ATLANTA

José Ferrão

2017 SUSI Scholar on Journalism and Media

Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The journey to what one Athenian referred to as the “black people’s Mecca in the U.S.” started at Rio International Airport when I took a Delta flight. To my amazement, almost all of the flight attendants with two or three exceptions were African Americans, a kind of human landscape you never see on a Brazilian aircraft. In my country, black people are commonly assigned with cleaning jobs and entertainment. You often see them holding floor cloths and brooms, but very rarely leading a flight crew. You see them holding a microphone and playing the drums, but when most Brazilians check a prosperous entrepreneur out who happens to be black, they think there must be something wrong. An outrageous, sad and shameful reality.

I was loaded with stereotypes - and probably still am - when I boarded that plane. One can never be fully aware of the cultural jolt awaiting them, but I did have some background conception of Atlanta, as I had changed planes there some years ago. This time it was different, though. My African Brazilian friends from Salvador of Bahia and the years I spent teaching at one of our leading universities that adopted affirmative action have both helped me become at least more, I can say, insightful about these issues. For it is mine as well. After all, a country's heritage is something everyone takes part in, be it samba, soccer or ... slavery.

The landing in Hartsfield Jackson was pretty easy and I could see from the plane window how busy the airport was. Small carts running to and fro, luggage being taken from the parked aircrafts, men with green fluorescent vests signing the way to pilots and everywhere Delta’s propaganda: Proud to call Atlanta home and We have the best employees in the world. Sure you do, Delta. And the most colorful ones.

If you just go through the huge hallways of Hartsfield Jackson, you can see that the overwhelming majority of the airport people are African Americans. The singing Southern black accent is heard from the huge immigration hall to the eating facilities and throughout the big aisles of the terminals. Together with this beautiful song-speak, another feature of the black people in the United States is responsible for making them so powerful: their hairstyles.

I had been kind of gradually prepared for that nice surprise. One of the attendants in my flight from Rio had a sort of curly high hydrated hair cascade falling off her head down to her chest. Her being a tall woman contributed to an even more astounding outlook. A colleague of hers, on the other hand, preferred a light brown three-deck-wedding-cake-like bun reaching out to the sky. Every now and then you could hear I love your haaaaair!!!! coming out of a passenger’s mouth, which of course made them smile.

At Hartsfield Jackson, I just had to sit at one of those boarding gates and pretend the huge corridors were not airport but fashion runways, where the most amazing hairstyles passed by. Old women in her Sunday morning hats like just getting out of a Southern Baptist church service, young men with Mohican haircuts and bad boys’ sunglasses and middle-aged desk assistants with a whole variety of hairdos, ranging from straightening to highlights, from colorful extensions to progressive brushes. A woman driving a cart full of oldies with a big Rastafari braid passed by us and shouted a Beep Beep to the inattentive passengers on her way, while the lady at the boarding desk with half of her head shaved and the other half with blond hydrated curls hanging and swinging like Christmas tree ornaments continued her work…

And me sitting there, thinking of my dear fellow African Brazilians back home and the long way they still have to go to get as much empowerment as their North American counterparts after a lot of struggle and passive resistance…

And I remained in wonder.

AND GOD CREATED JIMMY CARTER

José Ferrão

2017 SUSI Scholar on Journalism and Media

Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Not far from Martin Luther King’s Memorial, in the middle of a beautiful and well-tended garden, American president Jimmy Carter has his Center and Library. In one of the buildings that comprise the set of modern concrete-and-glass facilities, a museum hosts a collection of papers, outfits, and personal items belonging to the best ex-president the United States ever had, according to many, and his beloved First Lady Rosalynn. A visit is worth taking, especially if you are interested in knowing what makes an American.

The ingredients you find as you go through a set of walled photograph panels with inscriptions that account for the various stages on the pilgrim president’s progress to social activism and, of course, power. From his childhood in Plains, Georgia, to world leaders’ palaces, Jimmy is the good guy who made it. What he simply did was to accomplish someone’s prophecy that once proclaimed: “Any schoolboy, even one of ours, might grow up to be president of the United States”. The wise words are those of a Woman of Achievement, as Miss Julia Coleman, Jimmy and Rosalynn’s teacher and school director, was entitled back in the 1930s. About four decades later, her pupil would take the oath of office.

