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VOA Connect (03/30/2018) A New Generation of Leaders


OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Youth and the Arts

((SOT))
“Why don’t I just publish my own book? Why don’t I take this and make it a physical copy for people to read.”
(Animation Transition)
((Banner))

Youth and Politics

((SOT))
"I am Ethan Randleas. I am 18. I am running for governor of Kansas."
"Aaron Coleman. I was the second teenager to announce my run."
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))

The Wisdom of Elders

((SOT))
“They contributed to the American society and created children and grandchildren that are now prosperous and contributing to our community.”
((Open Animation))

BLOCK A

((ANIMATION W/ GFX, CAPTION, PHOTO))
((Banner: A Great Generation))

((MAP: United States; Washington D.C. (and around the World) ))
((PKG)) MARCH & ACTIVISM
((POP UP BANNER:
Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King’s granddaughter speaks at the student-led March For Our Lives))

((YOLANDA KING, GRANDDAUGHTER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.))
“Spread the word. Have you heard? All across the nation, we are going to be, a great generation.”
((NATS))
((VOICE OF EMMA GONZALES, STUDENT ACTIVIST, PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING SURVIVOR))

“We want young people to be inspired by us and think “ I can do that” and then go out and do it. We want everyone who sees us to think, “That happened. I could make that happen.” We want everyone to join in and actually do something because for too long we have been silent.”
((NATS))
((YOLANDA KING, GRANDDAUGHTER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.))

“Now I’d like you to say it like you really, really mean it and the whole entire world can hear you. Spread the word. Have you heard? All across the nation, we are going to be a great generation. Now give yourselves a hand.”
((NATS))

((PKG)) MLK INFLUENCE
((Banner: Inspiration))
((Reporter/Camera:
Daniel Brown))
((MUSIC))

((QUNITEZ BROWN, STUDENT ACTIVIST))

“In elementary school you learn about MLK (Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr.). You learned how he ended racism, how he was a peaceful man. And it wasn’t until over this last summer I picked up a book called Radical King which is a collection of MLK speeches. Reading MLK and memorizing his speeches, you realize how such a knowledgeable, important man he was and how he really was about change and love. So MLK helped me to understand what love is, and what non-violence direct action is, and how it can work effectively because it worked effectively for him. He got this Voter Rights Act and Civil Rights Act. And today’s march is an example of MLK’s non-violence direct action strategy. We are here creating tension in the nations’ capital. We are here creating conflict. We are creating a disturbance in the nation. We are here to raise awareness because we don’t have to be violent. All we had to do was raise our voices up and appeal to the morality of this nation and we can make change and MLK helped me realize that and that’s why I am here.”

((MUSIC))
((DR. GREGORY CARR, PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES, HOWARD UNIVERSITY))

“My favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quote is very short. “Unjust laws should not be obeyed.” That’s my favorite Dr. King quote. In other words Dr. King said, you have to pay the price if you break the law. That’s the social contract that allows us to have society, is the law. But if it is an unjust law, you shouldn’t obey that law, although you must be prepared to pay the price.”

((MUSIC))
((DELANEY CORCORAN, STUDENT ACTIVIST))

“I also attended the Women’s March, and we were talking about earlier today how there hasn’t been a lot of marches in our life time that were as big as the Women’s March and as the March For Our Lives. And this is incredibly comparable to the MLK march and his “I have a dream” speech. And that’s what I think of just being at the Reflecting Pool and seeing all these people, you definitely feel the same spirit that people felt back then.”

((TYLER LYILE, STUDENT, HOWARD UNIVERSITY))

“A characteristic of MLK that really impacted me more than anything else was his fearlessness. Being able to go travel the country and give these marches and give these speeches, knowing the consequences that would come towards him or his family, has motivated me and given me that type of fearlessness. Now, whenever I do things, I know I really have nothing to lose, right, so I give it my one hundred percent, and I try to imitate that same type of energy that MLK had back then.”

