By Nour Habib, Granite State News Collaborative Engagement Reporter
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Good morning, and welcome to the third installment of This is New Hampshire, the Collaborative's newsletter focused on our race and equity project.
Our first order of business: The partners of the Collaborative have been closely covering the proposed policies in what began as House Bill 544 (the so-called "divisive concepts" bill). We'd like to hear from you about this initiative so we can directly respond to your questions and concerns with our coverage. Take this survey to tell us what you're curious about and how these policies could impact you.
Next, this month we give you the chance to be the first to read our newest piece for the project: a story about a grassroots group that formed in Manchester to provide tutoring support for students of color. Read an excerpt below and follow the link to read more about why families of color say teachers have lower expectations for their children.
Also in this edition: An introduction to our newest team member, a Father's Day column from one of our freelancers and a Q&A with Eva Castillo, director of the New Hampshire Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees.
Grassroots Tutoring Initiative Serves Black, Immigrant Students
By Kelly Burch and Nour Habib, Granite State News Collaborative
Like many New Hampshire mothers, Joy Adumene of Manchester struggled to help her four kids with remote learning during the pandemic.
Unlike most parents, Adumene and her husband had an added challenge: as immigrants they never went through the American school system so helping their children — ages 15, 14, 11 and 6 — left them feeling especially lost, she said.
“I’ve never been to school, so I don’t know most of what they’re supposed to get or not supposed to get,” said Adumene, who immigrated from Nigeria. “At school they get more resources than when they’re stuck home with me.”
That’s why Adumene was relieved to hear that her sister-in-law, Kile Adumene, was organizing a grassroots tutoring program in Manchester, aimed at supporting Black, brown and immigrant students.
The Manchester Community Action Coalition (MCAC) Virtual Community Tutoring Program was formed in response to concerns about support and resources for community members of color, said Kile Adumene.
Manchester has a unique challenge. As the state’s biggest district, it also has the highest percentage of minority students. In 2019, 46.5% of the district’s enrolled students were minority students.
MCAC began holding community meetings in February 2020 to discuss the worries of communities of color and immigrant communities during the pandemic. At the forefront of many minds was their children’s success in school, something that became even more pressing once the state switched to remote learning.
“Out of those conversations, once we dealt with the immediate issues like computer access, it became clear that what was still needed was ongoing academic support,” said Grace Kindeke, of Manchester, who is helping to organize the program.
The MCAC tutoring program officially kicked off in November and has grown since. Today, 37 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and more than 60 volunteer tutors participate in the free tutoring sessions.
The MCAC tutoring program aims to provide students the support and guidance that many of their white peers have at home. This includes academic support, especially for families of color, who are more likely than white families to have parents that work full-time outside the home, even during the pandemic, according to data from the Urban Institute.
Read the rest of the story here.
Jenny Whidden
Meet our newest team member
Jenny Whidden joined the Granite State News Collaborative this month through Report For America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Whidden will be responsible for providing much needed deep-dive coverage of underlying systems and issues relating to race and equity in our state and exploring the impacts that racial justice-related legislation has on our communities.
Previously, Whidden, of Rolling Meadows, Illinois, covered the Illinois Statehouse and the pandemic for the Chicago Tribune. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Marquette University, where she was managing editor of the Marquette Tribune, an award-winning student paper. Whidden has reported for New Jersey’s Star-Ledger, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, a nonprofit site. The Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report have also published her work.
EXCERPT: I'm a Father. Indoors mostly, domesticated if you will.
Anthony Payton
By Anthony Payton, columnist, Granite State News Collaborative
I once lived at a place in Rhode Island that seemed to be overrun by possums and rodents. A friend brought in a cat named “Smokey”, a grayish British shorthair. Smokey had one eye missing and plenty of battle scars from his time on the street. No one knew the origin of Smokey’s missing eye, but I’d like to think that it was gangsta enough, and heartbreaking enough, to make Smokey my type of cat.
Smokey waged all out war against the rodent and possum problem…
Upon returning from New York one night, we found Smokey sprawled out in the yard dead. A few feet from him, laid a huge possum, also dead.
Smokey put that work in...and he died in the line of duty.
On my commute to work, I pass by a window where I see a cat pressed up against the glass looking out at the view. It watches the squirrels and birds go about their business. I don’t know this cat's history, but I’d like to think that he was once a wild cat who’s been domesticated. He no longer needs the thrill of the streets. He’s content being indoors--something that I can relate to.
Many years ago, in the streets of Brooklyn, I was once that wild and reckless young man. My poor choices led me to engage in everything from drug dealing to gun violence. I tell my story to hopefully prevent others from walking the path that I once walked. Here I am, decades later, finally locked in on the lessons that I was once taught by my parents, which I had strayed away from. And almost 18 months removed from federal incarceration, I’m walking the path from prison to prosperity. What a ride it’s been. I’m building a relationship with my daughter who was born during my time away. Also spending time with her brothers, who I affectionately consider my sons. I’ve also made the most of every positive opportunity that came my way.
For the full column, click here.
Eva Castillo
Three Questions with Eva Castillo
Eva Castillo, of Manchester, is the director of NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees. Castillo is an immigrant herself and has worked for the Latino community in the U.S. for decades.
"I know first hand what the issues are," she said. "I have gone through the immigration process myself and I want to help my fellow immigrants navigate the many barriers in their journey to becoming Americans."
Below, she talks about her work and observations.
1. You've been working in the immigration field for three decades. What would you say is the single biggest difference in this work today from 30 years ago?
The systems are still imperfect and I would say more difficult. There certainly is a lot more awareness of the plight of immigrants and the difficulties they face in our society. We have more people working with us for the rights of immigrants and to gain citizenship status for those that have no path under the present immigration system.
2. What achievement do you take the most pride in when it comes to your immigration advocacy work?
I am proud that many more people are paying attention to immigration; they see it as a positive thing for our state and understand the process and how dysfunctional it really is.
3. Through personal experience and your work with Welcoming NH, what are some of the challenges that new immigrants face when they first come to America?
There are many challenges we face when coming to the U.S. In addition to the obvious (language, new culture and ways to do things, lack of social connections and distance from the family), we face stereotypes that are difficult to change. Racism and discrimination are present in one way or another, sometimes overt and other times in the form of microaggressions. The need to prove ourselves over and over again. It is very difficult to find employment in your areas of study if you graduated overseas, it is difficult to validate your degree and even if you do, you might not be given the opportunity to get a professional job. Many times people feel isolated and just socialize with their own group. I believe that having conversations and connecting with different groups and cultures is the only way to understand that, in the end, we are more alike than we are different.
From our partners
This month, NHPR ran a story about an innovative COVID-19 vaccination clinic at a Nashua barbershop. Barbershop owner Lilo Almonte said: "A lot of people probably feel shy or scared, to take themselves to the hospital, to the clinic, but they say, ‘Oh we're going to the barbershop? We're going to be with the barber? That'll be fine!’” Read the story here.
Thanks for reading! See you next time. -- Nour
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ABOUT THE GRANITE STATE NEWS COLLABORATIVE
The Granite State News Collaborative is a collective of about 20 local media, education and community partners working together to produce and share news stories on the issues that most impact our state. Together we can provide more information to more communities across New Hampshire than we could individually.