NYU DC StoryCorps

Highlighting NYU Washington, DC students and their experiences!

Global Leadership Program

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I May 12, 2020

by Leave a Comment

By Jolie Radunich

May 12 , 2020

NEWS

After racism claims, Museum of Fine Arts creates a diversity fund

UN chief asks for inclusion of people with disabilities in COVID-19 response

Google Diversity Report Shows Little Progress For Women And People Of Color

MOTIVATION

Master’s candidate at Harvard University Donovan Livingston delivers a convocation speech in the form of spoken word poetry. He explains the experience of education from the slavery period to Livingston’s personal experiences in the education system.

WHAT TO WATCH – FREEDOM WRITERS

Two years after the L.A. Riots, a new teacher is faced with a racially divided classroom of at-risk students, deemed incapable of learning. She encourages them to journal their life experiences as gang members, children of prisoners, and freshmen unsure of their futures. Based on a true story, Erin Gruwell helps her students connect their experiences with The Diary of Anne Frank, and take an interest in their own education. Available on Netflix and also as a published diary filled with the real students’ journal entries?

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I May 4, 2020

by Leave a Comment

By Jolie Radunich

May 4, 2020

NEWS

‘Together In Pride: You Are Not Alone’: GLAAD’s Livestream Event Raises Funds For LGBTQ Centers, Pete Buttigieg Urges Audience To Vote

Now More Than Ever We Need To Talk About How Lack Of Equality At Home Affects Women At Work

COVID-19 shakes up international student life — and university budgets 

MOTIVATION

Similar to last week, here is a compilation of motivational speeches alongside beautiful, scenic videos. A great step to add to your morning routine!

WHAT TO WATCH – DIFFERENT

A facet of IDBE sometimes overlooked is the disabled community. Instead of a Netflix recommendation, here is a 5 minute short film. “A deaf girl comes across a boy who is paralyzed from the waist down, but neither of them know about each other’s differences.”

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 27, 2020

by Leave a Comment

By Jolie Radunich

April 27, 2020

NEWS

McDonald’s apologizes after restaurant in China bans black people

Exclusive: Top Hispanic group launches ‘Latinos con Biden’

Diversity will take a big hit in MLB Draft

MOTIVATION

This is a stressful, frustrating time. As much as you are worrying about your family, friends, and members of whatever country you may be in, you cannot aid effectively if you disregard your own mental health. Listen to these powerful affirmations to help shape the reality you want to see (starts at 0:26).

WHAT TO WATCH

Most of us remember Rachel Dolezal as the most hated caricature of 2015. A white woman posed as African American, attended the HBCU Howard University, and used her experiences in black spaces to become President of the NAACP branch in Spokane, Washington. The Rachel Divide on Netflix explores her life leading up to the scandal. Dolezal’s children are shown, including her youngest son Langston, (named after African American poet Langston Hughes, of course).

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 20, 2020

by Leave a Comment

By Jolie Radunich

April 20, 2020

NEWS

Virginia governor signs LGBTQ nondiscrimination measure into law

Work permit, visa extension: Relief for foreign students stranded in US

Coronavirus: Ethnic minorities ‘are a third’ of patients

 

MOTIVATION- LOOKS AREN’T EVERYTHING, BELIEVE ME I’M A MODEL

Cameron Russell has no problem admitting she won “a genetic lottery.” After physically transforming during her speech, she explains the disparity between acting as a seductive construct of the fashion industry to that of a relatable, insecure woman.

 

WHAT TO WATCH – ON MY BLOCK

Escaping gang life, searching for a cash prize, and falling in love are three themes that follow these protagonists in this series. Growing up in the predominantly Hispanic and Black neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, On My Block tells a coming-of-age story about book and street-smart youth who confront the challenges of high school. I binge-watched all three seasons in three days. 🙂

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 13, 2020

by Leave a Comment

By Jolie Radunich

April 13, 2020

NEWS

After Zoom calls hacked with racial slurs and pornography, CEO admits “mistake”

Stop Looking Away From the Race of COVID-19 Victims

Coronavirus pandemic a perfect storm for LGBTQ homeless youth

 

MOTIVATION – BARACK OBAMA’S 2004 KEYNOTE SPEECH

“It is that fundamental belief, I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper that makes this country work.”