((MUSIC))


((PKG)) GOVERNOR’S RACE
((Banner: Next Steps))
((Reporter/Camera:
Esha Serai))
((MAP:
United States; Kansas City, Kansas; Wichita, Kansas))

((JACK BERGESON, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I am Jack Bergeson and I am running to be the Democratic nominee for governor of Kansas."
((JOSEPH TUTERA, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I decided to run when I first heard that Jack Bergeson was running."
((TYLER RUZICH, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"Tyler Ruzich. I am a Republican running for governor of the state of Kansas."
((ETHAN RANDLE, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I am Ethan Randleas. I am 18. I am running for governor of Kansas."
((AARON COLEMAN, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"Aaron Coleman. I was the second teenager to announce my run."
((DOMINIC SCAVUZZO, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I sat on it for a while and finally decided to do it in October."
((JOSEPH TUTERA, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I googled "How to run for Kansas governor.""
((TYLER RUZICH, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"You Know, double checked to make sure in the state constitution that there wasn’t an age requirement and when there wasn't, I was really just completely surprised and caught off guard."
((DOMINIC SCAVUZZO, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"When you're our age, you need to have something other than just being a platform person, and to me that's just tackling the biggest issues that face our state, which are transparency and education."
((AARON COLEMAN, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I would, day one, pretty much tell Kansas legislature you either have the choice to act or be acted upon."

((ETHAN RANDLE, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I want to leave you alone. I want to take over the government and leave you alone."

((JACK BERGESON, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"I think really the biggest hurdle I have had to overcome is that people are viewing, that people although less so than when I first announced, people are viewing this as a gag or something like that."

((STACY KREAGER, JACK BERGESON’S MOTHER))

"He's just really been earnest about it and dead serious. This wasn't something that he took lightly or any of that. My reaction was go for it. It's awesome."

((WENDY SCAVUZZO, DOMINIC SCAVUZZO’S MOTHER))

"He wanted to do it, and I've been pretty proud of him."

((ROBERT TOMBERIN, AARON COLEMAN’S GRANDFATHER))

"I thought it was silly. Nobody’s going to elect a teenager."

((ETHAN RANDLE, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))

"I think I have a really good chance of five percent. That's the goal, five percent. It's not crazy goal, but it's major party status. And I think that's the next goal, to get major party status for the Libertarians." ((DOMINIC SCAVUZZO, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"Winning this election, I'm going to try 100 percent to win this. But winning this election isn't even necessarily being elected. It's just getting a younger generation and just everyone able to understand and become more politically involved and influenced."

((JACK BERGESON, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))
"In the next ten to twenty years, we will be the majority of the voting population. We have to get engaged now, start running for office, start campaigning for candidates."

((TYLER RUZICH, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE))

"You need to have voters, especially between the ages of 18 and 25, active and voting, because Generation Z and the Millennials are going to be political powerhouses in the coming elections."

TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up….
((Banner))
Youth on Screen
((SOT))
“I’ve learned this from Ms. Reese and Ms. Mindy to always just stay the same and stay humble because these are powerful, powerhouse women in this industry.”

BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))

BLOCK B

((ANIMATION W/ GFX, CAPTION, PHOTO))
((Banner: Youth in the Arts))


((PKG)) TEEN WRITER
((Banner: Teen Novelist))
((Reporter:
Niala Mohammad))
((Camera:
Imron Jadoon))
((Adapted by:
Zdenko Novacki))
((MAP:
United Sates; Ashburn, Virginia))

((MARYAM DURRANI, WRITER))

“My inspiration for my character was that I used to read a lot of books and most of the characters would be male, the main character. There would be female characters, but they would be sidekicks, like really intelligent female characters, but they would always be sidekicks.

I wanted to write about someone I could look up to, and that’s where I came up with the idea for this main character. She’s a warrior, a general, she can do anything she wants, you know. She’s powerful, and that was just me looking up to somebody, wanting to write about a role model for me and other girls.”

