refugees

May 31, 2016 3

Women Only: The Frauenraum

I'm at Rathaus Wilmersdorf, a former city hall building turned refugee home in Berlin, where I teach a literacy class once a week. The home initially opened its doors to 178 refugees in September 2015, following Merkel's famous "Wir schaffen das" ("We can do it") declaration that sidestepped the Dublin Regulation and opened up Germany's borders to thousands of asylum seekers. [Read More!]
December 18, 2015 1

Lens: Four Hours at Lageso

This is Lageso (Das Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales), the State Office for Health and Social Affairs. This is Berlin's primary registration center for the initial reception of asylum seekers. This is Germany's most infamous symbol of the refugee crisis. Two days prior I had signed up to volunteer on a website called Volunteer Planner. After a cursory registration process, a click of a button was all it took to commit to a shift at a registration center, refugee home, or other institution in the city where help is needed (read: basically everywhere). [Read More!]
Donald Trump immigration
September 28, 2015 1

Moralpolitik and the Ressentiments of Change

According to headlines, the German government has pledged haven – albeit temporary in many cases – to up to 800,000 refugees or migrants applying for asylum in the country. The U.S., despite initial wavering, has signaled that it will work to raise its refugee quota yearly, with the goal of a 100,000 cap by 2017. Yet within and around this historical moment of humanitarian crisis and measured political response are the inflammatory words of Donald Trump. He recently roared to a crowd in Iowa that, if elected, he “will deport all of the 11 million illegal migrants in this country.” [Read More!]
Orhan and Sophia pre 2014 Berlin half marathon
March 30, 2014 1

Interview: The Taxi Driver

Orhan was 5 when his father moved to Berlin in 1972. It was only one year before West Germany would halt guest worker recruitment from non-European countries to fill labor shortages after World War II. His mother followed 7 years later with his youngest sister and they lived in Rudow in southeastern Neukölln - where they still live over 30 years later. "They got jobs as cleaners in an office," Orhan recounts, "but they were fired!" he adds, snorting in laughter. I look up from my notepad, surprised... [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!]

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