Here’s a speech that lacks the inevitable divisiveness in politics today. In the spirit of election season, I thought I’d recommend a powerful throwback speech from “a skinny kid with a funny name.”

 

WHAT TO WATCH – TIRED OF WATCHING TIGER KING?

Watch “Miss Representation,” on Netflix.

Boys learn that their success is tied to dominance, power, and aggression. The media sells the idea that girls’ and womens’ value lies in youth, beauty, and sexuality and not in their capacity as leaders.

This film tells the stories of teenage girls and female leaders in various fields, including Katie Couric, Rosario Dawson, Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho, Condoleezza Rice, Rachel Maddow, and Nancy Pelosi. 

GLOBAL EQUITY FELLOW CORNER I April 6, 2020

by Leave a Comment

 

By Jolie Radunich

April 6, 2020

NEWS

With Coronavirus Keeping Them in U.S., International Students Face Uncertainty. So Do Their Colleges.

How the US census misses people of color – and why it’s so harmful

Minority, low-income youth thrive in Youth Orchestras of San Antonio

MOTIVATION

Imagine a workplace where all people are able to climb every rung of the corporate ladder, and diversity lessons are practiced inside and outside the workplace. How do we get there? Watch this TED Talk, “How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.” The themes are especially relevant for students enrolled in the NYU DC internship class!

WHAT TO WATCH

“Teach Us All,” on Netflix reminds us that educational inequality remains one of the most urgent civil rights issues, 60 years after the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis. The documentary follows schools in Little Rock, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. Let me know if you want to talk about it- I’ve just begun watching it myself.

NYU DC Violets I Hear Me Out | Next Time, Talk to your Uber Driver

by Leave a Comment

By Sophia Yufei Wang

The car is arriving in one minute. I looked up from my phone. It’s here. As usual, I pulled the door to the back seat and shoved my groceries to the inner side and ducked into the car. After a classic how-are-you-doing opening, I shifted my eye to the outside of the car, staring at some random street views and then turning to my entertaining phone for a break.

“So you did a little shopping in Trader Joe’s eh?” asked Anthony the Uber driver. Wearing an apricot woolen jacket, my uber driver was a black man in his late 50s. I used to just say yes and then rest in lasting silence. It’s not that I don’t enjoy talking to people, but I tended to think a one-time conversation with a stranger was empty of meaning. But at that night, for some reason, I added a little bit more, “Yes, and Trader Joe’s is always my favorite one stop shopping.”

So we began talking about our favorite groceries. I kept going on about my reasons to side with Trader Joe’s, a California-based nationwide chain of grocery, and brought up Whole Foods Market, an supermarket chain known for its organic food, as my second top. “Yeah, you know, the integration of Whole Foods within Amazon is quite something,” he said. “It’s a good deed.”

He later explained that he worked as a farmer before. Back then, he only supplied his harvest to a few groceries in the neighbourhood. Now, many small independent groceries are facing shutdowns. I asked if he thought those shutdowns were bad signs for his farm business. “Well, I mean, those independent stores are squeezed out of the market, but Amazon indeed did a better job than those stores,” he said. “And the magic card Amazon plays is the logistics.”

After the integration, Amazon has made its way by connecting local suppliers and products with a wider range of city dwellers. Relying on a giant e-commerce platform, Amazon offers its prime members grocery delivery on Amazon Fresh and online pickup at Amazon Lockers. There are also Prime Pantry and Prime Now targeting household essentials delivery and same-day delivery for everything you can imagine and need.

