The scholars present couldn’t have been more excited. Recording during an off-week for NYC Schools, they arrived early and some were just hanging out with their shoes off, comfortable to slide silently in the offices’ hardwood floors. Scholars Alex and Emmanuel had the chance to speak with one of El Puente’s founders, Eugenio “Gino” Maldonado, and eagerly listened to Gino speak of his first impression of Brooklyn after moving there at the age of 9 from Puerto Rico, and of how he became involved with El Puente.

Artist and teacher Juan Carlos Roselló spoke with Katia and Emmanuel about a Williamsburg that was once known as Los Sures, and about the evening his parents allowed him to stay up and watch Johnny Carson – an evening that changed his life since he was introduced to Chuck Berry and, as Juan Carlos put it, was thus introduced to “salvation.”

During their interview, Tina and Zuelay were able to learn from Joe Matunis about the many murals El Puente has helped with, and about Los Muralistas.  During the afternoon slots, Nathalie and Patrick talked to Peter Miranda about Teatro El Puente, and the work that Peter does educating the community about HIV/AIDS. Eric, during his turn, had a chance to practice his Spanish skills by talking to Yazmin Borrero, who’s been part of the administrative staff at El Puente for years. The recording day ended with Jonathan and Rabel’s talk with Asenhat Gomez, who, as she described, arrived at El Puente as a teenager looking to become involved with her community and to practice her English and just never left. Asenhat is now the Program Director at El Puente’s Bushwick offices.

We had a wonderful recording day,  and were lucky to see so many youth willing to learn from older generations – I’m left with the image of Katia, taking notes during her conversation with Juan Carlos,  making sure she could look up the names of artists and places he was talking about. Can you think of someone you’d learn from? Like the El Puente scholars did, you should bring them in for a StoryCorps interview! Do it today!

Kian Goh (L) and her girlfriend and life partner Tamiko Beyer (R) visited StoryCorps’s Brooklyn office for a National Day of Listening community recording day in November 2010. Tamiko, a writer, wanted to record Kian’s impressions of her happiest moments and reflections on their relationship.

The two met years ago at a Queer Women of Asian Descent meeting, where Kian spotted Tamiko from across the room and made it a point to talk to her. Kian attended in order to connect with queer Asian people in New York City, and they laughed when Tamiko blushingly admitted that she attended in order to meet girls.

Kian’s happiest moments surrounded their falling in love: early intimate exchanges together; her first meeting with Tamiko’s accepting parents and family; and her wonder at Tamiko’s care. Another was when Tamiko’s opinion about having children changed, and they decided to one day have a child together. “I think you’ll be a really amazing mom,” Kian said. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather do it with.”

“I was never with anyone that I wanted to be a parent with,” Tamiko replied. “But we’re probably also going to fail, too,” she exclaimed as they laughed together. They shared some of their fears, including the likelihood that their child would be teased or bullied for having queer parents.

“We have to be as open as possible,” Kian suggested. “But we also don’t want to be overbearing! Our child might think, ‘oh my God, not only are you queer but you’re going to be in my friends’ faces all the time?!’” Their laughter, sincere and loving, again echoed throughout the room.

Melissa and Margarette Tropnas

When I reached out to Margarette Tropnas, the executive director of Dwa Fanm, about the organization participating in a recording day, I had no idea that Margarette had such a compelling story of her own to share. Almost two months after my original inquiry, I had the pleasure of Facilitating a conversation between Margarette and her teenage daughter, Melissa.

Margarette was born in Haiti, and as a teenager traveled to the United States with an English-speaking guide. At the time, Margarette did not know English, and when she arrived, fitting in at school was difficult.

When I first came here, I was in junior high school, and it was tough because I was Haitian. They called me ‘Frenchie.’ I vividly remember my junior high school year because there was a time when these kids were running after us, and my sister was ready to defend her little sister. After she left, I was kind of sad, but I learned to speak English very fast. I was in a non-English speaking class, and I was asking questions. So I started raising my hand, making a fool out of myself, but within a year, I spoke English. Two years later, I had an article in the yearbook.

From those humble beginnings, Margarette has gone on to become a wife, a mother, and an active member of her church’s outreach ministry and has taken on the the exciting and challenging role as Dwa Fanm’s executive director, helping to better the lives of other Haitian women. StoryCorps gives special thanks to the Dwa Fanm staff, participants, and especially Margarette for sharing their stories with us.

Last week Facilitator Kate Brown and I visited Gleason’s, one of the oldest boxing gyms in Brooklyn, and now we want to be boxers. Veronica Ordaz, the New York City Community Outreach Coordinator who set up the day of interviews, told me that after visiting the gym, she’d resolved to do the same thing. She told me she was convinced after meeting with Bruce, the owner of Gleason’s, who was also our first interview of the day.

It’s incredible to me how drawn I was to the place, considering how exclusively male I’ve always assumed boxing to be. And my assumptions were validated when we first walked in. Gleason’s looks like the set of an old movie (and is still used for shoots, Bruce told us), with sunlight streaming in through big dusty windows and punching bags that look like they could beat me in a fight.

We’d heard from Bruce how popular the gym had become with women, but I didn’t really understand it until we interviewed the female boxers, like Fire, an amateur world champion and long-time member of Gleason’s.

Fire told us about winning her first tournament (on her birthday), fighting someone who had never lost. She described how surprised she was to find her talent for the sport and how intimidated she had been at first. Fire is an actress, and before she started boxing was always hired to play “victim” roles. She told us that she now gets hired as stronger characters and credits it to her training.

