Identity & Belonging

May 18, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: Karneval der Kultur(en), Carnival of Culture(s)?

What if the local government wanted to take stock of its cultures, parade its diversity through the city streets – what would you wear to participate? This weekend Berlin’s parade of culture, Karneval der Kulturen, takes over my Kreuzberg Kiez (neighborhood) once again, promising to leave trails of glitter and plastic cocktail remnants in its wake, as well as much food for thought in answering this question of cultural self-representation... [Read More!]
May 14, 2013 2

Rant: Who’s/Whose Normal?

It's these little images, phrases, and jokes that become so deeply engrained within our mindsets and pervasive within our culture that they are considered "normal". But in a city as diverse as Berlin - where 1 in every 7 inhabitants is non-German, over 138 countries are represented, and the LGBT population is one of Europe's largest - what or who the hell is "normal" anyway? And whose definition are we even using?... [Read More!]
May 9, 2013 8

Interview: Ali, Zoe, and the Gentrification Debate

Meet Ali and Zoe. You may have heard of them. Zoe takes pictures of Ali while walking down the street and posts them on her tumblr called What Ali Wore. They share a special connection, one reflective of a city in flux and a district in crisis. He, the assumed-Gastarbeiter (politically-charged term for 'guest worker') fighting against stereotypes and categorizations since arrival // she, the ex-pat fighting off armies of criticism for displacing the very people one considers a neighbor: difficult situations that have arisen not out of malice but out of circumstance, no matter the scale... [Read More!]
May 2, 2013 0

Rave: “I am not a Terrorist”

In Berlin, the dimensions of migration and diversity may sometimes be over-simplified, but groups like Migrantas are changing that, and doing so creatively. The best part: the voice and agency of the "immigrants", so often talked-about and so seldom talking-back, take center stage... [Read More!]
April 29, 2013 4

Lens: Linsanity and Linguine

Looking up, I notice a young black man across the street. I immediately scold myself for thinking it's B, but then realize it really is him. He has a book bag swung over one shoulder and an amused look on his face. We haven't seen each other for a few weeks and never in this neighborhood, so it's a happy, albeit slightly disorienting, coincidence. B's done with school for the day and I'm famished, so we go to an Italian cafeteria adjacent to the Wilmersdorfer Strasse subway stop. He orders something creamy and rich. I ask for something "spicy" with extra spice. The men behind the counter wear shirts splattered with grease and yell in Italian when it's ready... [Read More!]
April 25, 2013 3

Lens: Lamb on Fridays

The children may eat Milka and Haribo but they will tolerate spice. Broiled fish in chili or ribs of lamb in a bed of sour stew. Onions sweated in pepper and vinegar on oily rice. Pineapple with salt. Dried cod fried in dough. Tamarind in everything. Sour, spicy, and sweet stuck to the curtains. “Africa” - as the boy says - in the carpet, on the tablecloth, in each and every pot and pan, making its way into daily life in the apartment of a Lichtenberg concrete sky-scraper. It is Friday and A is making lamb... [Read More!]
April 23, 2013 5

Over and Over

Migrants face the concept of identity more acutely than many other groups. As they move from one geographic and cultural setting to another, they are presented with a new set of rules and codes for becoming a "member of a group" - their "distinct personality" may be interpreted differently than it was in their home country. The transition from migrant to "resident" or "citizen" is also laden with complications - legally, personally, and socially - both from the perspective of the migrant's identity and the national identity of the host country.... [Read More!]
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