SFCG’s Juiette Schmidt Discusses 1001 Stories of Common Ground
We recently spoke about 1001 Stories, SFCG’s newest online initiative for dialogue and understanding. 1001 Stories of Common Ground brings together bloggers, activists, journalists, women, youth and general readers to tell stories that highlight positive change while crossing religion, ethnicity, gender and race boundaries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The International Journalists Network, IJNet, interviewed Juliette Schmidt, the Assistant Director of Partners in Humanity at Search for Common Ground to learn more about the website.
IJNet: How is the content gathered?
Juliette Schmidt: All photographs, videos and writings on the site are user-generated. Membership to the site is open to everyone, free of charge and any member over 18 can contribute content.
Search for Common Ground will share the most inspirational and popular stories, images and video through the Common Ground News Service (www.cgnews.org), a weekly news syndicate that distributes opinion articles that foster dialogue on important topics in Muslim-Western understanding to over 30,000 email subscribers and thousands of media outlets around the world who republish these articles in local languages.
IJNet: How does a story qualify as one of “positive change?”
JS: The most important aspect of any submitted content is that it tells a story of the diverse citizens of MENA countries – all backgrounds, genders, socio-economic classes, religions, ethnicities – working together to use collaborative, rather than adversarial, approaches to achieving shared goals.
IJNet: Your site mentions the goal is to improve Muslim-western relations, why not Muslim-Christian relations, East-West relations or even Arab-Western relations?
JS: Many stereotypes exist both within and between the so-called Muslim world and the so-called West which result in a tendency to see each group as a monolithic whole. Sites such as this one help to highlight the diversity within, while emphasizing the many, many groups working collaboratively for change.
Read the full interview here and easily sign up to be a member of 1001 Stories of Common Ground through your facebook account!
1001 Stories of Common Ground is a new initiative bringing positive stories of change from the Middle East and North Africa. You can sign up with your facebook account and share your stories, opinions, pictures and video!
MENA activists bring hope online
by Farah I. Abdel Sater
Beirut – Hope just got a boost online. From photos of youth in Saudi Arabia rebuilding after recent floods, to blog posts about solidarity in peaceful protests in Tahrir Square, to a video about women working together to overcome stereotypes, the new social networking site, 1001 Stories of Common Ground, offers a view of what is it like to be a creative, active Arab in a globalised world, far from the stereotypes haunting international mass media. read more…
An End to Violence in Sight for Cote d’Ivoire?
Civilians signal they are unarmed as they go out in search of provisions in Abidjan. Violence has left many stuck indoors. (European Pressphoto Agency, Legnan Koula / April 5, 2011)
You may be wondering what happened to our updates from Cote d’Ivoire. As the situation has worsened, our studio coordinator About Karno has been unable to continue. Our offices in Abidjan were ransacked last week. The guard was tied up (although unharmed) and all equipment was stolen. This week, looters returned to see if they could take anything else, namely the cars. Abidjan has a 12 noon curfew and right now our staff in-country are safe but are largely unable to leave their homes. Some have already lost loved ones to the violence that does not discriminate between militant and civilian. Yesterday a friend of our country director was killed in her home; the victim of a rocket launched into her housing complex. read more…
Check out this Israeli commercial that questions the possibility of a future without violence in the Middle East.
This memorial fountain in Montgomery, Alabama provides a timeline of events in the civil rights movement, as well as the names of 40 men, women and children who lost their lives in the fight for social justice.
By Jeanné Isler
In 2002, I prepared to vote for the second time in my life. The line was not the longest I’d seen, but I waited at least 45 minutes to get to the front.
“Democrat or Republican?” the woman asked me when I got to the table.
I told her my name, and explained that I was registered as an Independent. She replied, “Well this is a primary, so you can’t vote.” read more…
By Lee Ann Holtschulte
Lee Ann and Chris at the Pyramids of Giza
Our trip was intended to be an adventurous journey but we certainly never expected to travel during the aftermath of a revolution. We traveled to Egypt the beginning of March and the trip was met with resistance and caution from our families and friends. On some level, we expected an excitable country still energized from the revolution yet protective of their new freedoms. We were surprised to find few signs of a revolution and instead found a bustling young city with busy roads and unrivaled traffic. read more…
