In Honor of the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media's Former Public Allies

Henrietta J. Burroughs is shown delivering the keynote speech at the Public Allies graduation ceremony, which was held on June 29, 2019 at the Redwood Shores Sobrato Center in Redwood City CA.

The months have passed, but the memories linger. Working with the Public Allies, who interned from January to June of this year at the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media was just such a satisfying experience. Those 6 months marked a very special time. 

Emily Hess, above top left with Alamoni Afungia, Edgar Tenorio,

Lea Bolosan and Shristi Prabha

It was truly an honor to be asked to be the keynote speaker at their graduation, which was held at the Redwood Shores Sobrato Center last June.

The graduation, marking their completion of the Public Allies program, was truly an inspiring affair. 

At this time of Thanksgiving, much thanks and best wishes go to EPACCM’s five Public Allies for the contribution they made to the Center and to the East Palo Alto Today newspaper. 
 

The five Allies called themselves the Tiny Gang. But there was nothing tiny about them, even when one member of the group dropped out of the program.

From left, Lea Bolosan, Edgar Tenorio, Srishti Prabha and Alamoni Afungia

The remaining four Allies launched Media Day in East Palo Alto to celebrate East Palo Alto Today's 13th birthday.

Media Day, which brought together nearly 25 of the community’s nonprofits, will become an annual event.

You can see their engaging video interview on the Talking with Henrietta television show here.

You can even see an article about the Allies and the Media Day event on the midpenmedia.org website.

The Public Allies had fun posing with the EPACCM's
founder Henrietta J. Burroughs during Media Day in
East Palo Alto on May 4, 2019

 During the time the Allies and I spent together, I  had a chance to witness their commitment, their focus, their collaboration with each other and their interest in positively addressing the challenges that our communities face. 

Even more appreciation is given to them for the lasting memories that they left, which will be ongoing. 

 So, we give thanks this Thanksgiving to our former Public Allies,  to all who participated in our Media Day celebration, to our readers and our viewers, to the East Palo Alto Today's advertisers and to the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media's donors. Many thanks to all of you!

Is Any Ethnic Group in the U.S. Immune to Racism?

Photo courtesy of https://thetoolkit.wixsite.com/toolkit/black-lives-matter

It’s easy when one is a member of an ethnic group in America to be intimately aware of the challenges that confront the group to which one belongs. For example, a person can be all too aware of the discrimination faced by individual group members and the stereotypes attributed to one’s own racial group.

Given the attention that has been paid to Latino immigrants at the U.S.’ southern border and to DACA recipients, media reports have given our nation disturbing insights into the challenges that many Latinos face.

But, unless a group’s struggles are highlighted by various media outlets and discussed as a local or national issue, many Americans might be unaware of the challenges faced by the various ethnic groups around them and they might not understand the sensitivities that some of them hold. 

This fact was brought to my attention recently during a conversation with one of my neighbors, who is Indian American. The neighbor told me that, a few hours prior to our conversation, he was going to a restaurant with his college-aged son. He dropped his son off at the restaurant and then, intending to join him after he had parked, he drove around the block to find a parking space. Within minutes, his car collided with another car.

The police quickly arrived. The father told me that he called his son on his cell phone to tell him what happened. Standing on the sidewalk at the scene of the accident and facing the direction in which his son was coming, he stood holding his hands behind his back. Upon seeing his father, the son almost collapsed in tears, thinking that his father was handcuffed and being arrested.

In relating the incident, the father said that his son is keenly aware of the Black Lives Movement and of the heartrending experiences that some people of color have had with the police. Since his son saw him standing near several police officers with his hands behind his back, he said that his son feared the worst.

When one thinks of the Black Lives Movement, many people in the U.S. would not necessarily think that it is a movement to which other ethnic groups feel included.

In my latest Talking with Henrietta television show called, Ethnic Media: Who Produces It and Why, one of my guests, Vandana Kumar shares a conversation that she had with one of her twin sons. 

In the conversation, her son told her that she was Indian and he was American.

Seated left to right on the set of  the Talking with Henrietta show on Thursday, November 14, 2019
is Vandana Kumar, Sandy Close, Henrietta J. Burroughs and Diana Ding.

 Kumar’s response to her son might surprise you.

See for yourself what she had to say. You can get more details about this show at www.epatoday.org/tv.html#ethnicmedia and see it on YouTube here.