I interviewed Kate Grace and Kathy Smith over skype about their personal experiences of being a woman in sports. Kate Grace is a professional runner who competed in the 2016 Olympics. She also runs in other competitions. Kathy Smith was one of the most known 80s aerobics instructors. Both had to overcome a lot of sexism in their work, and they both are experts on what it’s like to be a female athlete now.
My mother, Liam, Ben and I went to the City Meals on Wheels office for the second time. City Meals on Wheels delivers packages to senior citizens who either can’t get out of their homes or don’t have the money to afford the food. We enjoyed it so much the first time because we felt that we were taking action and helping all the senior citizens in need of food. We started off our journey by taking the subway to the City Meals on Wheels office. Once we entered the building, we went into a conference room. We had met with the woman we knew from the time before, so she told us that we didn’t need an introduction to how delivering the packages works. The organizer gave us a few packages and a list of names, phone numbers, and addresses. We went from address to address delivering Christmas emergency packages which included things such as powdered milk and canned corn. Once we entered their homes, we talked to most of the elders. For example, there was one man who was blind, 101 years old and he had just lost his wife. We talked to him for a couple minutes and he stood there talking about his life and how his wife has recently passed away and how he was miserable alone. It was sad and yet interesting to hear his life story and his thoughts on his life. Most of the elders just took the package and left, and some of them didn’t show up at the door and their caretakers did instead. When we had delivered all packages, we made our way back to school.
During this fieldwork, we got to experience an amazing adventure with other elders! We did chair yoga with elders at JASA. We did yoga moves such as reaching your hand up in the air or trying to reach your feet. At the end of the one-hour yoga experience, we talked to the woman who taught the class and it was interesting to see her point of view. She mentioned that the elders are so passionate about this class and that they come very often. We only had a short discussion with her but it was very impactful to see the view of someone who wants to help in our society! Before and after the yoga, Ben, Liam and I had short discussions with elders such as: “Hi, how are you! What is your name?” Some of them talked a lot and told us about their lives, and others just simply sat in their chairs waiting for the lesson to begin.
For our fifth fieldwork, Ben and I had an online meeting with Deborah Heiser. Throughout the meeting, Deborah, a clinical psychologist that specializes in aging, helped us understand the process of aging. Deborah started off the meeting by asking us what “old” is. When I answered 65, and ben answered 60, she told us that she thought “old” was 80. She then explained that everyone thinks of “old” as a different age. A three year old might think 45 is old, while a 10 year old might think 13 is old. No Matter what, we all think of aging in a different way. She then went on to explain how growing old really works. She drew a graph, showing the mental state of a senior versus the physical state. The graph started at birth, with the physical and mental state both at zero. Both of these progressed about equally until age 65. At 65 the physical state started to drop, but the mental state still progressed. She explained to us that while society might think of seniors as “weak” or “inferior” beings, their mental state is stronger than ever, and their wisdom is actually profound.
For our second City Meals on Wheels volunteering trip, we got to take on new challenges, visit new areas of New York, and meet new seniors. We started our adventure off at the City Meals on Wheels office in midtown. Unlike our first volunteering trip, as soon as we walked through the main office doors, a volunteer coordinator gave us our route sheet and handed us the packages to start our journey. We delivered over 9 packages to seniors in need throughout Midtown. Interestingly enough, all of them were men, ranging from 73 to 100. We met a man born and raised in New York City. Despite the fact that he was a 100 year old blind widow, this man took life by the handle and embraced his extraordinary situation. We then met a 80 year old man living in council housing. After being verbally abused by his landlord, this man decided to fight for his dignity and report the abusive man. We met a 78 year old, unable to get out of his bed, and a 68 year old living on a five floor walkup. Our journey was exciting, exhausting, and informative. After visiting the 9 seniors, Dora, Ben, Thorunn and I traveled home on the subway to get back in school just in time for homeroom.
We went to the United Nations headquarters and attended a briefing about our topic set up by Fabienne Vinet, and lead by Stephanie Tremblay. Alongside a group of Floridan college students and their chatty professor, we learned about what the UN is doing about the issue through Q/A’s, videos, and lectures.
We went to the United Nations headquarters and attended a briefing about our topic set up by Fabienne Vinet, and lead by Stephanie Tremblay. Alongside a group of Floridan college students and their chatty professor, we learned about what the UN is doing about the issue through Q/A’s, videos, and lectures.
We met with Candice Cho who is the New York Law department’s deputy chief of staff. We talked about are personal ideas and facts about immigration in America.
