Trinidad Lara '16 FaceTimes from Israel
Mr. George’s senior World Lit class was treated to a discussion with Trinidad Lara ‘16, who is currently in Israel. George’s class is reading The Kite Runner and has been discussing emerging themes, including issues for Arab and Muslim women.
George’s class has also watched Osama, an Afghan film about a young Afghani girl who has no choice but to dress as a boy to earn money for her family; a choice that goes horrible wrong for her. It won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Picture in 2004, and was the reason the class began talking about issues surrounding women.
Trinidad has been studying women’s issues in the Muslim world and has spent the last few weeks in Banlieue, France at a school for Arab and Muslim women. Banlieue is one of the Arab suburbs/slums of Paris, and Trinidad witnessed and learned about the vicious cycle of racism and poverty and how it helped fuel resentment and radicalization. She joined the World Lit class via FaceTime to speak a little bit about her experiences and studies, and to answer questions with informed answers.
While Trinidad graduated from HRA in May 2016, she had a lot to offer the current seniors from her first semester studies at George Mason University, as well as her more recent experiences. During her time in France, she collected data and witnessed for herself the inequalities that Arab and Muslim women face every day. George’s World Lit students asked questions such as, “are the young men more receptive to change than the older generation?” Her response, informed by her own first hand experience, was negative. When answering another student’s question she explained that the media was one of the only ways to bring about positive change for these women. By painting Arab and Muslim communities in a positive light in the mainstream media, there might be the possibility for acceptance. She also stated that change was going to have to come from the Arab and Muslim community itself, particularly the women.
Mr. George spoke about the importance of the HRA alumni to give back to the community of current students: “It's always great for the students to hear from someone who has had firsthand experience with the topics we discuss in class, especially an HRA grad who was walking our halls just last year! I think it was also enriching for Trini to be able to share with us her thoughts about a topic she is passionate about exploring...a total win/win.”
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