Choosing expression over violence.
On a dusty, pot-marked road in the Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, Mohammad Abu-Srour, 18, is eager to tell the world, For me freedom is liberating humans of all limitations. However it doesnt mean absolute freedom, because everyone has to stop where the others freedom starts. Five-thousand miles away in noisy, chaotic Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, 18 year-old Ryan Smiths words echo above the traffic, I want my life to mean more than just another in the population of hateful and spiteful people-I want to show not all people are like that. Despite their insight, honesty and determination, Mohammad, Ryan and their peers inhabit areas where bullets fly, insecurity lurks outside their front doors and sometimes crashes through the windows. bethlehem to brooklyn: breaking the surface uncovers the world as it is for these teenagers, passionately conveying the resilience of both Black-American and Palestinian teenagers struggling with the adverse circumstances in their daily lives. Through their writing, it becomes clear these teenagers share a fear of failure, peer pressure, and an uncertain future, overwhelmed by the call to revolutionize the environments in which they live. Through performing their writing, these teenagers demonstrate that they and their peers are not victims or predators but an integral, vulnerable part of the solution, dispelling misunderstandings and rectifying misconceptions.
