Picture Justice 2018 Zine

Picture A look at THE changemakers of NYC Summer 2018

S Racial Justice U` Environmental Justice f Housing Justice n Post-incarceration Justice

2

S T N E CONT More than just a number ...................................................page 5 NYC Upstanders [jennifer + eric]....................................page 8 Plastic lasts a lifetime: Save the Earth one habit at a time....................................page 9 Education Beyond the Classroom: A Place for All.......page 11 NYC Upstanders [iman + kari].............................................page 14 Move Without Moving: Gentrification Impacts on Two Long Term NYC Residents.......................page 15 Resources : Get Educated, Stay Connected......................page 19

3

Created by the students of the 2018 Picture Justice program

Dear Reader, When faced with the realities of social justice issues today, many people feel defeated and unsure if change is possible.

Although it is clear that the time for change is now, remaining energized and committed to justice can be difficult.

The Picture Justice team spent three weeks in the summer of 2018 interviewing changemakers from NYC to learn about the roots of social inequities and what we as individuals can do to transform from bystanders to upstanders.

The team of young changemakers at Picture Justice chose to photograph and document diverse activist and upstanders in New York City. From environmental advocates to racial justice activists, the city is filled with empowered people who are working for change.

In this magazine, we are highlighting the work of NYC activists to inspire others who are seeking change. This magazine is both an educational tool and a call to action. We believe that all people can be changemakers and upstanders, and we hope that these stories inspire you to take action and stand up for positive change in your communities. – Picture Justice Summer 2018 Team

4

More Than Just a Number

By Grace Brown & Edgar Hernández

Over the past few years, Project Liberation has worked with almost three hundred women.

Ivy proudly explains that none have gone back to prison. All the women helped by Project Liberation have either gone back to school or are employed, and all are living in their own homes. Additionally, most of the women have reunited with their families.

Ivy has taken her own hope for a better future and become a true changemaker for other women.

Bernadette, who has completed the Project Liberation program, reflects that “Ivy helped me to define myself as a woman and have more respect for myself.” In helping other women such as Bernadette, Ivy has helped them break out of their own personal imprisonment to become changemakers in their

communities. In helping the individual, Project Liberation is creating a “ripple effect” which goes on to help entire communities.

Through Project Liberation, Jessica has been able to reconnect with her children and strengthen her ability to confidently overcome life challenges. Jessica came to New York from Philadelphia, and met Ivy through the shelter system. After meeting Ivy, she became a participant in the 21 week program. She had no place to stay and was unsure of her future in New York.

Ivy Woolf Turk– prison number 6026054

5

“

“

Your greatest adversity can become your greatest future.

Now, Jessica is out of the shelter and has a job. Jessica shared that in the beginning she would not talk about her two children because this was too sensitive of a topic for her. She feels that she now has the courage to address this situation. Jessica particularly benefited from yoga offered in the program, which helps relax her and unites her body and mind. Jessica recognizes the personal growth fostered by Project Liberation: “I’m not where I used to be, I’m not where I want to be, but I’m working on it.”

FAST FACTS v Q s 6

Jessica and Ivy

Over the past three decades, the number of incarcerated women has increased by more than 700% Currently, the unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated people is higher than the general unemployment rate during the Great Depression Only 4% of the world’s female population lives in the U.S., but the U.S. accounts for over 30% of the world’s incarcerated women.

“I’m not where I used to be, I’m not where I want to be, but I’m working on it.”

Jessica, Myra and Bernadette: past participants in Project Liberation

7

NYC Upstanders Jennifer Bartlett is a disability justice advocate with Rise and Resist. She is currently working with the Elevator Action Group advocating for more elevators in the subway system in NYC. She was introduced to Rise and Resist by her husband and has continued to advocate for disability justice within the group.

Eric Lesh is a lawyer and the Executive Director of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York, which works to promote legal justice for the LGBT community. Currently, Eric is focused on ensuring that the nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court will take a progressive stance on civil rights issues, as he believes that “people’s lives and rights are on the line.”

