This article was written by Tasnim Islam, iACT Youth Council Chair
On Thursday, January 23rd, 2020, Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT) Youth Council, participated in an event called “Exploring Social Justice Through Art: A Dialogue” organized by Austin Independent School District’s PALS program. About 100 teens in middle and high school attended the event that discussed issues around immigrants, refugees, and asylees.
The iACT Youth Council is comprised of members aged 14-24 who either volunteered for refugee programs or came to the US themselves as refugees or asylum seekers. This council was created to support refugee students in the local district schools by educating their peers on how to be helpful and supportive. This was the council’s first big event.
The event, held at the Blanton Museum, consisted of a panel discussion, Red Bench sessions on friendship, and an art gallery exhibit of works of art that raise issues of belonging, friendship, diversity and justice. The students took turns rotating from their lunch, to the art gallery, to the Red Bench.
The council, IYC, put together a presentation and panel of refugees and asylees to share their experiences and stories. The presentation discussed basic terms and definitions but then went on to describe common issues immigrants, refugees, and asylees experience. Describing individual steps students could take to help refugees and asylees feel welcome were also discussed. This part was prepared and presented by Tasnim Islam and Pria Gohkal, both UT students. This was followed by a panel of four young refugees and asylees who answered questions from the moderator, Tasnim Islam. The panel included: Tiba AlKhafaji, a UT Freshman who came as a refugee from Iraq; Tahaguas Abraha, a Junior at Northeast High School who came as a refugee from Eritrea; Jose Alvarenga, a Sophomore at International High School, an asylee from Honduras; and Carlos Maunza, a freshman at International, an asylee from Angola.
They answered questions about their home country, experience in America, and struggles at school. Students from the audience were very engaged, and asked interesting questions about the panelists’ experiences and points of view. The students left with a resourceful toolkit that the council curated with information links and suggestions on next steps to do at their school.
The Red Bench portion had groups of students sitting in circles led by members of the council, and discussing the topic of friendship. The Red Bench format gave participants an open space to have deep discussions about friendship while applying everything they learned from both the presentation and the panel. The feedback from the students showed an impressive understanding of all of the material that was provided to them. One student said they “learned a lot about real struggles,” and another student said they “learned how to make new students/ refugees feel welcome.”
We would like to give a big shout-out and thank you to the Blanton, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the PALS program for organizing and hosting this event. The iACT Youth council is excited to continue their work and collaborate with other schools and organizations to further their mission!
