lives with vision and purpose. The stories we have collected through Projet En Vue are strikingly diverse. The only criteria for participation in the project is that one must have a connection to Oakland. We walk around with a voice recorder and a camera, and ask people to share their stories. Some of them we flagged down on the street, and some of them found us.
Outsiders have many preconceptions about Oakland, and not all of the stereotypes are unfounded. I know. The day before we began the project, I was violently mugged by two men in East Oakland. Oakland is a place filled with extremes. There is profound pain, poverty, and neglect here. The schools are like prisons. Kids grow up not knowing that college is even a remote possibility for them. There is also profound beauty here. It is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse communities in America, and even in the most underserved neighborhoods, the dream of social mobility is alive and well. People can make it here. It is a city filled with potential and possibilities. This duality is evident in every interview we have conducted.
This project has permanently changed the way that we view and interact with people in our community. It is changing the way that we and the people who interact with our project perceive “strangers.” Personally, this project has given me a purpose: to document individuals’ stories and experiences and put them “in view.” I will be doing this for the rest of my life. The experience of interviewing strangers on a daily basis and learning from them is not something I could ever give up.
The next stage of our project is a full-color photo book featuring fifty portraits of people in Oakland. We want to create a tangible representation of our project that will be distributed nationally. We hope that our book will help create a sense of pride in Oakland and will help both residents and non-residents understand its complexity. 25% of our proceeds for the book will be donated to the Ella Baker Center, an organization committed to unlocking the power of low-income people, people of color, and their allies through organizing, leadership development, and advocacy.
To meet the cost of self-publishing our book and printing it locally and sustainably, we have launched a Kickstarter campaign. We have 19 days left to reach our funding goal. This project is intended to serve our community, and we need the help of our community to make it possible. Donate to our campaign here: http://kck.st/HOhPv2
Learn more about Projet En Vue at www.projetenvue.orgThere’s Ben & John, best friends and Community Ambassadors. Both Oakland... more
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Public Television’s StoryCorps oral history project is premiering “The StoryCorps 9/11 Series,” three new animated films commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The three-minute animated short films by the Rausch Brothers animators were created to preserve the memories of those who lost loved ones that tragic day. While the films are presented in a vintage cartoon-style, they carry deeply emotional heft due to the tragedy inherent in their stories. They are simple works, befitting the everyday lives that were nonetheless changed forever nearly 10 years ago. A major reason that 9/11 is such a tragedy is that it happened to people not unlike you or me, and these films do an amazing job of crystallizing that central truth.
This piece includes a number of colorful illustrations, as well as the three animated short films, “John and Joe,” “Always a Family” and “She Was the One.
”http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/the-10th-anniversary-of-911-the-storycorps-911-series/Public Television’s StoryCorps oral history project is premiering “The... more
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Today is Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, and I'd like to mark the day by sharing an oral-history from The Jewish-American Oral History Project of a couple of Jewish New Yorkers and artists who throughout their half century marriage have alternated their residence between Israel and the United States. I interviewed Petach Tikvah, Israel residents Mel and Miriam Alexenberg a year and ten months ago at a restaurant overlooking Rockefeller Center during one of their visits to the city where they met and married.Today is Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, and I'd like to... more
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I interviewed Fred and Rebecca in August 2007 in their Clinton Hill, Brooklyn brownstone. I began the interview by asking how they met.I interviewed Fred and Rebecca in August 2007 in their Clinton Hill, Brooklyn... more
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With the new school year about to commence many New York area Jewish parents will have to find a way to fund their children's day school tuitions. In my June 10, 2010 article I shared my interview with Mindi Wernick and Malkie Grozalsky in which they speak of having made financial sacrifices to send their children to a Jewish school. In my interview with Nassau County residents Keith and Cindy Hamada, Keith speaks of day school tuition as a form of birth control that limits the sizes of Jewish families.
Although Keith and Cindy belong to an Orthodox synagogue and my wife Shoshana and I belong to a Conservative congregation, I was struck by how similar our levels of observance are, which teaches us that labels don't tell the whole story.With the new school year about to commence many New York area Jewish parents will have... more
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Three years ago I interviewed Gary and Judy Simon at their home in Stony Brook, NY in Suffolk County, Long Island. Gary and Judy have four adult children, two of whom have neurological disabilities. Judy is an atheist and Gary believes in a remote indifferent God, but both have strong Jewish identities.Three years ago I interviewed Gary and Judy Simon at their home in Stony Brook, NY in... more
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In Monday's article I introduced the The Jewish-American Marriage Oral History Project. In honor of Brooklyn Pride's 14th Annual Pride Celebration this week the first Jewish-American couple whose interview will appear in this column is a Brooklyn lesbian couple, Mindi Wernick and Malkie Grozalsky, whom I interviewed in their Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn apartment two years and ten months ago. To make the interview read like a dialogue I have edited out my questions; for clarity the interview subjects sometimes rephrase a question as a statement, and where this occurs it indicates a change of subject. I began the interview by asking how they met.In Monday's article I introduced the The Jewish-American Marriage Oral History... more
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