by Souleymane Diallo | 9 Apr 2019 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Identity, Student Posts, Youth Voices
The African man is in an impossible situation. He is neither the man before colonialism nor a true Westerner. He is lost in a chasm between two worlds. Hawkers sell patriotic merchandise ahead of Ghana’s 50th anniversary of independence, 2 March 2007. Ghana was the...
by Ella Steinhilber | 8 Apr 2019 | Americas, Europe, Future of Democracy, Identity, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Youth Voices
I’ve spent the past school year studying overseas. It’s given me a new perspective on my own homeland and on the polarization that divides us. A protest against efforts to repeal the U.S. Affordable Care Act, New York, 24 July 24 2017 (EPA/JUSTIN LANE) I...
by My Van | 2 Apr 2019 | Art, Contest winners, Discovery, Identity, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Westover School, Youth Voices
Everyone prayed I would be a boy. I was born a baby girl. My photographs show how the genders “girl” and “boy” can coexist as they interact. Two figures standing in two doorways in front of a multicolored cyclorama, one figure bathed in green...
by William Mulloy | 13 Feb 2019 | Americas, Identity, Indiana University, Refugees, Student Posts, United States
The plight of these “Lost Boys” didn’t stop after they escaped danger. They’re U.S. citizens today but wrestle with what it means to succeed in America. Sudanese refugee Kuol Deng laughs as he explains how he watches Western movies with his...
by Claire Ji | 6 Dec 2018 | Human Rights, Identity, Middle East, Podcasts, The Kids Are Alright
Israel is the most gay-friendly nation in the Middle East. But it’s not perfect. Listen to two activists discuss their work to uphold gay rights in Israel. Interested in identity and gender, Giuliana Nicolucci-Altman spent a summer studying in Jerusalem trying...
by News Decoder | 11 Jun 2018 | Identity, King's Academy, Middle East, Student Posts, Youth Voices
By Dania Abuhashish (King’s Academy) If you look at me closely, I am trembling and shaking. Three years ago, I would have already been cracking a couple of jokes. It’s surprising how much a person can change; they can go from A to Z just like that. As I grew up...
by Defne Egbo | 9 Feb 2018 | Americas, Discovery, Identity, Islam, Personal Reflections, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Thacher School, United States, Youth Voices
Being biracial should be simple: you are composed of half of each parent’s race. But I’ve discovered the reality is anything but. A mixed race couple with their twin sons, Washington, DC, 11 June 2008. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) My parents are not of the...
by Laila Mirza | 29 Jan 2018 | Discovery, Donald Trump, Identity, Islam, Personal Reflections, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, United States, Youth Voices
I used to feel secure as a Muslim in America. This changed with Trump’s election and I do not believe Islamophobia will end when he leaves office. A political rally for Donald Trump, left, in Oklahoma City, 26 February 2016. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) I’ve always...
by Jaeli Rose | 19 Jan 2018 | Discovery, Human Rights, Identity, Islam, Personal Reflections, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Youth Voices
As a Jew, I can never forget the Holocaust and the slaughter of millions. But we must not persecute Palestinians for their faith. That is hypocrisy. Israeli and Palestinian women dance together during a mass protest near Beit HaArava in the Jordan Valley, Israel, 8...
by Nick Trombola | 19 Dec 2017 | Africa, Human Rights, Identity, Indiana University, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Joseph Kawesi is a transgender woman who risks prison for her gender identity. But she fights for her rights and those of Uganda’s LGBTQ community. Joseph Kawesi sits in her small home in a Kampala slum. Days before, this space was ransacked, apparently due to...