((ZAINAB DURRANI, MOTHER))

“Maryam was always into books and I remember when she was three years old, I noticed that whenever she would be upset, the only thing that would raise her spirits was to read her a story. And I could tell from her expressions that she would be lost in her own imaginary world. And when she was in kindergarten, I gave her a journal with pen and I asked her to write in it to express her feelings, and I think her writing journey began from there.”

((MARYAM DURRANI, WRITER))

“So, I started writing on this website. It’s called Wattpad and a lot of my friends used to write on there just for fun. They’d make up their own short stories. It’s a website mainly there for you to write your own stories on it or novels, and mine started getting a lot of attention. I got over half a million reads and I’m still getting more reads to this day. So from there, somebody told me, they were like, “I want to rewrite your whole book, and I want to give it to a loved one.” And I was like, really, people like it that much? Like, it was surprising to me, but then I was like, why don’t I just publish my own book? Why don’t I take this and make it a physical copy for people to read, to like, you know, sell. And a lot of my followers, they bought the books after, because they were such big fans. And then they asked for a second book, and that’s how the story went on.”

((IRFAN DURRANI, FATHER))

“We were all very excited. And I remember that day when the first book came in, we just jumped, and we were dancing around and clapping and doing high-fives, you know, and it’s very unexplainable.”

((MARYAM DURRANI, WRITER))

“I think both of them are equally supportive. They always supported me. They never told me I couldn’t do something. Now, I take extra English classes at school, just because I enjoy reading and writing. That’s always been my hobby since I was little.”


((PKG)) MS MARVEL MUSLIM SUPERHERO
((Banner: Teen Superhero))
((Reporter:
Ariadne Budianto))
((Camera:
Irfan Ihsan, Ariadne Budianto))
((Adapted by:
Phil Alexiou))
((MAP:
United States; Huntington, New York))
((NATS))

“I only have like three or four of this printing left.”
((G. WILLOW WILSON, CO-CREATOR, MS MARVEL))
“I am G. Willow Wilson, co-creator of Ms. Marvel. So Ms. Marvel began with a phone call I had in 2012 with Sana Amanat and Steve Wacker, who were two editors at Marvel comics, and they pitched me this very simple idea. They said they wanted to create a new American-Muslim superheroine for a young adult audience and they were going to give her, her own ongoing monthly comic book series.”
((NATS))
“To the McNerds.”
((G. WILLOW WILSON, CO-CREATOR, MS MARVEL))
“And they asked me if I wanted to develop the character and write the series. So, of course, I said yes.”
((MOHAMMAD MIRZA, MCNAIR STUDENT))
“All the places that Kamala has been, we get to see that. It's pretty awesome that they based the superhero off of our school, yeah. And, I think that the comic book represents the diversity that we have in our school.”

((G. WILLOW WILSON, CO-CREATOR, MS MARVEL))
“I wanted her to have powers that looked unique, that were interesting to look at on the page, that were not super powers that we often associate with girls. So, nothing sparkly. I didn’t want her to be a telepath, to read people’s minds. I wanted her to have very active powers, very physical powers, and that were not necessarily something pretty or girly. I wanted them to be interesting. She faces a lot of the same challenges that any teenager faces about family, school, peer pressure, what she wants to with her life.”

((LOIS ALISON YOUNG, TEACHER, MS MARVEL FAN))
“She's not only dealing with school side of things, like the culture clashes, like her parents are trying to be traditional, and I guess it's a big cliché, but she's really struggling with it because she wants to maintain her Muslim identity.”
((MENACHEM LUCHINS, OWNER, ESCAPE POD COMICS))
“Growing up religious I always, like, I would debate. There's a scene where Kamala goes to the mosque and she's talking about the responsibility you have towards people, sort of vaguely implying she might be a superhero, but she doesn't want to tell the Imams. And, I have those hypothetical conversations with Rabbis in my head. Could I be allowed on the Sabbath to break Sabbath laws, to use my superpowers? Like, these are the things that I thought of. So Ms. Marvel connected with me immensely.”
((G. WILLOW WILSON, CO-CREATOR, MS MARVEL))
“Some people in the American-Muslim community said that they wouldn’t read the book because she does not wear hijab and then other people said, no, she’s too religious, you know, she should be more secular, you know. So, you know, because there was only one. Everybody wanted it to reflect their own experience, which is impossible. The point of a superhero is to be a symbol for the culture at that time, and you can’t control how that plays out. And so I’m not possessive, you know. She belongs to the readers, not to me.”

