Name of Group: Stories Of Queens

Please follow us on instagram outside the school – Storiesofqueens_ (https://www.instagram.com/storiesofqueens_/)

Teacher leader/s: Ali and Emily

Rensizzle Students: Matthew Torres, Karina Osorio, Roksana Hossain, Ocean Karim, Milena Naranjo, Mina Dey, Rachna Gupta, Tanja Tane, Khalil Woods, Ashley Okwan, Nathalie Salazar

Overview of schedule:
Monday
Ted talk: Chimanda Ngozi Adiche “The Danger of a Single Story”
Response discussion
Discussion on the role that food plays in a culture and what restaurants are closest to our homes
Jackson Heights Food tour with Jeff Orlick

GALLERY WALK:

What do stories of Foods of Queens tell us about people?

What restaurant (food really stood out to you

What are the stories you want to explore for our final project

New Restaurant 969 Coffee – Japanese snack foods – Onigiri

Wonderful Arepas from The Arepa Lady – Karina’s family’s restaurant

The Group with Jeff Orlick

Tuesday
Discussion
Trip to Corona
Lunch at Jardin De China
Brainstorming about interviews
Gallery walk: What restaurants (Food) really stood out to us
What stories do the foods of Queens tell us about people?
What are the stories you want to explore for our final project?

Jardin De China – Chinese/Latin restaurant open for 47 Years in Corona!

Wednesday
Tour of Flushing with Jack Eichenbaum

Beginning our Flushing tour with Jack Eichenbaum at the Flushing New World Mall

“Gimme the fish” J Mart New World Mall, Flushing

Meat at The J Mart New World Mall, Flushing

Fish from J Market New World Mall, Flushing

Shell fish at J Mart, New World Market, Flushing

Fish at J Mart, New World Mall, Flushing

J Mart, New World Market, Flushing
“I thought it was very interesting that there was a market in a mall, I’ve never seen that before” Tania Tane

Tour with Jack Eichenbaum in Flushing

Diverse businesses Flushing

Quaker Meeting House, Flushing. One of the oldest buildings in NYC. The Quakers believe in religious freedom

Description of Quaker Meeting House by Ocean Karim

Thursday
Assignment on the story of your name
Students interviewed each other about their Single Story Experience

Our single stories:

The Single story interview of Ocean Karim:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k_KV_XGiVkBib0qBcF1SKZwGV4koYPGwNrXSDmBqC9Y/edit?ts=58123277
The Single story interview of Nathalie Salazar
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LvVbVWLo2kc7mGk6CUkm-KobTPR5O35fjjczu98dt6c/edit?ts=58121f83

Excerpt from single story interview of Matthew Torres:

“So, when I go to Mexico there’s a lot of sexism. My friends in Mexico make jokes about women and look at me weirdly when I don’t laugh. I feel bad for them because they don’t get to see the powerful side of women. I see this because I was raised differently compared to them. I was raised by my mother and my sister. This did not change me because I still believe women are equal and powerful. I didn’t do anything because I know it’s hard for them to realize and since I wasn’t staying in Mexico for long I wouldn’t be able to fully explain to them the importance of women. The first reaction I had towards this whole situation was confusion. I was confused because I had my own single story about women and I didn’t think anyone viewed them in any other way besides being strong and powerful, like my mother and sister. I did not like it.” Matthew Torres

Excerpt from Single story interview of Ashley Okwan:
“When I was stereotyped I didn’t feel like I could react because I have nothing to say to them. I am just very hard working and I just let my grades speak for themselves. After being stereotyped I haven’t changed. I refuse to lower my standards so that it’ll look like I am normal or a part of the stereotype.I don’t work hard for them, I do it for myself, so that I can get a better education, so it doesn’t make sense for me to lower myself to be seen as normal. I believe that people think that I should slack in certain subjects because I am a female but that’s clearly not the case because I excel in all of my classes and that comes from me simply being who I am.” Ashley Okwan

Interview of Rachna Gupta by Milena Naranjo:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qPQtpoeKprss7Sewh4eOQY4VdAQvdASwDQDBqznmpwA/edit?ts=58122945

Excerpt from Rachna’s interview of Milena:
“I’m a girl from Queens, New York who have always been stereotyped for my appearance and my ethnicity. I am pale & white, my ethnicity is Ecuadorian but I am still judged because I dont look a certain way. Supposedly, Ecuadorians are supposed to look darker and have certain hair type, and I don’t meet that. My name is very colombian so people assume it is where I’m from, or they assume I am from a European country. I dress and speak differently and because of that, my physical features/ background is stereotyped. I felt insecure when I was younger because people judged Ecuadorians but now I am confident.It upsets me to realize that our society made me think that there was something wrong with my culture. There is a traditional food that my family eats which is Cuy, but I don’t like it. Society thinks that I am too white for being Ecuadorian but there is a no specific color for being a Latina.
Stereotypes and only knowing one side of the story really fustrates me because when I was younger they caused me to believe that there was something wrong with where I was from.” -Milena Naranjo

Rachna and Milena

Rachna and Milena

Excerpt from single story interview of Minah Dey:
“I am 13 year old girl who is a student in the Renaissance Charter School. I follow the hindu religion. I preach a free mind, and a free soul. We are not supposed to stress, but we must acknowledge our responsibilities. The single story that affects me is the stereotypes about my brown skin. People assume I’m Indian because of the color of my skin. My friends make fun of me, it’s annoying. I tell them to stop. I do not let my friend’s comments keep me from practicing my religion. I try to not pay attention to these Ignorant comments about Hinduism and the color of my skin. There was a joke on social media mocking the red dot people wear on their foreheads. People laugh about it. I laughed too. But people should not be making that joke. It’s insulting to the religion. The red dot is actually very religious and is a symbol of holiness. I do not have a single story of someone. I do not stereotype. For example Islam. do not know much of the religion but I know it is strict because I have a friend who practices Islam.” Minah Day

Interview of Karina Ossorio:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NOCj-sOOkRmamWNLHVCjukLNd0thC6S2TrjwIx2uCDo/edit?ts=58122741

Khalil’s interview of Tania:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TOSZ74cLmsy3POaNJZ0SaBwqNI5Aj-WB-bccvM5zQ28/edit?ts=58123c0a

Excerpt from Tania’s interview of Khalil:

“Stereotypes effect different groups of people. Stereotypes are super disrespectful and unfairly to many people”. Khalil says that Trump is a negative person who stereotypes a lot.Khalil is ashamed that Trump says that Mexicans bring drugs to America and that black neighborhoods are a “living hell.” He is upset that nobody really stereotypes other types of groups. They focus on latinos and colored people. Summer 16 in Costa Rica was a really weird experience for him. People thought that he was a drug dealer because, he was black in a white-spanish neighborhood. Although police came to his house to speak to him, Khalil doesn’t care about what people say. He knows that he doesn’t sell drugs. He knows that he is not a criminal. He knows that he is innocent. People in Costa Rica only thought of him as a drug dealer. In reality, Khalil is a 15 year old boy who dreams of becoming an athlete.

Khalil and Tania interviewing each other

Recording interviews – Please view our Instagram page storiesofQueens_ to see the interviews we did with different people of Queens

Photos, Videos, Writings, Blogs, Links: