As Al-Bustan’s Tabadul: Reflecting on Our Immigrant Experiences Through the Arts program at Northeast High School took shape during Fall 2019, we continued earnestly with our activities in the first few months of 2020. Once the city-wide shutdown due to COVID-19 took effect on March 14, our team began working remotely and continued communications with our students, using creative ways to support students in their creative expressions.
By mid-March, more than 400 students across 17 classes had participated in arts integration workshops and projects with Al-Bustan. The students explored topics about their own experiences with immigration, cultural identity, and finding their voice. The form of in-school programming varied depending upon class needs. Single day workshops, such as one led by Al-Bustan’s Percussion Director Hafez Kotain for several Spanish classes on the relationship between the Arab diaspora and Spanish culture brought music into the language arts. Students drummed on their desk tops and danced in their seats to a blend of Afro-Latino and Arab beats. When asked to write a hashtag to encapsulate the lesson students wrote “#drumsarelit” — “#thatwascool” — “#learningculture through music”
In a series of workshops led by visual artist Keisha Whatley, students in Mr. Wolfinger’s French classes made Mardi Gras masks. They created a beautiful array of colorful masks — expressions of their personal experiences while exploring the relationship between French and American cultures. Many drew upon their national heritage with the colors of their flags, while others personalized their masks to represent themselves or who they aspired to be.
In addition to in-school arts, Al-Bustan staff facilitated three groups of writers, artists, and podcasters who met weekly after-school with teaching artists to further develop projects with a special focus on changes they wished to see in the world. The core participants were 15 to 20 writers who decided to do a collective writing project. Their composition involved each participant designing individual fictional narratives which were brought together into a single narrative arch. The topics of the students’ project focused on racial prejudice, sexuality and taboo, social justice and equality, and family conflicts. A second group of writers decided to pursue poetry and short story writing about growing up as immigrants in America. Together these students fearlessly faced the world head on, writing and engaging in conversations about colorism and sexual violence to their own difficulty navigating a relationship with their culture’s traditions or the loss they felt due to the death and estrangement of family members.
One of the podcast groups, including Aneudy, Na-Ashia, Eric, Corbon, and Kareem, addressed the topic of teen depression and mental health — you can listen to the podcast below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
Another group of recent Arab/Muslim immigrant students, including Muhammad, Ahmed, Hanna, Asma, and Mahmoud, addressed their experiences with bullying due to their ethnicity and religion. Similar to their Arab/Muslim peers in the school, they acknowledged that while they have a sense of belonging at NEHS with their friends, they still feel isolated and foreign in a new country. You can listen to their podcast below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
With schools closed during the COVID-19 quarantine, some students were still interested in continuing with their podcast recordings. In this episode, NEHS student Kathleen Freemont interviews Philadelphia’s 3rd District Councilmember Jamie Gauthier on May 22, 2020. In the first of a two-part interview the student asks Ms. Gauthier how COVID-19 pandemic is affecting her, her constituents, and her district. We also learn about Ms. Gauthier’s experience growing up in West Philadelphia, her background in Urban Planning, what got her into politics, and what drives her as a City Councilmember. You can listen to Part 1 of the podcast below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
In the second of this two-part episode, Kathleen Freemont discusses with Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier the pandemic’s role in exacerbating inequities, Ahmad Arbery’s death, recent incidences of race-based violence, and the Black Lives Matter movement. You can listen to Part 2 of the podcast below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
For the fourth and fifth episodes, on June 12, 2020 Kathleen Freemont interviews PA State Senator Sharif Street and Councilman Derek Green about their personal and professional views on police brutality, the significance of the Black Lives Matter Movement, and their response to protests calling for equality and social justice for Black and Brown communities.
You can listen to the podcast with Mr. Street below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
You can listen to the podcast with Mr. Green below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
In this sixth episode recorded June 26, 2020 students Victoria Victor and Kathleen Freemont interviewed Philadelphia’s At-Large Councilmember Helen Gym. After discussing COVID-19 and the concerns about the re-opening of the Philadelphia School District and racism related to COVID-19, Councilmember Gym discusses the current administration’s role during the pandemic and the politics surrounding it.
You can listen to the podcast below with Councilmember Gym below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
In this seventh episode, recorded June 5, 2020 NEHS students Victoria Victor and Kathleen Freemont record an open conversation with several of their peers, most of whom are immigrants or second generation students from Haiti and West Africa. The group convesation is on Black Lives Matter, systemic racism, police brutality, and the government’s response during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can listen to the podcast below with the NEHS Students below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
In this eighth episode, recorded on June 26, 2020 NEHS participant Kathleen Freemont interviews rising Philly Pop Trop Artist Rebecca Gonzales, aka REGO There She Go on COVID-19, BLM, Immigration, Activism and Art.
You can listen to the podcast below with the NEHS Students below and on Al-Bustan’s Soundcloud!
We are encouraged as we see how the Tabadul program has provided students of all backgrounds and talents a safe space to explore their interests and express themselves through the arts.
This Tabadul program is supported by The Philadelphia Foundation and The Community Fund for Immigrant Wellness, a participatory grantmaking initiative. This year Al-Bustan also received general operating support from The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Samuel Fels Fund, William Penn Foundation, and Ford Foundation.
