I was invited to join the Prescott Circus Theatre (PCT) troupe as acrobatics instructor while I was traveling in East Africa. I was so excited about the opportunity. I had never heard of PCT before. Upon my arrival back to San Francisco, I went to check out a performance that PCT was doing for Sunday Streets in the Tenderloin. I was in awe of the skills they demonstrated on stage—juggling clubs, dancing on stilts, riding backwards on unicycles and balancing atop a big, heavy globe painted like Mother Earth.

Thanks to its founder Aileen Moffitt, PCT has been a staple in the community of West Oakland for nearly 30 years. David Hunt, executive director, calls it a “Social Circus.” It seems like everyone in West Oakland has been a “Prescott Clown” at some point in their youth. Even two of the main coaches DeMarcello Funes and Ceara Walton grew up as clowns. PCT’s home-base is still Prescott Elementary, where it all started. With age, experience and much development, PCT has expanded and now offers satellite programs with similar programming all around Oakland. What’s more fun than kids learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) while getting to clown around whether upside down, right-side up, on stilts and unicycles, juggling three balls in their hands?

At Prescott, not only are the children the main attraction, they are also proof that children can play hard, work hard, and make a difference in their community. PCT does over 100 shows per year including their annual spring showcase where they share their arts and talents with Oakland and the Bay Area. We need more programs like PCT in our neighborhoods. We must support these programs in order for them to grow and persevere.

It was, and still is, such a pleasure to witness and be a part of something where youth have the opportunity to show the world their greatness, despite the fact of being overlooked, undermined and overshadowed in our society.

Misconceptions of West Oakland lead us to believe that it is nothing more than a desolate ghetto with little to nothing of value. But the children of PCT exist as proof that life in West Oakland goes far beyond the confines of such boxed realities and perspectives.

Nonetheless, every environment has its challenges.

Unfortunately, in many low-income communities drugs, violence, and the absence of both dreams and fellowship are often prevalent. This is only part of the reality that plagues West Oakland. And yet, it was residents of West Oakland that mobilized to resist the “urban renewal” projects of the 1950s-’60s. The Black Panthers grew out of this resistance and West Oakland became the center of the revolutionary Black Panther Movement in the late 1960s. West Oakland was home to leaders like Bobby Seale, Fred Hampton, and Huey P. Newton. Thus the reality we think we see is just an illusion; a distraction that can cause a community of people to forget or overlook all that West Oakland really is. Environmental justice activist Grace Lee Boggs says, “The time has come for us to reimagine everything.”

The Prescott clowns will grow up and give back to our communities. This is why they are encouraged to explore, apply and value their imaginations. With their gifts, they are the sparks that will connect the future and the past to our present.

Over the last year I have been given the opportunity to see the Prescott clowns grow and blossom both on and off stage. I’ve seen students fussing and fighting one moment, and the next basing and supporting each other for acrobatic pyramids. I’ve seen children triumph over skills they couldn’t do before. I have seen students teaching other students. I myself was taught how to juggle clubs by a tremendously talented 5^thgrader who aspires to be a world-renowned West African stilt dancer.

AVE, as a name, can be broken down into many things. One of its key acronyms is Access Via Exposure. PCT is that in a nutshell. What our youth need in ostracized, exploited communities are meaningful experiences so that they can grow into individuals that can maneuver inside and outside of their communities and act as contributors to the world around them no matter where they go. Prescott is a gateway into the unexplored, providing access to endless opportunities in and out of their West Oakland community.

Prescott’s social circus teaches them character, presentation, culture, community, teamwork, body awareness and a playful spirit. They are reminded that they are the stars and the world is their stage. One Drum. One Sound. One Circus.

Jarrel Phillips is the founder of AVE. Eyes Opened works in collaboration with AVE. For more information on AVE, please visit avesidea.org.

On Saturday, April 6, 2013, we lost Tiffany Faith Burnoski, 20, in a fatal car accident when she was heading home to San Francisco from Cal State Fullerton. She was a Civil Engineering major and an American Studies minor at California State University Fullerton. Tiffany leaves behind her father and mother, Tom and Jennifer Burnoski; her older sister and brother-in-law, Jamie and John Magpoc, her younger siblings, Jonathan, Joshua, Matthew and Elizabeth; her aunt, Christine Joy Ferrer; uncle, Frederick Ferrer; her grandmother, Erlinda B. Amagan, and boyfriend, Casey Chow. If you’d like to donate to the family towards the funeral, medical and other expenses, you can do so on youcaring.com. This is the eulogy I had written and read for Tiffany’s funeral on April 16. Tiffany is my niece.

I became an Antie when I was only 8 years old. First, to Jamie, when my older sister Jennifer married Tom, and then on September 17, 1992 the day Tiffany Faith Burnoski entered this world.

And you don’t know how many times over the years I’ve tried to explain to people that Tiffany is NOT my cousin, she is my niece. Yes, she’s somewhat around my age, taller than me, bigger than me, even sometimes acts more grown than me, but she’s still my niece. This was also the case for Jamie. I think we finally gave up and just told people that we’re sisters and I looked like the mom, Jamie looked like the dad, and Tiff looked liked both.

But Tiffany was more than just my niece—to me she was, and still is one one of my best friends, my confidant, and my big/little sister.

Tiff was real, smart, driven, and creative. She was the type of person you could tell everything and anything and she’d always get you. She’d listen to your good/bad/ugly/and crazy. She’d be the first to laugh at you, but also with you. She possessed an infectious laugh, one hell of a smile, and brought joy and silliness to every room she entered. She liked Math and was dedicated to Civil Engineering and American Studies, and still managed to stay rooted to her love for dance and song.

Tiff loved her siblings, our family, her friends, and of course, her boyfriend Casey very much. What other 20-year-old do you know, would take all of spring break off work just to hang out with her littlest siblings? And also spend the weekend before with her brothers, and travel back and forth from So Cal to be with her family for Easter? I mean at, 20, I was just trying to go to New York City for spring break with my friends.

Growing up in the same household, my nieces and nephews and I are all so tight knit. And constantly with each other. When Tiff and I were younger, we even wanted to start a dance team and call ourselves, “T-N-T, Dynamite,” for Tine and Tiffany. We both love to dance.

Tiffany is a beautiful soul, whose life, I see now, has touched countless people. Last week, they even held a vigil for her at CSU Fullerton. About 150 people lit candles for her that evening and shared stories about how much Tiff meant to them.