((PKG)) WRINKLE IN TIME
((Banner: Teen Actor))
((Reporter:
Penelope Poulou))
((Adapted by:
Martin Secrest))
((MAP: United States; Hollywood, California))
((NATS))
((COURTESY CHYRON
throughout: Walt Disney Pictures))
((CLIP: A Wrinkle in Time))
“Imagine - 91 billion light years traveled - like that!”
((REESE WITHERSPOON, MRS. WHATSIT, A WRINKLE IN TIME))
“The movie is about a little girl, Meg, whose father has been lost, and she’s going through a lot of self-doubt in her life, and these three spirits come into her life – Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which – and they are her guides through the universe where her father is stuck.”
((OPRAH WINFREY, MRS. WHO, A WRINKLE IN TIME))
“And they take her to these multiple planets, lands, out there in the universe, and in the process of discovering her father, she develops courage, and she learns to take risks, and she learns what really matters, and what doesn’t.”
((CLIP: A Wrinkle in Time))
((COURTESY CHYRON
throughout: Walt Disney Pictures))
“He’s trapped by a darkness that’s actively spreading throughout the universe, and the only one who can stop it, is you. Be a warrior!”
“I’ll try.”
((STORM REID, “Meg”, A WRINKLE IN TIME))
“People that are going to watch this movie are going to learn some lessons, and like all walks of life, no matter if you’re 80 years old, or you’re 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to walk out and you’re going to be like, “Yes, I can conquer the world. Yes, I’m going to go save the universe now!’”
((CLIP: A Wrinkle in Time))
((COURTESY CHYRON
throughout: Walt Disney Pictures))
“You’re going to be tested every step of the way. Trust nothing!”
“Darling – time for dinner.”
((REESE WITHERSPOON, MRS. WHATSIT))
"I think about how few times we get to see young women at the center of big Hollywood movies, but also women of color, and that little girls out there will know that, you know, they see themselves on screen in this real way with this wonderful girl, that anything is possible. You can overcome anything in your life if you have the right mental attitude and the right kind of work ethic. And I think that’s what Storm embodies in this story."


TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up….
((Banner))
A Father’s Advice
((SOT))
“And out of all the things a father in 1959 could have told his gay son, my father tells me to be proud of myself and not sneak. "

BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))


BLOCK C

((ANIMATION W/ GFX, CAPTION, PHOTO))
((Banner: Generational Influence))

((MAP: United States; Day Creek, Washington))