We met with Sam Soloman who is the deputy of policy at the New York City of Immigration Affairs. He helps people like the mayor by writing bills and advice, because they have so much work they need other people to write their ideas for bills.
My group took the train to the new york historical society to see an exhibit on the Vietnam war. The exhibit talked about the politics and the direct actions going on in the war. We learned about everything from the anti-war movement to how veterans were treated when they came home to the fact that lots of those veterans had terrible PTSD afterward.
We met with Lima James. It was not a normal interview. She told us about herself and everything she does for Lifeway. She then had us talk about ourselves and asked us questions. Next we got to walk around the office and meet all the members who work there. We talked to them and listened to them explain what they do and then ask and answer questions.
In our interview we went to WEP headquarters which is located in the Gowanus. We talked about how we can help the situation and do things like do a fundraiser and host a meeting and talk about the topic of Women’s Education.
We interviewed Teimosa Martin of the The Achievement Network, an organization which helps fund under resourced kids and improves their quality of education.
Our group sat in on Sandra Chap’s third grade social justice class. She teaches children at early ages about race and gender inequity, and how our new generation can fight for social justice.
For our interview Stella, Milei, Piper and I went to 535 Eighth Avenue which was where Monica and her team worked. This Building was very similar to the Bond Gowanus in the way that it was a large building that hosted many different Companys. When we met Monica we began to talk about what she did and how we could help. In comparason to Danielle their oragnization seemed to be more of a charity type of organization.
For this fieldwork, we got the amazing chance to be able to interview Danielle Fazzolari from WEP. WEP is an organization working to get women in India into school. Since most of the work actually takes place in India there are only two people that work in the US which makes it so both of them know a lot about the topic of Women’s Education. Danielle was able to answer many of our questions with great detail and help us learn more about this.
We went to the UN Headquarters where we met Ms. Vinet, who we had been talking to for weeks. Once there, she took us to a briefing that her colleague (Ms. Tremblay) was having for a group of 25 college students from Florida, which we were invited to. The briefing consisted of Ms. Tremblay teaching us about the UN’s continued effort of ending Children and Armed Conflict.
For this fieldwork we went to the UN and and listened to a briefing about children in armend conflict. We got a lot of informatin and we watched a video about the topic.
On December 5th, we skyped Hudson Taylor to learn more about the treatment of LGBTQ athletes in sports. We talked about his personal impact on this issue. We also talked briefly about gender equality and what he believes are the future steps for equality in sports. He offered perspectives to issues we had never heard before, like his ideas about sports in the future.
Throughout our time at JASA we learned from the seniors, conversed with the coordinators/directors, and even got a little exercise for ourselves. We started our trip out in JASA’s main office at 290 9th Avenue. After stumbling into a needle bank outside the main office, we were slightly worried. But once we entered into JASA’s lovely community building, we were immediately eased. We then proceeded to start the class. The instructor took the time and had the patience to help, wait, and guide the elders to complete their given yoga assignments. After completing the hour class, we had only a little time to speak with the elders. They rushed off and we thanked Nancy, the NORCE director, and made our way home.
For our interview with Danielle Fazzolari, we went to the Gowanus in Brooklyn. We went to a building that is called the Gowanus Bond. The Gowanus Bond was a large building whose purpose was for companies and other businesses that wanted or needed a place to work. Inside, the building was very old but it also has some modern aspects like bold solid colored walls. The walkways were dark blue and turquise and would follow a path around the building. When we first walked in we went straight to the front desk and asked for Danielle. As soon as we said that Danielle had walked behind us and had asked if we wanted tea of something to drink. Once we went downstairs and got situated we began to talk about why Danielle was interested in women’s education. From then on we could really tell that Danielle was passionate about what she does. Although we only really ot to talk to Danielle it was still extremely informative.
We called Kate and Kathy on the phone. We asked them a variety of questions that focused mainly on the treatment in the field of work that they do, specifically in sports.
We met with her at LPQ and interviewed her on herself, and the organization she works at (restore). We just talked about all the questions we had and she then asked us some questions.
We went to the New York City immigration office and interviewed Sam Solomon, Deputy of Policy. Primarily, he writes bills and advises people higher up in the government (like the mayor) on immigration based issues.
My group and I went to Lifeway Network’s office in Queens. We met and interviewed many women with leadership positions at Lifeway Network. We even got to talk to the founder of this organization.
We interviewed Mr. Carey about what we can do to help refugees, and about the current refugee situation in the United States.