From Fullerton, as part of PASA Kaibigan, and her dance group Infinite PASAbilities; to Shiloh Church, and as part of Jah Oui, Voice of Pentecost Christian School, SF State and their dance department; Hollister, Lowell High School, and their dance department, CAT and she never ceased to make a positive impact. If you know anyone one of us in our family, you also knew Tiff.

Over the last several days, I’ve probably played the YouTube video that her Fullerton friends made for her, “In Memory of Tiffany Burnoski” close to 50 times — just to hear her voice at the end of it, just to hear her sing.

For me, everything has been a blur of emotions from shock to sadness to frustration to hope. What has brought me the most peace has been prayer, meditation, my supportive friends, listening to that inner voice inside of me, talking to Tiffany throughout my day, and hearing about the hundreds of beautiful things people have said about her on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I realize that there is no use trying to make sense of her death, or to blame, or to wonder what if, or to think she had her whole life ahead of her, or that it should have been me who died.

Sometimes there needs to be that one person to leave a beautiful legacy that will change our lives forever. Her life is a testament of God’s love and light.

Life is life, no matter how long or how short. What matters is what you do with the life God’s given you.

And yet, so many of us live day-to-day, dead—dead to this life, dead to yourself and dead to who you are. So in the end, what is life if you don’t give it purpose? And if you don’t create meaning with your actions, no matter your situation.

If nothing else, today we celebrate Tiffany’s life, who she is, and everything she represents. She truly lived. And that is why we are all here today. Her life imprinted on our lives.

My youngest nephew Matthew gave me a shirt for Christmas that said, “World’s Best Antie.” But the truth is, I was blessed with the world’s best nieces and nephews, all six of them, and I will always love you guys, no matter what.

The last time, I saw Tiffany was a week before she passed. It was last minute thing, but she met me at my work and did my hair and makeup for my best friend Hannah’s wedding, just like she always did my hair and makeup for various occasions. She even let me borrow her earrings for the wedding. I’ll forever carry this memory with me.

We must remember, that although Tiff’s physical body may no longer be with us—her spirit and love remain immortal. We must realize that we are not our bodies. Our body is only a host; a vessel that God uses to house our soul and spirit.

A few days after Tiff died, someone very close to me had a dream. In that dream Tiff said, “Why is everyone acting all crazy… tell them I’m happy. Tell them, tell them, I’m finally free.”

Dear Tiff,

Well, I guess I’m really gonna’ have to learn how to do my own hair and makeup now, huh? Thank you for being that glue that held our family together. And even now, you’re still that glue that brings us all together. I know you’ll always be with me. - Tine

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen.

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And just when I started to feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, I received a letter from a James P. Anderson, return address, San Quentin Prison.

Now I have received a few letters from Anderson over the last few years, while working for Urban Habitat’s Race, Poverty & the Environment Journal. I learned of his plight; how he was sentenced to death row more than three decades ago, longer than I’ve been alive on this planet. He allegedly murdered two women, but continues to research and obtain documents in hopes to prove his innocence and wrongful conviction. And yet, confined within jail walls he is a self-styled painter, poet, and consultant, whose work has been showed in numerous galleries, schools, and non-profit organizations throughout the greater Bay Area. Without any formal training, James has managed to build a strong body of work, with surreal and dreamlike symbolic imagery, and innate natural skill. His work speaks for itself.

The last I read about him in the news was in 2011, in relation to the Execution and Murder of Troy Anthony Davis. I kept each letter he’d written me in my office desk drawer. Always wanting to write him or write about him, but never had the opportunity, until now.

A few weeks after I had been laid off from Urban Habitat, I opened his letter. This is only part of what it reads:

“Well, I’m sure that you’ll receive many letters and communications expressing regrets about your departing the Race, Poverty & the Environment journal, and of course, I’m included in those many, and for all the right reasons. I should first say that the photo of you “jumping up in midair” is the perfect photograph of you. It truly makes a statement about your SPIRIT. You’re flying. And a spirit with the kind of skills that you have can’t/shouldn’t go unnoticed…I couldn’t end this letter with extending my deepest respects and admiration for your excellent article (Eyes Opened: My Exit Review), and smile. It’s very well written, and informative with the right touch of humor. I’m looking forward to reviewing more of your pieces in the future. Until then, take care and best wishes in all you pursue.”

Dear James,

I have, in fact, received your letter. Thank you for your kind words. It was definitely what I needed to hear at that exact moment. I believe your soul is heaven sent. I hope at some point you’ll read this post. Maybe Dr. Forrest will forward this to you. And, thank you for being an avid reader of the RP&E journal. Stay lifted and enlightened. – CJF

I find the inspiration for my concepts in time… in the events that have taken place from the beginning of time as it has been recorded by man. For those that know, or are seekers of the knowledge and wisdom, the repeats and parallels can be seen, as well as the numerous possibilities of all that may exist within this three dimensional existence. The origins of man, our beliefs, politics, victories, defeats, and evolution, are all symbolically represented in my visual works of art, poetry, and etched or sculpted into pendants and charms. Much can be revealed by these simple, yet profound pieces, for the few that know and see.”

- James Anderson, August 2001

James Phillip Anderson, speaking on his project entitled, “Breaking All the Rules: Insiders and Outsiders”:

I have often given critical thought to the language used to describe the many forms of art, as well as the artists themselves, as it and they are so often critiqued by those who have little true knowledge of either subject.  This certainly applies to the term Insider/Outsider Art.  

The  mainstream appears simply to reject the reality of these artists and their work reflecting the landscapes of their souls, experiences, thoughts, dreams, emotions  and visions. Being an “Inside/Outer” myself I often incorporate spiritual symbolic representations to reflect conscious realities.  For example, conventional thought  would conclude that a simple brick wall would  represent containment or confinement of some kind. However, a holistic or spiritually connected person could (and in most cases would) view each brick as being one part of the whole – an individual person, each separate and different yet the same.

Over the past year or so, I’ve become more and more aware that more often than not, the true essence of many of my own works in which there are black and white tiled floors or walkways, the immediate conscious perception is that of an artist who subscribes to the dualism doctrine.  With this immediate perception in mind, I feel obliged as a humanist and artist to clarify my conscious position, in that the dominator effect is only a reflection of a reality that does unfortunately exist and thrive, as a result of being diligently perpetrated upon the consciousness of the  populace in an effort to maintain, not only control of how we (individually and collectively) think, but the subjects, matters, issues, etc. of ponder as well.