((PKG)) THE SAINT OF DRY CREEK – STORY CORPS
While growing up on a dairy farm in Washington State in the 1950s, Patrick Haggerty began to understand he was gay. Patrick recounted to his daughter, Robin, about the day he performed at a school assembly, and his father showed up unexpectedly.
((PATRICK HAGGERTY))
I'm riding to school with my oldest brother, and on the way to school, I'm putting glitter all over my face, and my brother said, "What in the hell are you doing?” I said, "I am putting on my costume.” He said, "Well, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that." So he dropped me off at the school, and he called my dad up, and he said, "Dad, I think you better get up there. This is not going to look good."
So my dad drove up to the high school and he had his farmer jeans on and they had cow manure on them, and he had his clodhopper boots on. And when I saw him coming, I ducked around the hall and hid from him. And it wasn't because of what I was wearing, it was because of what he was wearing.
So, the assembly goes well, and I climb in the car and I'm riding home with my father, and my father says to me, "I was walking down the hall this morning, and I saw a kid that looked a lot like you, ducking around the hall to avoid his dad. But I know it wasn't you, because you would never do that to your dad." And I squirmed in my seat, and I finally busted out and I said, "Well dad, did you have to wear your cow-crap jeans to my assembly?"
And he said, "Look, everybody knows I'm a dairy farmer. This is who I am." And he looked me square in the eye and then he said, "Now, how about you? When you're a full-grown man, who are you going to go out with at night?" And I said, "I don't know." And he said, "I think you do know, and it’s not going to be that McLaughlin girl that’s been making goo-goo eyes at you, but you won’t even pick up the damn telephone. Now, I'm going to tell you something today, and you might not know what to think of it now, but you're going to remember when you're an adult. Don't sneak because if you sneak, like you did today, it means you think you're doing the wrong thing. And if you run around spending your whole life thinking that you're doing the wrong thing, then you'll ruin your immortal soul.”
And out of all the things a father in 1959 could have told his gay son, my father tells me to be proud of myself and not sneak. My reaction at the time was to get out in the hay field and pretend like I was as much of a man as I could be. And I remember flipping 50-pound bales three feet up into the air going, "I'm not a queer. What's he talking about?"
But he knew where I was headed. And he knew that making me feel bad about it in any way was the wrong thing to do. I had the patron saint of dads for sissies, and no, I didn't know at the time, but I know it now.
[CARD]
Patrick’s dad:
Charles Edward Haggerty
January 14, 1901 - October 29, 1961

((PKG)) US IMMIGRANT GRANDMOTHERS
((Banner: The Legacy of Grandmothers))
((Reporter / Camera:
Ramon Taylor))
((Adapted by:
Zdenko Novacki))

((MAP: United States; Boston, Massachusetts))

((DIANE MODICA, BOSTONIAN & MURAL SUBJECT))

“The little girl in what appears to be a confirmation dress, white confirmation dress, is me. I remember that dress particularly because it was a beautiful organza dress and it had these little pleats in the front of it and you had the little white gloves. I mean, my grandmother standing right next to me, it was just, it evokes such memories.”

((HEIDI SCHORK, DIRECTOR, MAYOR’S MURAL CREW))

“I’m director of the Mayor’s Mural Crew. What I wanted to capture is the generations that we have and how similar the stories of each generation is. The central figure is the more iconic grandmother wearing an apron and rolling out the dough. I noticed, in looking over a lot of reference photos, that the posture of making tortillas and making pasta is exactly the same.”

((CELINA BARRIOS-MILLNER, MAYOR’S OFFICE FOR IMMIGRANT ADVANCEMENT, CITY OF BOSTON))

“People here are really linked to where they came from, even if it was generations ago, and we want to connect that pride and that love for today’s immigrants as well.”

((GUADALUPE GONZALEZ, GRANDMOTHER FROM EL SALVADOR))

“It makes me feel, how can I say it, identified. I identify with these grandmothers that came with nothing as well that came with a dream.”

((HEIDI SCHORK, DIRECTOR, MAYOR’S MURAL CREW))

“People in Boston still refer to their neighborhoods by the parish church that is closest. One of the questions that the Italian grandmothers asked the Central American grandmothers is ‘where do you go to church?’”

((DIANE MODICA, BOSTONIAN & MURAL SUBJECT))

“That's what life's about. All these stories, all these people here, they contributed to the American society and, you know, created children and grandchildren that are now prosperous and contributing to our community.”

NEXT WEEK

((SOT))

“A lot of older people are around and you don’t see many young kids. They are all gone. I used to come here when I was a young boy and my parents used to bring me here to get my hair cut and when you walked in the door, there would be 10 to 13 people sitting in those chairs talking about businesses that happened during the day, and waiting in the line to get a haircut.”

CLOSING ((ANIM))
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SHOW ENDS

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