But not without challenges and perils, for those make the spirit tougher and more prepared to go and get there. Carter’s odyssey started in the Navy, when he had to face one of the fiercest storms of Pacific Ocean history. No big deal for the Sunday school teacher of the officers’ children though. Back to Plains, with little money, Jimmy and Rosalynn overcame the hardships and “together they steadily expanded their [peanut farm] business and began to play a larger role in the community”, says the script on the wall. Then it was time for politics and with it came the “painful loss in his first race for governor”. No big deal again, for a bigger campaign would pay off later on: from being an almost unknown politician, Carter became the Democrats’ candidate who in the end made it to the White House, supported by the restless family and friends who took the race in their hands. A story that goes on to a mandate that inherited the wearing out of the Vietnam War, the discouragement brought to the nation by Watergate, the tension of the American hostage crisis in Iran and the difficult peace talks between Israel and Egypt at Camp David.

A path not strange to the faithful Rosalynn either, the First Lady with an agenda of her own. The “Independent Partner” soon got used to “attending [her husband’s] cabinet meetings to stay current on the nation’s business”. The photos on the panel dedicated to Rosalynn show Carter’s wife holding the hand of a small child being assisted by a doctor in what looks like a humanitarian campaign, and also a meeting in the Oval Office with the First Lady on par with the president’s political staff. Her dresses and jewelry displayed on a glass window testify of the simplicity and grace of a well-bred country young girl, which also accounts for the Carters’ protestant ascetic values.

A couple that also helped “made America great again”, although in a single one-term mandate. No big deal again. Their long-lasting work had barely started. Still to come was the fight against Guinea worm, river blindness and malaria, three of the poor world’s horrible diseases that would receive The Carter Center’s assistance. The saints have been marching in, now at a slower place though, as the old couple retired to their home in Plains. In Atlanta, their story continues to be told, a revealing narrative that outlines the hallmark of the American people: a folk commissioned by God to fight, overcome and achieve. This has always been so in the United States. The Carters are good metonymy of it all.  

Yeha noha
Author: Attila Kenyeres
Blog post

Yeha noha - this is the title of my favorite Indian music-based song. For me and for most people outside the United States, we have some knowledge about Native American Indians only from songs like this, as well as from movies and books. But at least for me, I had the opportunity to explore a piece of the heart of the sacred land of Native American Indians – Chillicothe, Ohio.

Windswept mounds under a sky full of fast-moving clouds, and the speedy Scioto river behind rustling trees – we are in the land of the ancient Hopewell culture. The land of Native American Indians, who had lived here before Europeans came into their territories and destroyed most of their culture and people. Nowadays this area is protected as a part of the Hopewell Culture National History Park. It was good to see that American government tries to save at least the remnants of this once-booming culture. We had the opportunity to visit this sacred land of Native Indians during our SUSI (Study of the U.S. Institutes) program.

And also to see an outdoor drama called “Tecumseh!”. It was just amazing, a lifetime experience, especially for me, as I am not just a journalist and lecturer, but also a teacher of history. The “stage” was set in the middle of a forest, surrounded by trees, and behind the stage was a little lake, which was also a part of the set piece. The flashing little lights of fireflies after dark intensified the experience. All of these things were not just somewhere in the world, but exactly in the middle of the sacred land of Native American Indians. This environment gave a magical atmosphere to the performance.

The story of the drama was not so interesting – at least for me. It was the same old story about how technologically developed European colonizers defeated poor Indians, spiced with a sad love story. The real experience came not from the script but the whole environment (the forest, the lake, the real horses etc.) the spectacularly dramatized scenes (e.g. tribal dance in masks around a totem column, singing around a fire in the night) and the authentic clothes of the actors and actresses. It was just like a time travel.

Some critics of the drama can say that real Indians did not look like this, they did not sing and dance like this. And this drama was a fake presentation about the life of Native American Indians. And maybe they are right. But still. This outdoor drama gives at least some “real-like” experiences about Native American Indians in their own land. It is beyond movies, books, and music songs.

And what was also really interesting for me is the audience. Maybe some of them are descendants of European colonizers, and now they see a drama about how Indians suffered at the hands of colonizers – their ancestors. And they have the opportunity to face the past, and to feel the pain and hurt of defeated and humiliated Indian people. That is a great thing in American society. American people can be proud of it. In this country there is an opportunity to present sensitive social topics, to think and to talk about it and to face the mistakes of the past. I think, there are still many countries in the world, where this kind of drama would be immediately banned.

Attila Kenyeres, Hungary

Old Friends, New Country

By: David Michael

Botswana's capital, Gaborone, as seen from Kgale Hill

In 2016 I spent a month studying abroad in Pécs, Hungary during the summer. We worked with students from the University of Pécs as well as students from another sister school, the University of Botswana. These five students from the African country became some of my closest friends. We spent every day together, constantly curious about each other’s cultures. Many laughs were shared, mostly about my attempts at speaking Tswana. Gaborone is a hop, skip, and a jump from South Africa. I could not pass on the opportunity to see them while I was in the neighborhood for a three-day weekend.

From Johannesburg the plane goes up, reaches maximum altitude for about a minute, and then begins it’s descent. I stepped off of the tiniest aircraft I’ve ever been on onto the runway leading into the second-tiniest airport I’ve ever seen (the tiniest title goes to Monroe Regional Airport in Louisiana). The size of the airport was actually the second thing I noticed. The first being a bright yellow sign that read: “Any person making inappropriate comments concerning hijacking, carriage of weapons or explosives may be prosecuted.”

I had studied Botswana quite a bit. It was my country of focus during Professor Kalyango’s Foreign Correspondence course. However, nothing is equal to experiencing a culture for oneself. The sign served as my first sense of culture shock. The government is quite strict. Negative talk about the president, Ian Khama, is forbidden as well. His portrait also hangs in every shop. It gave me a very “big brother is watching” vibe.

The frowning face of Khama was soon replaced by the wide smile of my friend who was there to pick me up. The next day I was reunited with the others as well. They showed me around their University, and took the moment to pick up their final grade reports from the office. I was handed one, and I attempted to read it. The grading system is fairly different. There are similar letter grades, but on a different scale. The classes are sorted differently as well, causing some grades to have a different weight. It was also on a 5.0 scale. I took notes in case I ever get the chance to study there.

From the University we traveled to the National Museum. My five tour guides explained different portions of their country’s history and I was left in awe by the artwork. From there we traveled further into the capital. We were only able to pass by parliament, as the girls would not have been allowed in considering they were wearing pants. Women are only permitted to wear traditional dresses in parliament, and have to sit on the floor during sessions.

Parliament

Going to lunch we enjoyed a traditional meal of pap, vegetables, and mealworms. The food was incredible, but my favorite part about the lunch was right before we ate. The staff comes around with soap, a kettle, and a basin. They hold it for you as you wash your hands on the spot before eating. The interactions with the staff were also very intimate. The way my friends and the waitress conversed and joked, I thought they knew each other previously. However, they had just met. I began picking up more and more how friendly and open people are throughout the entire country. Personal relationships with one another are obviously very important, from family to your taxi driver. 

               

Washing our hands

Grilled mealworms

In Hungary, one of the Botswana students had noticed a little girl asking her mom a question while pointing at him curiously. This was obviously due to his skin color being different. He reminded me of this story, and then turned my direction to a small boy, who was staring at me in fascination. I smiled, realizing the shoe was on the other foot and I had become the minority. In fact, I did not see another white person until going on a Safari the next day.

After the safari we hosted a braai (barbeque) where I met many more friends. My Tswana was trained, and stories shared. Most of those in attendance were recently graduated from University so the hot topic of the night was employment. I had previously written a story about the high unemployment rates among the youth in the country. Being there however, I received more of a sense of how important it really is to them. The measurement of success starts with do you have a job or not. It means everything. The young persons whose company I was enjoying would become visibly depressed when discussing their job-hunts. Part-time jobs are not a thing. The students didn’t work while attending University, nor did they seek any jobs outside the field they’d studied. You do not do one job while hunting for another. They viewed a temporary job merely to make money as lowering their status. Those levels of jobs are careers meant for others.

Despite my short time in the country, I experienced and learned a lot about Botswana's culture. I look forward to returning there one day, hopefully for a longer period of time. I also hope to see my friends again soon. Who knows what country we’ll end up together in next? 

Georgia Aquarium: fun visit By Surbhi Dahiya, India

The moment I saw Atlanta on the SUSI schedule, I wanted to visit Georgia Aquarium. Had learnt long ago from one of my cousins that it is home to more than tens of thousands of sea creatures in about  ten million gallons of water.