Of course, one or the many benefits of art is its freedom of interpretation, yet we must always be mindful that our “individual absolute truth” cannot be universally applied by any stretch of the imagination.  I’d truly prefer to think and believe that my works reflect the birth of our awareness through our individual day-to-day struggles and subjective realities, and as we journey through this three-dimensional level of consciousness, we all become more holistically aware that we are truly “all in this together.”

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Archived News Stories on James P. Anderson
Various Articles, Canadian Coalition Against Death Penalty
Berserkers, East Bay Express
Death Row Inmate & Artist James Anderson, Turning Crap Into Compost

About His Case
Artist James P. Anderson, A Case For Reasonable Doubt
The Execution and Murder of Troy Anthony Davis

Visit James Phillip Anderson’s  website, www.jamespanderson.com. And also, write to James at: C-11400; 5EY39, San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA 94974.

By Christine Joy Ferrer

About five years ago, more than anything, I wanted to be a journalist who truly represented the voice of the people. A job at a corporate, mainstream publication never appealed to me. Today, I’m honored to have worked as the web and design editor for Race, Poverty & the Environment, a journal that has mirrored my passion for a myriad of issues in the realm of social and environmental justice. And it’s also great being able to say, I worked for Urban Habitat, “an organization that builds power in low-income communities and communities of color.“

But for 2013, I want to do more. It was Grace Lee Boggs that said, ”How we change the world and how we think about changing the world has to change.”

Over the last several months, I’ve really come to understand the wisdom of her words. “The time has come for us to reimagine everything. We have to reimagine work and go away from labor. We have to reimagine revolution and get beyond protest. We have to think not only about the change in our institutions but the changes we need to make in ourselves.” (Boggs).

Another world is possible: a world that exceeds the confines of corporate institutions, the non-profit sector, and the current political system. A world that puts the needs, and the basic rights of ALL people at the forefront—no matter race, class, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. From the rights of domestic workers, immigrants, women, people of color, and low-income people, to LGBT, teachers, students, workers… and the lists goes on. Selma James (p. 68) observes that our current model of work, “the activity women and men are forced to perform in order to survive… saps our time our energy and our life. “

As far-fetched as it sounds, we must create something new and do the impossible to make the world a better place. We must truly want it and then act on it, and be willing to sacrifice for what we believe in, even if it means quitting your job. I don’t believe a system structured for the sake of productivity, monetary gain, and capital can ever truly be transformed.

A few months ago, Urban Habitat held a communications/branding training workshop for its staff. We were asked to find words and phrases that define Urban Habitat’s vision, such as “change” and “transform.” But asking the powers that be to “change” or “transform” a system that’s doing exactly what it was established to do—a system built on the backs of slaves, corrupt institutions, imperialism and exploitation—negates our own power to imagine a new way of organizing our lives. Instead, we often find this power unattainable.

Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dolores Huerta, Malcolm X, Gabriela Silang, Rosa Parks, were all just ordinary people who were passionate about what they believed in and made things happen against all odds.

Muhammad Ali said, “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

Nonprofit corporations, funded by the 1-percent, did not lead the victories of the Women’s Suffrage movement, the Civil Rights movement and other social struggles. A common analysis, a collective will, and unity in action were the key ingredients in those movements, which inspired millions (Joaquin). And while the nonprofit form has a role in serving our communities, it clearly is not enough.

As I leave Urban Habitat—I have been laid off—I am saddened, and will miss all the great co-workers who have offered me encouragement and friendship. I want to especially thank my editor, B. Jesse Clarke, for being one of my great inspirations. Thank you Jesse, for everything you’ve taught me about life, production, design, publishing, politics, liberation, and so much more.

But even as I leave this job with its paid vacations and benefits to face an uncertain future, I am also grateful because I’m forced to do nothing but make my dreams a reality on my own terms and do good in the world. For those of you who want to be in touch or learn more about the next steps in my journey, visit me at eyesopenedblog.com.

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Christine Joy Ferrer is the web and design editor of Race, Poverty and the Environment and founder and editor of Eyes Opened Blog. This piece was originally written for the Reimagine RP&E farewell issue. For more information, please visit friendsofrpe.org and join us for the Reimagine RP&E: Farewell and Release Party February 20, 6:30 @ Joyce Gordon Gallery

* For references to articles that appear in the RP&E Reimagine farewell issue, author or interviewees’ last names are enclosed in parentheses.

At the Empowering Women of Color conference in March this year, I was moved to hear Grace Lee Boggs, in an open dialogue with Angela Davis, say that we must re-imagine everything; change how we think, what we do, to re-invent our society and institutions in order for revolution to happen. And as I listened to female MC and rapper Rocky Rivera give short glimpses into the revolutionary lives of three iconic women activists—Gabriela Silang, Dolores Huerta, and Angela Davis—in the 16 bars of “Heart,” I wondered who would be our next movement builders.

According to a report from United for a Fair Economy—“State of the Dream 2012, the Emerging Majority”—by the year 2030, a majority of U.S. residents under 18 will be youth of color. By 2042, blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other non-whites will collectively comprise a majority of the U.S. population. But numbers alone are not enough to shift the political and economic landscape if income and wealth remain overwhelmingly in the hands of a small group of whites. Although there have been many social and economic gains made for all races since the Civil Rights Movement, people of color continue to be left behind. The stark disparities that exist today in wealth, income, education, employment, poverty, incarceration, and health are the remnants of hundreds of years of racial oppression. To create a new world, we must sever the connection between race and poverty.