We visited the CARE offices and learned more about what they do to help women in developing countries. Monica told us a little about the history of the organization. We learned a little about the CARE packages they gave to survivors in WWII. Then we went on to discuss the work they do with women and education. CARE works a little differently than the Women’s Education Projects because they work on so many other issues like poverty, gender based violence, and so much more.
We interviewed Mz. Smith and her daughter Mz. Grace. We talked to them about their experiences as female athletes.
We went to the SafeHorizon office in Brooklyn, and we interviewed the manager of training, Noelle Fries. She told us how she and her Mandarin-speaking colleague train people to work with trafficked women. SafeHorizon’s safe house only takes on foreign women, and they have only one house.
We met Cindy at Le Pain Quotidian, and we asked her what she did and how she got started, and other things. She told us about her job, and we talked about the Social Justice Project.
We went to the WEP, Women’s Education Project, offices and interviewed Danielle Fazzolari who has worked with the organization for around a year and a half. She told us about the work they do in India and how they help women there.
We visited the LifeWay Network office in Queens, which turned out to be in an old convent. We had a short interview with Lima James, the Education and Development manager, and she told us what LifeWay does. They offer legal and passport services for foreign women, and they have 4 safe homes for survivors of labor or sex trafficking, each with 3 sisters (nuns) living in them to supervise. The first house has 2 beds always open, and is the emergency house. The second has 5 beds. The third has 7 beds, and so does the fourth, although the fourth is mostly for women with small children. Then we went on a tour of the office and met with the following people: Sister Melissa (the development manager, who lives in one of the safe homes and works part-time), Courtney (the human resources manager), Jeanie (the main accountant and technology person), and Sister Joan (the founder). They told us who they were and their jobs, and we told them about the Social Justice project. Jeanie even gave us a sneak peek at the new website she is designing for LifeWay Network. It’s definitely better than the one they have up right now.
During this Fieldwork we interviewed a DACA (Differed Action for Childhood Arrivals) Recipient who’s status is in doubt after the recent actions of our President. The President has rescinded DACA and is activity trying to deport those young people. So, for that reason he wishes to remain anonymous as once the government has your name and your time expires, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) can show up to your house at any time and deport you.
In November, my group and I interviewed Will Hobson from the Washington Post. We skyped him in the learning lab, and we asked him about his work on reporting sexual assault in the Olympics. He has written about many different things, including work about houses in Florida, that won him a Pulitzer Prize. Recently, he has been writing lengthy articles about sexual assault in the Olympics, especially to young girls in camps for gymnastics.
Our group worked on finding articles for the organization Stop Hang Gun Violence. We had to find articles on gun violence and gun control article topics.
We learned a lot more about the basics of Sex trafficking considering we hadn’t really known much about it before. Going into this we barley even knew what sex trafficking really was. She made everything really clear and we now understand. We talked more about labor trafficking too, more than we thought we would because Noelle focused on all types of trafficking. This fieldwork was important because she helped us understand and really get a good start on our project.
We interviewed Nan Strauss who used to work at Choices in Childbirth. She recently moved to Every Mother Counts, we discussed why Choices in Childbirth is important and why young girls should be interested in Maternal care even if it doesn’t apply to them.
We walked over to the EMC headquarters for an interview with Nan Strauss. She recently joined Every Mother Counts from Choices in child birth. We sat down with her and discussed the difference in her work, the problem at hand, and why people need the help.
We interviewed Deborah Heiser about what she does with her job and how she does it.
My group interviewed Cindy Bombeeck, the Safe Home Manager at an organization called Restore.
My group mates and I traveled downtown to interview Eric Proshanksy who is a lawyer for the city of New York.
We interviewed YouTuber and Activist for Menstrual health Ingrid Nilsen. We met her at Period Con and we contacted her and she agreed to come to our school and give us an interview.
We interviewed Ms. Hinh about how refugees come into the United States, and what specifically the UNHCR does to help Refugees once they are in the United States.
During this fieldwork we sat down with Sam Solomon to interview him and ask questions about what exactly he does at the MOIA.
We came to sit in on a third grade social justice class. We didn’t participate, but it was interesting to observe how much they knew at such a young age. Chap made the concepts easier to understand for kids, which was amazing.
We asked Teimosa to meet with us for an interview, so she came to LREI. We started by her asking what Education Equity meant to us, and then we asked her some questions about her experiences and why she’s so passionate about what she does.
We look at a special Vietnam war exhibit at the New York Historical Society.