As a part of Educational study tour, SUSI scholars were taken to Atlanta to visit CNN , World of Coca Cola, Jimmy Carter Library and Museum and Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site. Scholars were also taken to the famous Sun Dial restaurant for dinner but Georgia aquarium visit was not mentioned. I had thought that I will visit the aquarium during free time. On 27^th of July when Prof  Yusuf asked if the group was interested to go to the aquarium or not, I seemed to be the only one who was interested and happy too. While others wanted to go shopping, I was all set to see this world class aquarium. Slowly, the number of people who wanted to visit the aquarium raised to nine.

 Located in downtown Atlanta across Centennial Olympic Park and the World of Coca Cola, we walked across the street and purchased tickets. As we got in, we saw a number of exhibits such as Cold Water Quest, Ocean Voyager, River Scout, Aquanaut Adventure and Tropical Diver. It had more than 60 habitats and as informed by one of the workers, it included more than 500 species from around the world. He also informed that “ the largest exhibit at Georgia aquarium, Ocean Voyager gallery measures 284 feet long, 126 feet wide and 30 feet deep and holds about 6.3 million gallons of water and the second largest exhibit holds around 800000 gallons of water”. These exhibits are home to four beluga whales, four whale sharks, four manta rays , predatory trevally jacks, squadrons of small and large stingrays, enormous goliath grouper and several other fish which the visitors can witness through the acrylic tunnel. One can see all types of marine life on all sides of this viewing window.  For the first time I felt that I should learn swimming to swim with them as people had an opportunity to do so.

The main attraction was the dolphin show and the sea lion show. Simply amazing. An expansive underwater dolphin and sea otter viewing window allowed me to capture the moments. Penguins,3D jelly fish, zebra snake and lion fish were among the other attractions. For the penguins, there were almost 25 nesting areas with a wonderful lighting area. Pop up window allowed me to watch their activities.

And then comes the tropical diver that is arranged like a gallery of living art and the tropical coral reefs can be seen where garden eels pop out of sand. From corals to mesmerizing jelly fish to butterflyfish to zebra moray eels to sea horses, sea lion fish, coral reef fish and yellow headed jaw fish are the main attractions.

It is undoubetedly by far the best Aquarium I have ever seen or been too! The experience was incredible! The memories will never leave me! Kudos to the managing department for doing what you do for the animals and the education! Visitors and SUSI scholars this is a must do if you come to Georgia.  Hope to make another visit very soon with the kids… I know they will love it too.

 

 

 

Internationality is Gold

by: Sahel Zarinfard (Austria)

At first I didn't know what to expect. It would be my first time to participate in an international program and also be part of an international group that comes from all around the globe. As Yusuf Kalyango introduced the scholars to each other via e-mail for the first time, I was very curious: Where do the other 16 scholars come from, at which Universities do they teach, are there other investigative reporters and digital storytellers and how will we spend the next six weeks together?

It goes without saying, that every single scholar is rich of knowledge and more than willing to share his or her journalistic know-how with everybody else. During our short term academic program we were not only able to learn more about journalism and academic research from our lecturers at the Ohio University but also learn a lot from each other. By doing so, we share our experiences beginning with "In my country..." – and be amused about the similarities and differences in our cultures.

This is an interactive map of all SUSI scholars from 2017. One klick on every participating country reveals the names, the universities, the research focuses and the best moments of all 16 scholars, who I rather would describe as best academic friends forever.
 



While creating this map, I wanted to know where the former scholars come from and if there is a common pattern during the selection process of every years' scholars. It wasn't hard to gather the data, as the former countries and participants are named at the University's website. So I uploaded a Dataset of countries, the number of scholars of each country, the years they were attending the SUSI program and also their names. The variety and internationalism of SUSI is clearly visible.  


 

A Trip to Remember    
by: Sahel Zarinfard (Austria)

A lot of things happen in a lot of places. But Atlanta is special. Not only as the capital of the U.S. state of Georgia but mainly as the headquarters of world-famous companies and news media outlets, which have influenced the global market within their own field. The speech is of the Coca-Cola Company on the one side and Cable News Network – better known as CNN – on the other side. During our trip to Atlanta, which is one of six educational study tours among our program in the United States, we had the opportunity to learn the ups and downs of both sides. And there is more: Atlanta is the hometown of Martin Luther King Jr., spokesperson and leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and an iconic role model for millions of people around the globe to offer resistance against their suppressors. This city is a place to remember and to underline its significance, I created an interactive timeline of my best memories.