Excerpted here are the voices of young activistas who redefine what it means to be part of the new majority as women of color. They have chosen to confront the challenges plaguing their communities and build to eradicate institutionalized confines, while engaging in the struggle for social, economic and environmental justice. In their fight for liberation, they embody that famous quote from African American poet June Jordan: “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

The Activistas

• Viridiana Martinez (ncdreamteam.org) is undocumented, unafraid and unashamed. She is co-founder of the North Carolina Dream Team and a young community organizer and activist for immigrant rights.
  North Carolina Dream Team – Download Audio
  

• Yeashan Banks (peopleorganized.org) is an organizer for the Bayview Hunters Point Organizing Project at People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER). For the last year or so, she’s also been advocating for free public transportation for youth.
  Young Organizer Advocates for Transit Power – Download Audio
  

• Favianna Rodriguez (favianna.com) is a celebrated printmaker and digital artist based in Oakland, California. Her composites, created using high-contrast colors and vivid figures reflect literal and imaginative migration, global community, and interdependence.
  Women of Color in the Movement - Download Audio
  

• Smita Nadia Hussain (chaaweb.org) is a poet, blogger and photographer who serves in leadership capacities for local young Democrat and API organizations, including Community Health for Asian Americans (CHAA), the English Center and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF). She recently traveled with Habitat for Humanity to build homes in Vietnam.
  South Asian Freedom Fighters and Refugees – Download Audio
  

• Shanelle Matthews (shanellematthews.com) does online media communications for Forward Together, advocating for women of color and families on the margins who have strategically been left out of the socio-political debate on reproductive health and rights.
  Reproductive Health – Download Audio
  

• Rocky Rivera (rockyrivera.com) is a hip hop journalist by day and MC by night who found international acclaim by winning a Contributing Editor position on MTV’s docu-series, “I’m From Rolling Stone” (2007).
  Misogyny and Women Revolutionaries – Download Audio
  

• Ya-Ting Liu (transalt.org) is a federal advocate for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and also the campaign manager for Rider Rebellion at Transportation Alternatives.
  Transportation Justice – Download Audio
  

• Theresa Q. Tran (miroundtable.org) is a youth program specialist at the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion. She received her M.A. in Social Work at the University of Michigan where she studied community organizing with youth and families.
  Youth Diversity and Ethnic Studies
• Raquel Nunez (lvejo.org) is a youth organizer for Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
  Sustainability and the Environment
  

Christine Joy Ferrer is the design and publishing editor for RP&E and founder of eyesopenedblog.com. Special thanks to Irene Florez (ireneflorez.wordpress.com) who helped to engineer and produce the podcast. Florez is a radio producer at KPFA, Berkeley, California. Music Interludes: “Joe Metro” by Blue Scholars and “Heart” by Rocky Rivera.

By Christine Joy Ferrer

I am first-generation American born. I am the daughter of Filipino immigrant parents who came to the United States in their 20s. My father served our country in the U.S. Navy and later became a naturalized American citizen. This is why I am an American.

It’s easy to forget that within our own personal histories and ancestries we have all, at some point, crossed oceans and borders to migrate to the U.S. from other countries. But, we must not forget that about 13,000 years ago this land’s first people derived from those of indigenous and native blood.

“Migration is Beautiful,” a documentary web series released by Voice of Art  highlights the growing movement of artists, designers, performers and musicians working for migrant justice, featuring activist and artist Favianna Rodriguez, and also actor and activist Rosario Dawson and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Undocumented Activist Jose Antonio Vargas. This short three-part documentary follows pro-migrant artists to Tucson and Charlotte to combat anti-migrant hate with art. It also shines light on some of the worst migration policies in the country and what the community is doing to fight them back.

I am inspired by ARTivists like Favianna Rodriguez, Melanie Cervantes, Jesus Barraza and Julio Salgado to Pulitzer-prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas and others who use their art as a catalyst for social change. Their lives embody the power of cultural and community organizing. Migration is Beautiful is a must-see.

To watch full episodes click on the links below:

Migration is Beautiful, Part 1
Migration is Beautiful, Part 2
Migration is Beautiful, Part 3

This episode is part of a weekly series that airs on Pharrell Williams’ I am OTHER YouTube Channel Voice of Art, a powerful new documentary series on Pharrell Williams’ I Am Other YouTube Channel. The episode focuses on artists-activists using online and offline art and activism to bring about definitive changes to immigration policy and perceptions of immigrants.

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For more on Favianna, visit favianna.com

Related Stories:

The Beautiful Resistance
By Jesus Barraza

Filmed over the course of a year and a half in seven different cities, The Beautiful Resistance is the story of four Latino artists and how they’ve used their work to fight Arizona’s immigration laws and change the perceptions of Latinos in America.

We Are the Ones, We’ve Been Waiting For
Activistas of the New Majority

Women of Color in the Movement
An excerpt from an interview with Favianna Rodriguez

Day 7: November 2009. Filming in Sofia, Bulgaria for Welcome Nowhere. Excerpts from the journal entries of the film’s director and producer, Kate Ryan.

As I learn more about the situation here in Sofia, I can’t help but ask what is being done for the children. There are a few kids in this community that stand out to me–one girl in particular who is 8, but looks like she is 6 years old.  She has the most beautiful big brown eyes, and matted hair. We asked her if she liked school, and she yelled, “Da!!”  As in, Yes! I love school!”

The Bulgarian neighbors are saying that they are thieves. That they are dirty and leave a trail of dirt wherever they go.  Sure, there are a number of people in the community who have given up hope, who don’t bother to work, and who sit around and drink and complain, waiting for someone to help them. But it’s not them who I am here for. I’m here for the kids, the ones who were born into this and who have potential to change. Not change in a way that forces them to lose their culture (language, traditions, family values), but in a way that allows them access to sanitation, healthcare, and education. My heart breaks to see these kids, who love to go to school, who are wide-eyed and hopeful. To see them living amongst such filth and hopelessness, with such a narrow vision for the future.” – KR

It started at the dark end of a street. It has to have been nearly a decade ago when a dear friend of mine, Kate Ryan, joined a group of missionaries on a trip to various Roma communities in Eastern Europe. But it was Sofia, Bulgaria that imprinted on her life. Instead of seeing caravans, she saw shacks in garbage dumps. Instead of laziness, she saw talented people gifted in the arts. Children eagerly grabbed her hand to proudly show her their colorful homes, and young mothers lovingly displayed their babies for her to admire. They danced, ate, and prayed together. As she caught a glimpse of their fascinating culture, she knew that she was witnessing something that very few have been privileged to see.

These moments sparked the idea of her first feature length documentary film, Welcome Nowhere, which tells the story of a community of Roma people (commonly known as Gypsies) struggling to survive in a Bulgarian ghetto. It’s now in its final stages of production.

The situation of the Roma, boxcar community also represents the current state of poverty and prejudice in our world. It’s posed me to ask this universal question considering all our American grandeur, and all the wealthy that enjoy so many splendors in our thriving industrial nations, why does poverty STILL exist? Even in America, this is something far too familiar, that I’m sure many of us have turned a blind eye on while shackled to our comforts. How long will we go without admitting the connection between our wealth and the poverty of others and denying people of the basic necessities of life?