“I am happy to see that the food I grow can reach out to such a considerable number of people,” he smiled.

Afterwards, Anthony also mentioned his amazement towards Chinese e-commerce platforms like Alibaba. Millions of merchants and businesses were springing up on Alibaba, he said, and it took only several searches before putting an order on food you have been craving for weeks. “That’s the power of logistics,”he concluded emphatically on the last word.  

When I came to New York for the first time, I felt overwhelmed by seeing hustle and bustle everywhere. I always received a series of “excuse me” whenever I made a sudden stop. My first impression of D.C., however, goes to the other extreme. Near the NYU DC campus, you have to go out during lunch time to spot large gatherings of people. No matter the size of the city, opening up a friendly conversation between two strangers can be challenging. You just don’t know whether it’s worthwhile venturing an icebreaker with little chance of reciprocal kindness.

We’re living in a paradox. We all have been taught when we were kids to not talk to strangers. Meanwhile, we are imagining what could have ever happened if we said hello to the person standing next to us on the line at Starbucks or the person sitting beside us on the train.

After talking to Anthony that night, I have tried to be more engaged in a lively conversation with my uber driver. And soon after, I met a retired lawyer who encouraged me to not fear for those so-called experienced senior legal consultants in the future and to show my young charm; another time, a musical lover played the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child after we exchanged our latest musical viewing experiences.

Once you put your pick-up location and destination on the Uber app, you tend to think that’s the end of the story. But for that route connecting two locations, there’s always so much untold beyond what shown on the map.

NYU DC Violet Live Shines a Light on Student Talents

by Leave a Comment

When you think about Washington, DC, the performing arts probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind – except for political theatre, perhaps – and the same is likely true when you think about the type of college student who chooses to study there.  However, future policymakers, lawyers, business leaders and more showcased their artistic talents on Friday, November 16, at the New York University Global Academic Center in Washington, DC during its Violet Live event.

Nia, McFall
Nia McFall performs improv.

[Read more…] about NYU DC Violet Live Shines a Light on Student Talents

HUMANS OF NYU WASHINGTON, DC | Danielle Sanger

by Leave a Comment

Danielle HONYUDC

“I recently went to Julián Castro in Conversation with Jonathan Allen at Sixth & I. I was excited to have the opportunity to learn about Castro, a potential 2020 presidential candidate, and his life growing up in relation to his political career. I’ve had the chance to see several major national political figures speak this semester, including another possible 2020 presidential candidate, John Kerry. I’ve been noticing how politicians present themselves in front of potential voters, how they campaign on specific issues, and how they carefully field and piece together answers to questions. I hope through these different sessions I’ve begun to develop a more sophisticated way to evaluate these politicians and critique their views. During this recent event. I found Julián Castro to be very professional and prepared without being impersonal, something I greatly appreciated. However, I was disappointed in how he spoke about climate change. Surprisingly, he was asked twice about his stance on climate action, and despite advocating for action and speaking of his own previous efforts, he seemed reluctant to position himself as a leader on climate change. This left me less enthusiastic about him as a future candidate, but in all, the event was insightful. I am also hopeful that climate change will become a more central issue for candidates as the next election nears.”

– Danielle Sanger | Global Leadership Program

NYU DC Violets I Opinion I Why You Should Go Vegan

by Leave a Comment

Federica Cardamone

By Federica Cardamone

Last Tuesday, the World Wildlife Fund issued its semi-annual report, only this time it delivered a grave message: the population sizes of various types of animals have decreased by 60 percent by human activity in the past 50 years alone. Although devastating to read, this is highly unsurprising given our current rates of consumption and subsequent environmental degradation.

In light of this report, I am issuing a plea to humanity, but more specifically to my NYU DC community: please stop supporting animal agriculture. In other words, go vegan and here are five reasons why:

[Read more…] about NYU DC Violets I Opinion I Why You Should Go Vegan