WELCOMING AMERICA
WELCOMING AMERICA. Sounds like who we are, right? Or, maybe I should use the past tense in this statement? More on this…..
But first, a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT……for the St. Louis Community.
DAY ONE, the award-winning documentary, will return to St. Louis, nearly 7 years to the month, when it had its St. Louis Premiere in 2018 at the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), run by Cinema St. Louis, who have now generously offered their Hi-Pointe theater for this return screening, on March 15th. DAY ONE, which tells a story about the St. Louis Welcoming Community, was the most watched film through the SLIFF Festival and their Education program. Whether or not this is still true, I (as a proud executive producer) will still say we were the best.
Visit www.dayonedocumentary.com for info, the trailer and how you can view this film and use it for educational purposes
I’ll let you know more about the meaning of DAY ONE at the end of this Blog, including some insights to its origins. But let’s take a look at a little bit of Welcoming History and even a look at ourselves.
BEING WELCOMING. Sounds like a great idea, right?
While there are plenty of debates these days on who to welcome, which BTW has occurred for centuries, why can’t this simple, beautiful idea be celebrated versus politicized? Yes, our country has many policy issues to resolve, but why does it seem we want to promote hatred over kindness, over empathy?
The United States is, factually and compassionately, a nation built by those waves of immigrants that came before us. We are indeed a Nation of Immigrants, along with the original, Native Americans. Yet, our country has a very long history of xenophobia, with fear and hatred of those very immigrants. Normally, they are the ones that succeeded the prior generation, like the unexplained “picking on the new kid” we have witnessed or been on the receiving end.
Even our founding fathers, some immediate descendants of immigrants, were expressing a fear of “foreigners”. In a 1753 Benjamin Franklin letter, he expressed “Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own Nation, …..” He was speaking about the “Orientals” or Hispanics or Muslims, right? Oh, right? No, we were not around yet. Those actions and new policies would pop up later. Rather, as an upstanding 2nd generation, son of an Englishman, he was referencing the arrival of the Germans.
And so, from the early days of our country we have always been judgmental, fearful and conflicted.
Then in 1903, 150 years later, this poem with the well quoted sentence, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” was affixed to the Statue of Liberty, presumably as a reference to our ideals. I have always felt this is who we are.
New Colossus poem by Emma Lazarus
And let’s remember that over a century prior to Franklin’s letter, was the purported First Thanksgiving (1621) where we were told that the Pilgrims, with open arms, came together with the Wampanoag People in a symbolism of being welcoming. Or was this a myth? Is this what we wanted to believe?
The First Thanksgiving, by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1914
Whether completely inaccurate or not, the concept of “Being Welcoming,” of coming together to help, has been our human nature and at least depicted as an “ideal”; various artistic depictions have shown the Native Americans at the table, with this one by Brownscombe, where they are sitting to the side.
At any rate, throughout history, the humane side always seems to be whispering in our ears, until something, dare I say, someone’s agenda, blurs the lines and then becomes rhetoric and outright demeaning.
Speaking of demeaning, now let’s fast forward another 122 years after that New Colossus poem that represented a good idea or good intention, to present day where we have developed so much hatred. So much hatred.
Enough of historical timelines and milestone recaps. Let’s take a breath.
NOW, HERE IS A BEING WELCOMING EXAMPLE: Let me get to a fairly recent feel-good story, that may get us back to humanity. This story is an example on how random encounters happen, how things can come together, how people can come together and illustrates how we all may be placed in such situations. And if we are, that it can lead to good things, for yourself and the community.
It started with a radio show that I heard in 2015, about how the game of soccer broke down cultural barriers with some newcomer immigrant students. The simple takeaway? Take the time to listen and learn from others. You may get inspired and realize your preconceptions may not be correct.
Well, I was inspired. So, this beautiful radio story was shared with my colleagues at the St. Louis Mosaic Project, where I served (and still do) on the steering committee. Inspiring stories should always be told and shared. The Mosaic Project is an Initiative to welcome foreign born to the region and is based on the facts that immigrants bring great value to our economy. A related benefit is that nearly every major metropolitan city in our country would not be growing without immigrants. Also, in Census data between 2020 and 2021, deaths outnumbered births in half of all States, so our communities are dying.