As you can imagine, for Ryan, just seeing the daily struggles of this Roma community—who have been robbed of the basic human rights of adequate food, shelter, healthcare, clean water, and education—is something very visually and emotionally overwhelming. Now try putting yourself in their shoes.

I’ve always known Ryan, since when I first met her in our adolescence, to have a video-camera in-hand.  Either that or you’d catch her hours on end editing her footage in front of a computer. During this interview, her words are so candid and so genuine that I did my best to NOT keep it short. Whatever she sets her mind to, I know she’ll move mountains. I’m ready to embark on a journey to that dark end of the street too and be welcomed to nowhere, just to see the beauty that will rise above the darkness.

Day 21: Today while filming at the Boxcars we were yelled at by a drunk guy to go home unless we pay him to film. Turns out yesterday there were some reporters who had come to report about the community, and then wrote an article about them that misrepresented and misquoted them. Plus, so many people have come in promising to do something to help, but nothing ever changes, so naturally they have a mistrust towards anyone claiming to have their best interest in mind. Which made me examine my own motives. Is it okay to tell their stories, do I have the right to, and will I do them justice?” -KR

Christine Joy Ferrer: Tell me about the Roma people and how they inspired Welcome Nowhere?
Kate Ryan: I have been working on it since 2008, although the idea for it came in 2005.  The film started as a way for me to learn about the Roma people. I was always curious about their situation, and had a ton of questions that I felt books couldn’t answer as well as the people themselves could. I am a documentary filmmaker, so my pen and paper, or tools, are a camera and microphone.  That is how I make sense of the world, and in doing so I can hopefully use my films to educate others about what I’ve learned.

Welcome Nowhere follows the attempts of this boxcar community to resist persecution and improve their living conditions. Documenting their struggles for acceptance in the intolerant city, I examine the challenges they face and the steps they must take in order to make progress as a community.

An encampment of nearly 200 Roma people live in boxcars just off the main highway in Sofia, Bulgaria. Ignored by the very government that forced them into this unsanitary and cramped living situation, they hold on to the hope that soon the government will follow through with their promise of a better future.  Yet year after year, their living conditions do not improve, and the community is barely surviving with what little they have.

The Roma people rarely welcome outsiders (or, gadje, anyone who is non-Roma) into their communities. For fear that the gadje will contaminate and change their centuries-old traditions, and also because they have been so badly persecuted, most Roma people are extremely wary of sharing their private lives with anyone who might threaten their culture. This mindset has prevented many gadje from entering their communities, limiting how much the outside world knows about them.

The majority of Roma neighborhoods are segregated from other nationalities, and, at least in Bulgaria, Bulgarians rarely enter the Roma neighborhoods. This is because of safety issues, and also a lack of desire to interact with them. Some neighborhoods are so dangerous that even policemen and taxis won’t venture in, so they certainly can’t understand why Americans would have any interest in going into these places. In fact, an American friend of mine who lives in Bulgaria working with the Roma people is often warned not to go into their communities because of the possible danger. Yet without going down these streets that lead into their lives, we will never fully understand who they are and why their problems exists.

While I was there I was asked by numerous Bulgarians why would I want to come to their beautiful country and film what, in their eyes, was the ugliest and most embarrassing ‘problem.’ I don’t see it like that.  I believe that no matter the poverty or attitude, these stories deserve to be told just as much the other aspects of Bulgaria that they have to be proud of.

CJF: Who are the main characters in this film?
Ryan: The lead characters we are following are two Bulgarian pastors who work with the Boxcar community, and a few people who live in the neighborhood. Zhoro and Mariana Penchev work with the Roma people and have been trying to meet with the local government to get them to move the group to better living conditions. The main family we spent time with there was Stefka, a 27-year-old woman with four children, who works as a street sweeper to support her family.

CJF: Tell me more about the culture and traditions of the Roma people.
Ryan: The Roma people, or Gypsies, are an extremely misunderstood and outcast ethnic group. First of all, most people call them “Gypsies”, which is considered to be offensive by many Roma communities. The correct term is “Roma,” which is the name of their ethnicity. To be Roma is the same as being Irish, Italian, or Russian – it’s not just a lifestyle. Most people only know about the stereotype from their former nomadic lifestyle and traditions of fortunetelling, caravans, and musical skill.

The Roma have suffered years of oppression. Enslaved until the late 1800s, they were one of the largest groups killed in World War II, and were later subjected to forced sterilization* by the communist regime in Eastern Europe. Because of their refusal to assimilate into Western culture, the Roma people have never been fully understood, and thus, continue to be persecuted.

There are an estimated 15 million Roma people worldwide, with nearly 800,000 living in Bulgaria alone. Without running water or electricity, many suffer from living conditions that the UN has repeatedly described as “inhumane,” “unacceptable,” and “deplorable.” Forced to work remedial jobs picking fruit or collecting trash. Many can barely afford to feed their families. Their children are refused access to medical care, sent to segregated schools, and often turned away from shopping or eating in public places. Despite attempts to integrate them into society, Bulgaria has been unable to provide Roma people the rights that the European Union has insisted must be accessible to all Bulgaria’s inhabitants.

Yet the Roma culture is alive and well. For the neighborhoods that can afford it, food can be found everywhere, loud music and dancing is a constant. We attended a wedding in Kazanlak, Bulgaria, where a young couple celebrated their vows by dancing for hours around the town square. The bride changed into 4 different brightly colored dresses, part of their tradition. Another night we attended the 30th birthday of a woman in Faculteta, a large Roma neighborhood in Sofia. She entertained her guests with tables overflowing with food, and hired a loud Roma band to perform Gypsy-Kings-like songs. The family danced around the tables, and we ended up having a dance-off in a circle that was filled with laughter.

It is important to note that my observations were limited to the communities that we visited in Bulgaria, and don’t necessarily reflect the many variations of the Roma culture throughout the world. Therefore, what I observed of the Roma culture in Bulgaria may not apply to Roma families in America, and all over Europe.

CJF: How were you able to meet this community where they’re at and convince them to open their doors to you, an outsider?
Ryan: I have returned to Eastern Europe numerous times to get to know the specific communities. To my benefit, the group I traveled to Eastern Europe with had spent years establishing a friendship with the Roma communities, and had earned their trust over time. This connection allowed me to be welcomed into their communities as a friend.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to enter their lives for an extended period of time, not only to see their culture for myself, but also to document it and share it with the world. I’ve also had a few friends come alongside me to help, particularly my friend Mirella Contoli, who went with me to Bulgaria as the director of photography.  We have also partnered with Global Celebration and New Life Ministries, two non-profit organizations who work with the Roma people.  They have helped introduce us to the community.

Day 15:We are getting puzzle pieces here. The issue is so complex – it’s not black or white. There is no bad guy, or good guy. Both sides (Bulgarian government especially and Roma) are equally at fault and equally responsible. Which means that they both can solve this, but it has to come from both sides. Met with Sofianski (the former mayor of Sofia who was responsible for moving the community 10 years ago) today. He didn’t fully answer some of my questions, but admitted that he didn’t solve the problem while in office. In one sense, it was wrong what he did, because they are human beings and need a place to live. But on the other hand, the Roma people were living there illegally, and the city was not obligated to provide housing for them. The government doesn’t help these people because they are not doing things legally (like building on city property without permits, etc.). The Roma people become largely dependent on handouts from the city. It’s a vicious cycle.” – KR

CJF: How does the film shed light on the lives of those in the Roma Boxcar Community and of Roma people as a whole?
Ryan: It’s all about the micro and macro issues that the Roma population in Bulgaria faces. The micro story that we tell is of one community in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Ten years ago, this community of Roma were kicked off of their land and promised that the government would provide new housing for them. Before the new housing was available, they were placed in old train boxcars, without any plumbing, toilets, and only one sink for 250 people. For various reasons, the new housing fell through, and, ten years later, this group of people (which has grown to over 300 people), are still living in these run-down boxcars. The local government is saying that they don’t have the resources needed to help them, and that it’s up to them themselves to move to better housing. The people, on the other hand, blame the government for taking away their former homes, and are still waiting for new housing that has never come.

On a macro level, the film explores the reasons why Roma people are considered outcasts in Bulgaria and all over Europe. I had the chance to interview politicians, professors, Roma activists, and sociologists about why the Roma people are undereducated, hated, and unemployed. I learned that it, again, is a very complicated issue that goes back to before the fall of Ccommunism, where both the government and the Roma people have played a part in creating the situation that exists today.

Day 17: The problem is so big and seems so hopeless, which in turn leaves me feeling helpless.  I am just an American, the last person who could be used to bring change. So instead, I must focus on what I CAN do. I can educate.  I can bring awareness.  And if nothing else, I can give these people a voice so they can be better heard.  When I focus on that, it doesn’t seem so impossible.” -KR

CJF: What was most challenging about filming Welcome Nowhere?
Ryan: I had underestimated how difficult it would be to produce a film in a foreign country without someone helping me with the daily details. Our translator fell through early on in the trip, so we spent a week trying to line one up. Then once we had one, I had to adjust to directing through a translator. So many things got lost in translation!

Also, earning the trust of the Roma people wasn’t easy. Many of them were doubtful about our intentions. Were we there because we actually wanted to help or to exploit them? So many outsiders have come in promising to help, only to leave and never bring about any real change. Many of the Roma believed that I was the same, and that I was only there to take pictures that I would go and sell for my own profit. I struggled with this a lot, the feeling that they didn’t really trust my intentions, and also, the doubt that I will be able to keep my word about trying to bring change for them. The last thing I want is to be yet another person who comes in, takes their picture, and never returns. I know it will take years to prove this to them, yet in their eyes, if things don’t change in the next few months, then I am no different from the others. So trying to hold onto hope that what I was doing wasn’t doing more harm than good was probably the most challenging.

Day 9: I can’t even describe the filth that we have been walking in, especially since it’s been raining the past few days. There are puddles of mud, human feces, animal feces, and food remains, all within tiny alleyways in between each boxcar. The stench is overwhelming, because horses live in tiny stables in between the boxcars, so it is the smell of humans who don’t shower, animals, and fires that are made by burning rubber.” -KR

CJF: What are their living conditions of the Roma, boxcar community? Describe their environment.
Ryan: Words can’t fully describe the smells, the claustrophobic spaces, and the urine and human fecal-filled mud. Many of the alleyways between the boxcars are so narrow that you have to turn sideways to get through them. Rats climb inside the homes, lice is rampant, and while we were there, there was a Tuberculosis scare. Obviously, the unsanitary and tight living conditions are a breeding ground for sickness.

We visited other Roma communities in Sofia and other towns across the country, and the Boxcars were definitely the worst of the worst. Other neighborhoods consisted of makeshift homes, or apartment buildings, some with relatively modern amenities. It just depended on their income. The Boxcar community has around 300 people (and a few horses) crammed into a tiny area no larger than a football field. Sadly, there is only one sink with running water to service all of these families, and, even worse, there is no toilet. This hugely contributes to the smell, and more than once we went home with fecal matter on our shoes.

The children often play in a large field behind the boxcars, where ashes from fires and broken glass lay on the floor of their ‘playground’. Piles of trash are everywhere, and there is usually the smell of burning rubber filling the air.

CJF: Describe a typical Roma family structure.
Ryan: The family units in the Roma community tend to be on the larger side, which is typical of impoverished families. Within the Roma culture, getting married young and starting a family is celebrated. In fact, you are looked down upon if you haven’t had your first child by the time the young bride is 17 or 18. This leaves many young families with many mouths to feed, and no way to provide for them.

Many of the Roma in this boxcar community hold down consistent jobs, but because of the low pay and the need to share their income with unemployed extended family, the pay simply isn’t enough to get them out of the Boxcars. For example, one of the families that I met had three beautiful girls, all under the age of 8 (Todorka and Little Maria are in some of the pictures, they are sisters). Their father has had a full-time job for the last 8 years, but it’s only enough to cover their food and medicine if they get sick, leaving none left over to pay for rent at an apartment building or elsewhere. The poverty continues, but at least the children are fed.

Most Roma living in the ghetto cannot read or write. This is not because they never went to school – some of them made it through junior high. But the education was so bad, and they were neglected because they were Roma, that they never actually learned. This is in part because some Roma children are sent to segregated schools where the teachers didn’t feel it was worthwhile to teach them properly. Others went to non-segregated schools and never learned properly because Romani is their first language, and they were being taught in Bulgarian as a second language. Without a proper education system set up to get them to the same level as the other students, many were left behind. Stefka, one of the women we spent a good deal of time with, dropped out of school early because of the continual abuse she received from the teacher and other students. It was such a traumatizing experience for her. She left not realizing the effects it would later have on her ability to get a decent job.  She now sweeps streets for a living, and regrets having dropped out.