Fire is also a self-described fashion-diva and was embarrassed to wear anything but dirty old sweats when she started training at Gleason’s. Now, with her many titles, she is always dressed up when she fights and works out. As we left, she was running on a treadmill proudly wearing a cute white tennis skirt, hot-pink bandanna, and Juicy Couture knee socks.

As a Facilitator, I have been present for a number of conversations with people experiencing memory loss as part of the StoryCorps Memory Loss Initiative. Sometimes these conversations are an opportunity for the person with memory loss to share his or her stories, but it is not always so straightforward. In one conversation, a son and his father sat with their sensational mother and wife, whose stroke had left her unable to speak more than a few words. She listened to her husband recount their four year courtship through letters while he served in World War II.

Her son also remembered her devotion to her children and the love for theater she instilled in him. She was quiet and unresponsive during the interview but dazzled everyone near the end with a smile and the words, “Them were the days.” While her voice barely registers on the recording, she is present in the voices of loved ones as they narrate her story. She gently asked him what his very favorite song was, aware that he might not know. He thought for a moment and then replied it was one from his grandmother that goes, “When I get [sic] too old to dream / I’ll have you to remember.”

The words, originally from a love song written by Oscar Hammerstein in 1934, were unexpectedly poetic in the moment. They capture the inevitability of loss associated with aging and also the way that the memory of a loved one endures as other details fade. This is something I have often seen as people make their recording; an individual may have difficulty remembering many details or events yet they are confident in expressing love for the person sitting across from them.

Beyond that is the fear that eventually even this relationship will be forgotten, along with the details of a person’s life–the very things that make up a personal history and a personality. In this case, it is the spouse, friend, son or daughter who carries the stories and becomes the one “to remember.”

At age seven, Ralph lost his hearing to scarlet fever, the same disease that left Helen Keller and Thomas Edison deaf in childhood. Still, Ralph was determined to stay in public school. He taught himself to read lips and was the first hearing-impaired student to graduate with honors from his grade school in Brooklyn. Although Ralph had learned to speak and succeed on his own in school, his deafness was deemed “disruptive” in high school. Ralph was sent to a trade school to learn typesetting and printing– a profession where his intelligence and sharp eyes could be put to use and his ears wouldn’t be affected by the cacophonous printing room.

Ralph had desperately wanted to be a doctor, but in the 1940s he set his sights on serving his country in World War II. He told us each time he failed the medical entrance exam, he would put his test result on the train tracks until it was ripped to shreds and try again. After multiple attempts at enlisting, Ralph secured a non-combat job with the Navy.

As a child, Ralph feared that relying on sign language would isolate him. His decision to remain in mainstream schools and read lips instead of signing was also rooted in the public perception of deafness at the time. Ralph saw people who signed in public being stared at and ridiculed. Fifty years later, Ralph would find out that he could be an ideal candidate for a cochlear implant, a procedure that could allow him to “hear” with a surgically implanted electronic device. Ralph declined the surgery, electing to continue reading lips and speaking as he had been his whole life.

Ralph’s story stood in stark contrast to another recent StoryCorps interview in Washington, D.C.? Taye Akinola, born deaf almost 70 years after Ralph, was also a candidate for a cochlear implant whose parents decided against the surgery. Today, Taye speaks and uses hearing aids but also signs, and is a graduate student at Gallaudet University. Taye is able to study at a university that has become a center for deaf culture, political discourse, and empowerment. From Ralph’s struggle to stay in public high school to Taye’s master’s degree in Deaf Studies, the changes in public understanding and resources are striking.

Today, Ralph keeps pictures of his daughter in her police uniform and his granddaughter in his front pocket, proud proof of the life he built for his family despite a disability that was viewed so differently decades ago.

StoryCorps stayed closer to home last Thursday and visited the Arab American Association of New York in Brooklyn. Under the leadership of Co-founder and Board President Dr. Ahmad Jaber, AAANY actively responds to the the social and economic programming needs of the Arab community in the greater New York City area. AAANY’s clients include Arabs and Arab Americans from the countries of Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Moracco, and Palestine, among others. With youth programs like after-school tutoring, boys basketball, and the Princess Club, the organization’s providing ESL and citizenship classes, and its upcoming Salaam Series Workshops with Brooklyn for Peace, AAANY is poised to remain “the Ellis Island of the Arab Community” while fulfilling its mission threefold: “Our aim is for families to achieve the ultimate goals of independence, productivity, and family stability.”

Since the events of September 11, 2001, AAANY has broadened its mission, taking on the tasks of also “empowering and defending its community.” In December 2001, AAANY officially established itself as a non-profit organization and opened its offices in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Participants Heidi Rosbe and Majed Seif

During StoryCorps’ visit to Bay Ridge, Majed Seif, an AAANY volunteer from Palestine, participated with his friend and coworker Heidi Rosbe. Majed shared the story of his obtaining a college degree during the Intifada and showed us the art he produced before coming to the United States over ten years ago.

Qur’an scripture made in wood against black velvet by Majed.

Traditional pots made by Majed in Palestine.

On Sunday, June 1st. Brooklyn’s Sephardic Community Center invited StoryCorps to interview participants during their “Afternoons Out…Together” celebration. The community center hosts this event as an interactive Sunday for family caregivers and their loved ones. They not only allow guests the option of doing a StoryCorps interview but they also provide a catered feast, activities such as partner yoga, pilates, workshops and sing-a-long entertainment. On this day Michael Roth played piano during the days festivities as staff, especially our host and the Social Services Director, Linda Eber, made sure that all guests had a very special day.

Enjoy the slideshow of the event. Click on an image for more information: