TREASURE

Contributors

Avery Perkins Kai Offett Shahad Busaleh

Sam Carlson Brittany Lingel

Our Unsung Heroines

We were challenged to create a piece that represented the heroines that have impacted each of our lives. Our subject is about inheritance of items from our heroines. We will be drawing from generational influence. Our zine intends to highlight the impact the vital roles women in our families play in our development.

ImagesourcedfromCanva.

Sam Carlson

Judaism as a religion in a family can be traced matrilineally — that is to say, if your mother is Jewish, it was because her mother was Jewish, and on and on and on. Unfortunately for my grandmother, she had no daughters, so I am not religiously Jewish. However, since Judaism is an ethnoreligion, I am still ethnically Jewish. And each time I see the Star of David around my grandmother’s neck, I am reminded of the women before us who fought for our futures.

One such woman was Irena Sendler. Though notJewishherself,IrenaworkedtofreeJewish childrenandfamiliesduringWorldWarII.She joinedthePolishSocialistPartyandgenerated false medical documents to aid her Jewish charges in spite of German occupation barring such assistance. Sendler snuck food, clothes, and various necessities under the guise of a typhus check in order to help families and children survive and escape the Warsaw Ghetto. This tactic helped to save hundreds of babies and small children, smuggling them into orphanages and convents where they would be safe until the end of the war, where theycouldthenrejointheirsurvivingfamily

Irena Sendler also was a part of the Żegota, the Polish Council to Aid Jews. In her time there, Sendler ensured the smuggled children’s new and old identities were tracked and protected by burying lists of them in jars to reconnect families after the war. When the Gestapo arrested her, a friend was able to protect the identities by hiding them in loose clothes while her home was ransacked. After a monthofbeatingsandinterrogations,Sendler escaped execution after a guard was bribed. Sendler worked as a field hospital nurse during the Warsaw Uprising after her escape untiltheGermansleftWarsaw.

Shahad Busaleh

No matter what country you are in, society will always have a set expectation for women Some of those expectations will be higher than others but either way they will still be there and it's whether we let those expectations dictate our life or not, that matters, and for me I choose to not let it, and I owe that to my mother, Maria Valentina Cruz.

Maria was the first pilot and college graduate in her family after immigrating to the United States from Mexico at the age of 11 Although it was hard on her to adapt and learn a new language and culture, she was willing to do it all over again Once she married my Saudi father and moved to Saudi Arabia. But yet even after the intense restrictions she had to face there, she made sure to not let it set a type mindset to her daughters lives.

She started working as a fitness teacher in My Private international school where she created the first girls sports team in Track Training us and pushing us to our abilities, she introduced us to a different form of possibilities that my classmates didn't know they had She wanted all the young girls to know that if someone said they couldn't do it, that was an opportunity to do it even better. Even as life progressed and we Moved to the US we were able to apply that same mindset my mother installed within us on every other aspect in our life, from getting accepted to the best schools, to winning sports championships Especially on understanding that same struggle she went through adapting to a new environment, but using it to our advantage rather than viewing it as an obstacle And for that, Maria Valentina Cruz is my Heroine

Kai Offett

TheobjectaboveisapictureframeIreceivedfrommyAuntySharonatmygraduation party in 2020. To give some context, I was graduating at home in the middle of a pandemic and even my party was really a drive-by parade and socially distant gathering. I remember her expressing that she was really proud of me and looking at the picture frame that was made by her and my cousin I chose her as my unsung heroinebecauseofherdedicationtoeducationandservinghercommunity.

AllthewomeninmyfamilyareteacherssoIwasalwaysatschoolonewayoranother.It wasnodifferentforhersincesheworkedasalibrarianatArcadiaElementarySchoolin the south suburbs of Chicago I really admire her love for educating others, especially children. She was always really passionate about kids being able to read and I constantlyrememberherbuyingmebooksforholidaysandbirthdaysthatIwouldfly through.ShewasmyfavoritepersontotalktoaboutanynewbooksthatIread,orvent aboutschoolandwork Herloveforothersshowedthroughthewayshewasalwaysso cheerfulandgenuine.

I learned a lot about the power of integrity and service to others through watching her impact everyone around her. She always had a love for writing that inspired her to write her own children's book Watching her chase her passion made me feel like I could do anything I wanted at any time Even when she retired from working she somehow found a way to volunteer at a library close to her and still work. When she passed, I noticed how many students, friends, and family came out to support our family I think her passion to give back to others whether that be through her teaching, her writing, or her food heavily impacted me and the way I choose to interact with the people around me now. Although I don’t want to be a teacher, I do want to educate others about the power of art and how we can use it to serve our communities, especially in the black community. I think that being able to watch such amazing black women give back to their communities in a way that is insurmountable was a strong factor in my belief that I can do the same through my own artwork and perspective

My object and unsung heroine connect to the greater Chicago area because the history of women in my family dedicating their lives to education is a common story in many neighborhoods in Chicago Our history of education in Chicago recently shows an extensive history of black and brown teachers fighting for the proper resources and support to service their communities. We have been through various struggles in our public school system, from union strikes for proper pay to past mayors choosing to entirely close schools that service primarily black and brown kids. Teachers in Chicago and surrounding Chicagoland have fought and continue to fight many adversities to give students the best education possible and my aunt's work in her school district was no different. Even now there are such strong rising women that are activists and organizers that are passionate about equity, community, and education for marginalized students in Chicago

In a city where the prison-to-pipeline system is running rampant through our education system due to corrupt leadership, many women make a difference through education Women like my aunt dedicate their money, time, energy, personal resources, and money to making sure that students have a positive experience in school and that positive experience lasts so much longer than their time in school Being able to give others your time and energy to help them have a confident and positive mindset is an immeasurable gift to give. I hope to be able to give this gift to others

Avery Perkins

My Grandmother has a massive impact on me, and my family as a whole. She was the president of her city’s division of the NAACP. During her time as president she was community leader, and pushed for accessible voting for Black citizens Even in older age, she worked with her local “Meals on Wheels” that provided meals to those who are elderly, or are unable to leave their houses to eat She has always been involved with activism from a young age, and she has left her mark on my family My Father is going so far as to make a non-profit organization connected to his business named after both his mother and my Granny. I am inspired by her and her legacy so much that I want to have as much of an impact on my community as she did

For our zine I have created images made to represent how items of sentimentality can affect our everyday lives. In a surrealist fashion I have placed jewelry in the place of items we ingest to evoke a sense of connection to the jewelry, in a very literal way.