I don’t see disability as a problem at all. Period. For me personally it’s a part of my identity, it’s a part of who I am.

– Jennifer

Yes, we can march in the street, but how do I channel the anger and frustration and helpless feeling that I have into something positive? For me, I come to work every single day and I have an outlet to make change in one person’s life.

– Eric

8

Plastic lasts a lifetime: Save the Earth one habit at a time

By Nancy Morales, Shadey Ruiz & Also Robledo

When Amer Jandali returned home from a late night DJ gig to watch a documentary highlighting the damaging effects of plastic on our changing environment, he didn’t expect it to motivate a radical shift within his life. However, the film inspired him to abandon his job as a successful full-time DJ to fight for the reduction of plastic waste.

In 2016, Amer began working in the NYC office of Dopper, an organization with the goal of increasing environmental awareness, providing global access to safe drinking water, and reducing single-use plastic waste.

Additionally, his startup company #FutureMeetsPresent works to establish sustainability as a social and systemic norm. Believing that education is central to bettering the way people relate to climate justice, Amer focuses on bringing awareness to empower individuals to do what they can to reduce waste.

Amer still draws on his event hosting skills to promote environmental justice at lively events hosted by Dopper. Many of these

You become a part of that creative process.

You are that creative process. That is what Dopper has been to me as well. It has been a place for me to express myself.

9

events take place with young students, because Amer envisions youth as the changemakers of tomorrow. He hopes to expand their curiosity about the Earth and their roles in protecting it.

Amer encourages students to experience the harsh realities that our globe is facing while also empowering them with innovative tools for change.

By combining innovation with justice, Amer hopes to begin to shift the collective mindset to one which prioritizes sustainability. He challenges criticism by pushing forward with like-minded individuals, creating a conversation around environmental justice that emphasizes individual change, innovation, and education.

Early 2018, Dopper sourced more than 1,000 plastic water bottles from various organizations, communities, and the waste facility, Sure We Can. The bottles were used to create a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge that now travels around the city to spread awareness about the impact of plastic waste.

By combining innovation with justice, Amer hopes to begin to shift the collective mindset to one which prioritizes sustainability.

10

Education Beyond the Classroom A Place for All

By Nancy Morales

Racial justice is a cause many are fighting for in the United States. Monica Mottgomery is an upstander working to make a change in her community by using education and art for activism, advocacy and inclusion. The Black Lives Matter movement, which began in February 2012, when Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by a white neighhborhood watch volunteer, was a turning point for Monica as an educator.

As an elementary school teacher, Monica noticed that her students were struggling to understand race relations in the United States. She began to use her platform as a teacher to educate her children on what racial justice meant and how they could understand their place in the bigger system. The students engaged and her classes created dialogue and the beginning of understanding. At the end of that school year she was told that these actions were inappropriate for the classroom, and was fired.

11

m ea dr a d ha ays alw I e us ca be me to ll ca up ke wa a s wa It to create social justice spaces. I thought that could be the classroom, but I realized it is not.

Instead of allowing the termination of her job to leave her defeated, Monica was energized to create more spaces for education as an act of activism. Ultimately, she founded the Museum Of Impact, a social justice pop-up museum that encourages people from diverse communities to transform from bystanders to upstanders. The museum motto is hear, care, act: Hearing equals Empathy. Caring equals Equity. Acting equals Intention.

As Monica demonstrates in her advocacy work, art and education can create powerful platforms for understanding across the boundaries of identity and experience. Understanding how to become an upstander is an important step in the process. Upstanding asks you to consistently choose to use your voice to stand up for justice.

By making the choice to stand up against oppression, upstanders refuse to be passive in the face of injustice. We can all be upstanders.

12

Bringing social justice content and avenues to action is what we bring to the people. It is what I came to do, it’s what I got fired for doing, and what I’ll commit my life to doing.

