4 THE COURIER SUN • MARCH 2, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@qns.com @A_GiudiceReport “Love, not hate, makes America great!” That was the rallying cry of over 100 people from across Queens who joined together at MacDonald Park in Forest Hills on Sunday to deliver a powerful message to those in power during the newly formed Queens Coalition for Solidarity’s Queens Stands Together Rally. The Feb. 26 rally — which was the brain child of Ethan Felder, co-founder of the Queens Coalition for Solidarity and Community Board 6 member — was designed to show a united front of people of all different ages, genders, colors, creeds and sexual orientations in the opposition to the current political climate in the country. “This rally is a call to action. These are dangerous times. This was no ordinary election that just happened,” Felder said. “Here in Queens, we make our opinions known, sometimes loudly. Our rights are too important. Our values are too important. Our Constitution is too important. This is a crowd of patriots, not enemies; not enemies. History will remember all of us who are standing right here in this park today.” The unity rally drew a lot of attention in the political world as well, with Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, and Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz all delivering speeches denouncing the actions and rhetoric of President Donald Trump, and lauding their borough’s diversity as its greatest strength. “We are here to say, not only in Queens, but in New York and across this country, that is the majority view, that our diversity is our strength,” Mark-Viverito said. “Scapegoating communities wholecloth for political expediency is suicide. It is destroying the very fabric of this country. It is making us less safe as a nation, less safe as a city.” “Donald Trump is not my president,” Koslowitz shouted through the microphone to cheers from the audience. “We cannot tolerate this. You know Queens is the most diverse county in the entire United States of America, and probably in the whole world, and what we have learned from each other is not to be underestimated.” Koslowitz then went on to read a statement from Congresswoman Grace Meng, who was elected to vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, thanking everyone for showing up to the rally, and also condemning the controversial executive orders signed by Trump during his first month in office. The rally also featured several young activists who spoke including Kenneth Shelton, a student at St. John’s University and chapter leader of Black Lives Matter; Sangida Akter, a student from Townsend Harris High School who co-founded the school’s Muslim Students Association; and several more. A slew of other local and statewide organizations were a part of the rally including Forest Hills Asian Association, Imam Shamsi Ali from the Jamaica Muslim Center, Make the Road NY, Queens New Democrats, Queens County Young Democrats, and many more cultural, religious, political and civic leaders. “The times that we live in demand active citizenship,” Felder said. “This rally, above all else, is a citizens call to action. We must resist. It is incumbent in the beauty of all of us to not just stand with, but protect those who are most vulnerable right now who are targeted. Now, tomorrow, and forever.” Ozone Park academy working to help refugees BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@qns.com @A_GiudiceReport As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to be a polarizing topic in American politics, one Ozone Park school educated its students on how children are affected when they are forced to leave their homes because of war. St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy recently held a design thinking workshop to teach students about the emotional impact suffered by child refugees, and ways to help cope with those impacts during an awareness raising event. Case.by.Case — an educational company that creates interactive learning experiences and social innovation programs for students — led the workshop for nearly 90 St. Elizabeth students in grades six through eight. The students were divided into teams of six and asked to design activities that they believe would help refugee children deal with the emotional challenges of having to leave their home. Lisa Lee, founder of Case.by.Case, led the workshop by asking students to draw from their own personal experiences in order to get the students to relate to and empathize with refugee children, all while coming up with ideas and activities any child can engage in to help alleviate the emotional distress for refugee children. Through the workshop exercises, students came up with ideas such as welcoming or befriending other refugee children, intervening when children witness bullying, or playing sports to build community, as ways to help refugee children. In addition to the workshop, St. Elizabeth raised a just over $500 for Art of Hope, a nonprofit, non-political, non-religious, 501(c)3 NGO which helps address the psychological needs, trauma and mental health challenges of the Syrian refugee population through art-therapy, vocational training and capacity-building activities. The funds raised by the school will go to support children currently living in Beirut, Lebanon, who were displaced by the Syrian war. Tara Kangarlou, founder of Art of Hope, and international journalist, will also consider using the ideas the St. Elizabeth students came up with during their workshop in future Art of Hope programming, so their ideas can actually make a difference in someone’s life. “When you get to spend time with children and teenagers, and get to hear their stories, their concerns, and what they care about, you soon realize that kids are the same no matter where they come from,” Kangarlou said. She added that this allows you to realize that “despite being refugees or New Yorkers they all want the same things in life.” Photos by Anthony Giudice/THE COURIER Queens celebrated its diversity during the Queens Stands Together Rally in MacDonald Park in Forest Hills. Photos courtesy of Lisa Lee Students at St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy in Ozone Park created ideas to help refugee children OUT OF MANY, QUEENS IS ONE Unity rally in Forest Hills shows the power of love
SC03022017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above