We asked Chap if we could have an interview, so we met over lunch. We asked about Chap’s experiences at LREI. We talked about affinity groups and how that helps LREI as well.
On Friday, our group went to Jessie’s third grade to sit in on a social justice class taught by Chap. Chap talked about x’s and o’s, and how o’s meant less and x’s meant more of. For example: More people have brown hair than red hair, so the red head people would be an o because there are less of that group. She gave us many examples of this about race and how there are more common things and less common things.
Teimosa Martin, a member of the Achievement Network came to our school for an interview with our group. Her job is to make sure all students have the tools they need to do well in school. We asked her many questions about her job and learned about her experiences with educational equity.
We interviewed Athlete Ally founder Hudson Taylor. He talked to us about what he does for his job, and what inspired him to be an advocate for equality in sports.
We met a Dreamer who is protected by the DACA organization. He is working at a college and is studying to for specific job. We met with him in LREI on Friday the 1 of December. We interviewed him on his life story and his views on American Immigration and undocumented American Immigrants. To protect him, I am not going to say his name or anything specific enough for a person to identify him.
We interviewed Nan about doulas and midwives and how that helps women. we took notes on what she was saying.
Chair Yoga With JASA Name: Benjamin Winokur-Applebaum Social Justice Group: The Rights of the Elderly Date of Fieldwork: December 6, 2017 Name of Organization: JASA Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Various elders & chair yoga teacher Type of Fieldwork: Direct Action What I did: I went, with my group and Thorrun (Dora’s…
We interviewed Hudson Taylor, the Founder of Athlete Ally. We spoke about his role as an ally, and how he helps others be allies.
We interviewed Mr. Al Rubaye about his experiences as a refugee fleeing from Iraq.
We had an interview with Chap the LREI director of diversity. We asked her many questions about her job and what she does to help the school about diversity. She also drew examples on the board to answer some of the questions that were more complicated to describe in words.
My group has been in touch with Key Burns, the founder of a program called Hearts 4 Heoroes, we had atempted to call her once but an emergency came up and we were unable to complete it. But this time we got a hold of her and had a very interesting conversation about how she is helpingveterans.
Name: Dora Social Justice Group: Date of Fieldwork: December 6, 2017 Name of Organization: Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Type of Fieldwork: What I did: What I learned: What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
We interviewed Ingird Nilsen about her opinion and experience as an activist for menstrual equity. We had met with her at Period Con and set up an interview after listening to her, as the keynote speaker.
We had a face-time interview with Mr. Al’Rubaye, a refugee from Iraq, who gave us first hand information on refugees.
We when to the AAFSC and interviewed Hannah Mcintire and a few other people who worked there. Then they gave us a tour of the organization while explaining what they do and what programs that have.
We called the person and asked her a series of questions.
For our second fieldwork our group decided to learn about Palliative care with Yolanda Campbell. After meeting her in Canada, I decided that it would be amazing to do a Skype call with her and our group. Then, after some technology bumps in the road, Yolanda started answering our questions. Her responses were insightful, well thought out, and informative. She told us stories that only someone with her experience could tell, and she helped us understand the under-representation of elders. After calling her and listening to the recording, the hour conversation we had with her was truly amazing. I am 100% certain that our Skype session with her will help us write our future notecards and become more knowledgeable.
We meet with Ingrid in the learning lab and we asked her questions about how she got into menstruation activism and how she uses her YouTube channel to spread awareness about this topic.
We had arranged to call Key Burns to ask her a bunch of questions that we had set out asking about what her organization does and what their goal is.
We interviewed Bob Carry former head of the ORR
We did an interview over Skype with a refugee who came to America from Iraq via Cairo.
During this skype call, we talked to a woman named Yolanda, who is a Palliative of Care. She goes to elder’s homes and keeps them company, around 3 times a week. She helped people with dementia and Alzheimer’s and brightens people’s days. We set up questions to ask her and she had very deep and interesting answers. It was really interesting to see her point of view. She said that ever since she was a child, she knew she wanted to help out senior citizens.
We spoke with many people at the center about what the center does to make Refugees feel safe and at home.
We called Key Burns and interviewed her about her organization and what there mission is and how they help veterans.
We interviewed Pulitzer Prize winner Will Hobson, a journalist at the Washington Post. Recently, he has been writing about sexual assault in the Olympics.
We interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning, Washington Post writer Will Hobson, though he won the Pulitzer Prize at the Tampa Bay Times.