CJF: What is the general stereotype about the Roma people?
Ryan: In America, knowledge about the Roma people is often limited to what they have seen in old movies, and is tainted with negative stereotypes. Most know them only as Gypsies (considered by many to be a derogatory term), and have no idea that they are an ethnic group, not merely a nomadic lifestyle. They are assumed to be dirty, lazy and dishonest thieves, incapable of learning or adapting to Western culture. These stereotypes are in some aspects true, but most people who call them these names often do not stop long enough to ask why they are this way.  Most Roma people do not have running water in their homes, so of course they are dirty – how can they stay clean all of the time?  Sure, I met Roma who could be deemed as ‘lazy’, but I also met ones who worked from sunup to sundown trying to support their families. Yes, some steal, but I also heard one Roma pastor say, “I would rather die than be called a thief.”  In fact, one day, we had lost a very important piece of camera equipment in the mud, and after hours of searching, I figured it had been lost forever. Instead, all of the men, who normally eyed us suspiciously, gathered together to help us look for the piece. Turned out that one of them had found it and still had it in his home, which he graciously returned to me when he found out it was mine.

CJF: What can be done to help their situation?
Ryan: We asked politicians, sociologists, and professors this question, and each had a different suggestion on how to solve the problem. Some expressed that more government programs should be established to help integrate the Roma people into society, especially in the areas of education and employment. For example, some suggested a program be put in place where the Roma are given supplies to build new homes, but have to do the labor themselves to instill a sense of ownership for their property. Or teachers could be trained on how to better handle the language and cultural differences between their Bulgarian and Roma students, thus closing the gap between their educational levels. Others said that it was up to the Roma themselves to take the initiative to improve their lives.

But, for every suggestion, there was a reason why it wouldn’t work. And more often than not, those reasons were because of the prejudices and disconnections between Bulgarians and Roma. If given a choice, companies would rather hire Bulgarians to work for them instead of Roma. Children need to go to school, but are bullied and ridiculed by the teachers and the other students. The community would move them to other housing except no one wants them as neighbors. Ultimately, it is a vicious cycle.

CJF: What do you hope those who watch it will take from it?
Ryan: I hope that audiences are able to walk away from this film with not only a new knowledge of the Roma people and their culture, but also empathize with the struggles that they face on a day-to-day basis. I believe that the Roma people are missing an advocate, someone who can take their side for once. I would love it if this film created thousands of Roma advocates who will begin to raise their voices demanding change.

I also hope that by exposing the situation in Bulgaria, audiences might be able to recognize racism in their own hearts, not necessarily towards the Roma, but simply towards those who are different than us. The truth is that the Roma plight is the plight of minorities, low-income people, people of color, and the poor, all over the world. One of my main goals is to show that, underneath the differences in lifestyle, the Roma people care about the same thing that White America does. They want a better future for their children. They cry when their elderly parents end up in the hospital. They are concerned with how they are going to put food on the table. They love music and celebrating with family. When we start to focus on the fact that we are all human, our similarities often cancel out our differences. Only when we recognize that will racism begin to lose its power.

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THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED

If you’d like to support the Welcome Nowhere or just would like to know more information please visit, www.indiegogo.com/welcomenowherefilm. Kate Petrick has been combining her passion for film and other cultures since 2000. Having traveled to over twenty-two different countries, she has produced numerous short documentaries highlighting the plight of the third-world. A graduate of California State University, Northridge, School of Cinema and Television Arts, Kate continues to travel extensively, always with a camera in hand.

* American eugenics refers to compulsory sterilization laws adopted by over 30 states that led to more than 60,000 sterilizations of disabled individuals. Many of these individuals were sterilized because of a disability: they were mentally disabled or ill, or belonged to socially disadvantaged groups living on the margins of society. American eugenic laws and practices implemented in the first decades of the twentieth century influenced the much larger National Socialist compulsory sterilization program, which between 1934 and 1945 led to approximately 350,000 compulsory sterilizations and was a stepping stone to the Holocaust. Even after the details of the Nazi sterilization program (as well as its role as a precursor to the “Euthanasia” murders) became more widely known after World War II (and which the New York Times had reported on extensively and in great detail even before its implementation in 1934), sterilizations in some American states did not stop. Some states continued to sterilize residents into the 1970s.

The nation… doesn’t simply need what we have.
It needs what we are.

- Edith Stein

Editor’s Note: This interview with Jarrel Phillips took place in July 2011, two hours prior to his departure for Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa. Phillips is the Zanzibar Stone Town Capoeira (ZSTC) project manager and AVE founder. Within a period of three months the Zanzibar Stone Town Capoeira Project raised $15,000 to bring professional/master instructors to train with the ZSTC youth this summer in Zanzibar to further strengthen their skills in each discipline (Capoeira, acrobatics, and break dance). 

By Christine Joy Ferrer

I see him. Surrounded by 4-5 year olds, a pandeiro (tambourine) in hand, chanting a Capoeira song in almost-perfect Portuguese. He’s teaching the children how to play Capoeira at AcroSports in San Francisco. He smiles and laughs as they circle up in a Roda and ginga, aú, rolê, cocorinha and negativa. There’s no place else he’d rather be.

Jarrel Phillips, a 24-year-old small, young black man with ‘locks almost down to his shoulders, is a child and adolescent development major at San Francisco State University. Phillips has been working with youth since the age of 14—and traversed almost every neighborhood in San Francisco, serving a vast community of youth from a wide-range of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

Phillips teaches Capoeira, basic tumbling, gymnastics, and works with special needs children as head coach of the preschool department at AcroSports. He also teaches Capoeira to middle and high school teens at the International Studies Academy. Phillips started learning Capoeira in the early ’90s. Since 2008, he’s trained under Mestre Urubu Malandro of Capoeira Ijexá.

I’ve yet to meet another twenty-something more passionate about youth, arts, and culture, who’s taken on various roles in pursuit of his aspirations, whether it be a counselor, teacher, coach, mentor, etc.