As often happens, this radio show was then passed on and on, till it came back to me full circle, nearly 6 months later.
I would ultimately receive a phone call from a stranger, Principal Donnie Harris, from the Nahed Chapman New American Academy, a 2-year transitional school within the St. Louis Public School System. The “transitional” meaning? This school was established to create a safe, nurturing environment for newcomer refugee and immigrant students who could not test into the mainstream neighborhood school. Top three reasons: Lack of or limited English, interrupted education or no education..and PTSD.
After learning what was the issue and that as an architect I may have solutions, we met up. Why not? My eyes were opened and I was immediately drawn in to helping. All she wanted was to patch an asphalt playground so that the students could exercise and not have to navigate around potholes. You see, exercise can help address PTSD.
The dangerous playground.
Practicing and navigating around the potholes.
Being welcoming uplifts the recipient, as well as the giver.
Kids are kids, regardless of where they are from.
So, what does one do? So, what do I do? Find Partners, Build a coalition? Go for it!! Because, the fact of the matter is, why not? The reality is that you can and you may be in the position to do something that others can’t. So, I found the Construction Forum STL and with the leadership of Tom Finan and construction industry leader, Thom Kuhn, we formed a non-profit, Gateway Welcome Project, to help manage this process. A True Collaboration. We went for it.
The Collaboration
Stripping away the old, dangerous Asphalt
New Turf Field, Fencing, Running Track and more
Project Dedication. September 13, 2016. Do we look happpy?
Testing out the new field on Dedication Day
This Soccer Field Project was so much more than a capital improvement project. It symbolized a (International) Field of Dreams. A catalyst for Community Pride.
And if that wasn’t enough, why not jump into more unknown territory?
Of course, why not make a documentary film about the school (not the field project) to share and let people know about this remarkable school, the educators and how to be a Welcoming Community. So we did, spending about 2 years working on the film, since it seemed like it should be done.
DAY ONE would premier in 2018 at the Newport Beach International Film Festival and eventually be carried by PBS. For streaming, visit www.dayonedocumentary.com.
Brian O’Connell (Co-Producer/Director of Photography), Lori Miller (Director/Producer), Peter Tao (Executive Producer, absent, taking photo)
THE CIRCLE OF WELCOMING:
Next Month, on April 19, we will be coming together again for the 7th Race For Refugee, as the IISTL and other supporting services and groups have been devastated by the recent Federal Cuts and our rising xenophobia. And, as history often repeats, it was in 2017 where during the filming of DAY ONE that we captured the inaugural R4R, which was the brainchild of a disheartened Community member, Heather Huewe, who was wanting to raise awareness of refugees after she learned about the Muslim Ban. https://raceroster.com/events/2025/100453/race-for-refugees
Heather.
Educators and students from the Nahed Chapman New American Academy
Ready, Set, Go
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Let’s Be Welcoming. Let’s Be A WELCOMING AMERICA
Here are some Resources related to Being Welcoming:
Welcoming America is a national organization (with regional partners) that is focused on bridging immigration policy issues with the local community’s interests.
St. Louis Mosaic Project is a regional initiative that is professionally managed by St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, World Trade Center St. Louis and a 32-member committee, with the goal to transform St. Louis and growing the major metropolitan area by economic prosperity through immigration and innovation.
The International Institute of St. Louis provides opportunities for immigrants and refugees to thrive in order to create a welcoming, prosperous, and healthy region for all. The history of IISTL is during the early days of the YWCA, “Institutes” were founded, starting in the early 20th century, to address the refugees and displaced from Europe.
The mission of Welcome Neighbor STL is to partner with refugee and immigrant families, connecting them with the people and opportunities that will empower them to build and live their best life in their new country. Coincidentally, WNSTL was at its inception while DAY ONE was filming, where the film captured the very families that WNSTL was supporting.
The LifeWise mission is to help individuals and families achieve economic well-being by providing high-impact, relationship-based programming and by addressing systemic barriers to their success.
https://www.lifewisestl.org/
The mission of Casa de Salud is to facilitate and deliver high quality clinical and mental health services for uninsured and underinsured patients, focusing on new immigrants and refugees who encounter barriers to accessing other sources of care.
https://www.casadesaludstl.org/
The ISPN is a great connector to the wide range of Immigrant Resources within the St. Louis region.