We interviewed Chris Mosier, the first-ever transgender Olympic Athlete on team USA via Skype.
We interviewed Candice Cho, Deputy Chief of Staff of the New York government. Candice is a lawyer that advises many people in the New York government including Mayor DeBlasio. She helps these people make important decisions and makes sure that those decisions are within legal boundaries.
we went to the office of Eric Protranksy who is a lawyer who defends the law. We asked questions on gun laws in New York and gun crimes.
we went to the office of Eric Protranksy who is a lawyer who defends the law. We asked questions on gun laws in New York and gun crimes.
We spoke to the people at the AAFSC and learned about their work, then got a tour of the space.
My group and I had the rare opportunity of interviewing a DACA recipient. This is hard because most DACA recipients avoid getting interviews because of the recent rescinding of DACA. They don’t want to get exposed to the government as once the government has their name, they have their address and can show up at the immigrant’s door as soon as January 1st, 2019 and deport them back to their country they lived in before they crossed the border. For that reason, this DACA recipient chose to remain anonymous.
My group took the train to THe veterans hospital where we met with our original contact. He interduced us to 3 post combat veterans. we talked to the veterans for about an hour and disused what it is like to come home from war and how you are treated.
We held a skype interview with transgender athlete Chris Mosier. He is a well-known runner and has advocated for equal rights for people who identify as transgender.
We went to the Every Mother Counts counts office and spoke with Nicolle Gonzales. First, we packed marathon energy boost bags for the marathon and then we listened to her speak about how she grew up on the Navajo reservation and then she talked about her motivation and her goals. After that, we got to ask all the other questions that she didn’t answer.
What we did was go to the Every Mother Counts office and interview Nicolle Gonzalez who is working to build more hospitals to the rez and to bring back tradition birthing. We also helped by packing bags for the marathon by putting energy bars and all kind of stuff in cute bags.
We went to the Every Mother Counts office and spoke to Nicolle Gonazalez. Nicolle is the founder of Changing Woman Initiative. She told about the struggles of the Navajo Reservation even though it is 2017.
Before we met with her, we were at the Every Mother Counts head quarters. We helped pack bags for the Marathoners because not only do the Every Mother Counts organization raise money for the mothers in need during the Marathon but they also donate there services and resources to help the runners. Then when Nicolle Gonzales arrived we sat down in a conference room and listened to Nicolle talk about her life and how the company was started. We got to ask questions and hear really intense stories.
We went to an organization that delivers free meals to elders who are not able to leave their home and have trouble getting around themselves. We went around the neighborhood and we delivered fall emergency packages which included packaged and canned foods. We went to peoples homes and delivered their meals. Some of the elders talked to us for a long time, or we just handed them the meal. When we went to Anne Kelemen’s home we stayed there for a full hour discussing our lives.
During the fieldwork we interviewed Ms. Guillen and asked her questions about KONY 2012, the future of the organization, and she told us ways that we might be able to find more organizations.
We went to the VA NY Health Care Center and interviewed three patients from there.
We went to the VA NY Health Care Center to interview three veterans.
We visited VA NY Harbor Health Care System and met up with Anthony Stamatorous and he guided us to some veterans who we could interview with the questions that we had written beforehand.
We interviewed Allison Grover and learned about Athlete Ally’s mission. We also learned about people who were not members of LGBT but still stood up for their rights.
Allison Grover came to the school, and we asked her questions about what she does, her opinions on things like title 9 and transgender people in sports. We also asked what we could do to raise awareness about LGBTQ issues in sports.
We met Allison Grover at school and interviewed her about what it’s like to work for Athlete Ally. We discussed what she considers the biggest issues facing LGBTQ rights in sports and what we can do to help. We also talked about title nine and the current administration.
I watched panels, got merchandise, met people, and learned about a bunch of organizations.
We went to the first ever Period Convention and we listened to so many amazing speakers and met many amazing women who are involved in the field we are interested in. They offered me an application for the summer internship, and it was all so amazing.
We interviewed an Invisible Children employee in Los Angeles and asked her questions about Invisible Children such as what their goals are and how they are trying to reach those goals.
My group mates and I went to go interview James Harris who is a criminal defense attorney in New York City.
We met with the YouTuber, Ingrid Nilsen, who interviewed President Obama about menstrual equity.
We did a Skype with a woman from the the UNHCR.
We went to the office of James Harris who is a criminal defense lawyer and asked him some questions on gun control and gun violence. He showed us lots of articles and gave us lots of information.