I would have never guessed that Phillips has also lived one hell of a past. In another life, his uncontrolled revelry meant engaging in reckless behavior. He found himself in the wrong situations at the wrong times, on the other end of  a loaded gun, and witnessed many a friend shot and or murdered. Growing up on the streets of Fillmore in San Francisco, he’s seen a number of illicit things and taken part in activities he’d rather not speak of.

Yet, here he is—a transformed man, sitting next to me, driving to the airport on his second journey to Africa.

Christine Joy Ferrer: What saved your life?
Jarrel Phillips: Capoeira and my future.

I should’ve been dead by now.  But my life wasn’t a struggle. I wasn’t dealt a bad deck of cards. I had both parents in my life. I just made a lot of stupid choices. What changed me were those life threatening incidents that kept happening over and over again in a small period of time.  Because I made it out of those situations in one piece, I like to believe I’m here for a reason and hope to make all my actions meaningful.

As I was slowly leaving that crazy, hazardous lifestyle, I started Capoeira. I did it for a few months, then a couple friends got shot, one killed, one paralyzed. So much was going on. I stopped. After another few months, I decided to start Capoeira again. I reunited with the same master I had trained with as a little kid, Urubu, which I don’t think is coincidence.

After a couple weeks, I realized how much I really loved Capoeira. It was my escape. When I quit my previous lifestyle cold turkey, I trained 7 days a week. In exchange for sponsoring a youth to have a Capoeira uniform, Urubu let me train for free until I could get back on my feet.

Everything in my life revolves around Capoeira. It introduced me to Barrett, my co-partner on this project. It has me going back to Africa, has me in performances, opened many doors, and connected me with amazing individuals.

CJF: This is your second trip to Africa. On your previous visit, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Phillips: Each morning I woke up in Ethiopia, I’d go outside and the children would run to me from a block away and scream, “Johnnie, Johnnie!” They couldn’t say “Rel” or “Jarrel,” so they’d call me “Johnnie.” And we’d play soccer. We would talk, dance… I’d flip for them. They would share their stories. I’d share mine. I was just chillin’ with these positive people.

CJF: How did you get your Capoeira nickname, “Chumbinho?”
Phillips: Urubu gave me the name two years ago. It means “little bullet” in Portuguese, or “made out of lead.” I’m flat-footed, heavy, but small, and I’d like to believe I’m fast. I do wanna’ get this “bullet butt-head” in the Roda one day.

CJF: If you had 15 minutes, how many flips do you think you could do in that allotted time?
Phillips: A million! Hah! No… probably 200 if I had to.

CJF: What is it that inspires and motivates you?
Phillips: The opportunity to do. I relish it.

CJF: From the living and the dead, who would you most like to have a conversation with?
Phillips: Tupac. Despite how the media portrayed him, yes, he was an individual who saw a lot and did a lot of stuff he had no business doing, but he had a mindset that I truly believed could have changed the world. He connected with at-risk, urban youth and adults who needed guidance. He was on to something before he got caught up in the rap limelight and hood life. I want to ask him, what would he have done differently? Why did he approach situations the way he did? His mother was a black panther. He had a doctrine for black communities that would have influenced positive change.

CJF: Why do you believe in AVE?
Phillips: I’m on a constant journey to find myself, but I also want to help others find themselves. And when I say self, I mean purpose. AVE can mean a lot of things. Access Via Exposure, Arts Via Education, Artieum Educar, Avenues, Experiences… My mom use to tell me that growing up, I learned through experience, which I know is not always a good thing. Kids go after what they want and have playful attitudes in life, until they’re tainted by exposure to negativity, or told that they can’t do something. It takes away their innocence that allows them to listen to their heart. I’m hoping to create and expose youth to meaningful experiences using different avenues through arts and education that will positively impact their lives.  I want to especially focus on Black youth, and then branch out to connect with other communities and cultures, whether here or abroad.

CJF: Tell me about the Zanzibar Stones Town Capoeira youth and how did they change your life?
Phillips: ZSTC started with a dream. They saw this Capoeira movie that they liked and wanted to do what they saw. So, they trained on their own—all day, every day, whenever they could. They chased their dream. I’m just doing what they did, going after something that started as an idea. I was inspired by what I saw in them, and now this project is manifesting into reality. If you come at things with a good heart, good intentions and take action, things happens.

CJF: What song do you currently have on repeat?
Phillips: Oh, I usually have a few. But one of them is by Konshens, “Realist Song.” The last verse, talks about waking up everyday and no matter what being happy. And thanking God, or whoever is you believe in, for another day.

CJF: You and your family roll deep. What’s it like having a family that truly supports the work that you do?
Philips: To be honest, I’m so use to my family always being there that I take them for granted sometimes.  But sitting back and thinking about it now, it’s dope. I have never had my family not show up or support what I do. I honestly don’t know anything else. It makes me want to do my best to support them as well. I always know that I can call someone in my family, or ask if I need anything, like a ride to school in 10 minutes, and they’re there.

CJF: What’s the first thing you want to do once you get to Zanzibar?
Phillips: Flip [Laughs]. I also want to go and talk to the father of one of the Zanzibar Stone Town Capoeira crew members. He stopped his son from training.  He believes there’s no future in performing arts. I’m not trying to change his mind, but I want to show him a different perspective. I want to explain what an opportunity this is for us to train with his son. We’ll support his son if he’s down to allow us to.

CJF: If you were to die tomorrow, what do you want to go down in history known for?
Phillips: Going after what I believed and what I wanted. And, that I lived.  I hope others can do the same.

CJF: What would you like to do that you haven’t already done?
Phillips: I want to bring as many people as I can to Africa that haven’t gone—to see a different black people, in a communal, positive light—to see them speaking multi-languages, with college degrees—hopefully, this will change their lives and open their eyes. I wish I could have brought my friends who were killed years ago to Africa, especially my friend Adriel. Maybe it could have changed his life and he’d still be here today.

INTERVIEW HAS BEEN CONDENSED AND EDITED.

Keep checking back for updates on the ZSTC Project Documentary Reel Part II, coming soon. Those part of the ZSTC project are blessed to have had the support of Capoeira Ijexá, Sons of Cayuga, and the AcroSports community, donations by local sponsors and community businesses, the hundreds of believers who’ve raised awareness about the phenomenal talent of the ZSTC and the change out of people’s pockets. To read more about the ZSTC project visit www.zanzibarstc.org and watch the ZSTC Project Documentary Preview Reel. Like it on Facebook.

“The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”

- Toni Cade Bambarayou