13

NYC Upstanders Iman Abdul is the director of education engagement and curriculum design for IntegrateNYC. IntegrateNYC is a youth led organization that stands for equity in New York city schools. She is currently working on a campaign called ‘still not equal’ which demands equity in schools, with regard to race and enrollment, resources, representation, and restorative justice. Iman is currently a student at the city college in New York Harlem.

Kari Hodges is an activist and the founder of Womxn Rank, a tech app for women on college campuses. Through Womxn Rank women anonymously support, report, and connect with each other over incidents of sexism, harassment and assault. It’s also a great platform for activists to find other activists. They have partnered with other organizations that will help make their app expand and support more women nationally.

In order for you to do this work you have to have self love, If you don’t have self love, you can’t give love.

– Iman

My truth only has value if heard by other women that know that this truth is also true for them.

– Kari

14

: g in v o M t u o h it W e v Mo o w T n o s t c a p Im n io t a Gentrific s t n e id s e R C Y N m r e T Long

By Heidy Animas, Ava Grosso and Karen Sorto

They added about four stories. I used to have a view of the Empire State Building, now it’s just this white building. And if I look closely I can see the sky. We demonstrated and tried to do something but we couldn’t.” -Rosalie

The housing crisis is a widespread concern which impacts many New Yorkers. Since the 1970s, rent in NYC has increased dramatically, displacing many residents from their homes.

Kathy and Rosalie are two long-term Manhattan residents who volunteer at The Metropolitan Council on Housing, and work to ensure that all tenants know their rights. Both women have used their personal experiences to empower others and advocate for change within their communities.

Rosalie has been a resident in the neighborhood of Chelsea since 1972, and Kathy has been a resident in the East Village neighborhood since 1973.

Both Rosalie’s and Kathy’s concerns of gentrification in their community have led them to become advocates of tenants’

15

When I first moved in, there was more of a community feeling.

–Kathy

rights at the Metropolitan Council on Housing and volunteers of their hotline.

Both women use their knowledge and experience of living in an area that has been gentrified to inform other concerned tenants about their rights. Since the 70s, both women have witnessed their neighborhood transitioning from a neighborhood of working class people and immigrants to a place that has unaffordable housing and new “big chain businesses�. These changes are the main factors for the closure of old shops and displacement of many residents that have lived in the area for many years.

Despite the city being the beloved home of countless tenants and mom and pop shops, the power of big businesses and greedy buyers pushed the old New York out and shifted the feel of the city.

Kathy and Rosalie are among the few that have remained in their neighborhoods as gentrification rapidly increases and will continue to displace those who were once stable in their homes. What was once the home for many people has been monopolized to become a haven for developers and home to the privileged.

16

Visual signs of gentrification: a 17newly renovated building next to an old one.

18

Resource,sStay Connected Get Educated

Post-Incarceration Program http://ivywoolfturk.com/ Environmental Justice https://dopper.com/usa/ https://medium.com/@amerjandali/ futuremeetspresent-d54353320742 Racial Justice http://www.weeksvillesociety.org/ https://www.museumofimpact.org/ Tenants’ Rights http://metcouncilonhousing.org/ Tenants’ Rights Hotline: 212-979-6238 Eric https://lgbtbar.org/ Kari https://www.womxnrank.com/ Iman https://www.integratenyc.org/ Jennifer https://www.riseandresist.org/ https://www.riseandresist.org/elevator-action-group This hardware store established in 1924 is one of the last small businesses in the neighborhood.

19

Our Team Students Aldo Robledo Ava Grosso Edgar Hernández Grace Brown Heidy Animas Karen Sorto Nancy Morales Shadey Ruiz Program Manager Debra Driscoll PROOF Associates Phoebe Mol Maya Jabrallah Photography Instructors Andrew Lichtenstein Laura Trainor Zine Design Willhemina Wahlin

PROOF

Media for Social Justice©

This is a publication of PROOF: Media for Social Justice Website: www.proof.org Contact: info@proog.org © 2018 PROOF: Media for Social Justice New York