PROOF works with UNIS to pilot a Human Rights Journalism program
This summer, PROOF worked with the United Nations International School to pilot a "Human Rights Photojournalism" program. The program took place throughout the last two weeks of August 2014 and was attended by ten high school students who study Global Politics at UNIS.
Organized by UNIS teacher, Abby MacPhail and with guidance from New York Times photojournalist Michael Kirby Smith, these students used photography and investigative journalism to uncover human rights issues in New York City. Through visits to local organizations including the Police Reform Organizing Project, Anti-Violence Project, Hispanic Resource Center, New York State Youth Leadership Council, Street Vendor Project, Urban Justice Center, Workers Justice Project, Picture the Homeless and Center for Constitutional Rights, students learned about human rights issues related to aggressive policing, homelessness, workers' rights, violence against members of the LGTBQ community, and immigration.
The culmination of their experiences and work will be displayed in an exhibit professionally designed and curated by PROOF. The display, entitled, “I Don’t Feel Protected,” will also be adapted into a screenplay that will then be performed by the UNIS theater department in the coming year.
“ I really enjoyed this program because you can talk about human rights issues, but it is different to actually go and experience them and be exposed to them. It makes the issues much more real and it makes you think about think a lot more. I also like how the program combined learning about these issues with a creative aspect, so it wasn’t only that you were educating yourself, but you were also being creative, and we were taught how to teach others through that creativity.”
“I have never had a learning experience like this one before. I really enjoyed being able to collaborate with Proof in order to do a photo exhibition. I felt like I gained some hands on experience on photojournalism and local human rights challenges in New York.”