Happy
Thanksgiving* t
Volume XXXXI
‘City 0/Roses'
Number 45
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • November 21. 2012
Established in 1970
years
Oj
Committed to Cultural Diversity *'communitv service
photo by
C ari H achmann <T he P ortland O bserver
Roosevelt High School alumni and Papers documentary crew member Cesar Pinada (from left), -and filmmakers Anne Galisky and Rebecca Shine, show students the
movie poster o f their documentary film “Papers, " which began at Roosevelt High School and filmed the lives o f five undocumented youth across America.
Powerful Lessons
Roosevelt
students
’ *5«
stand for justice
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Past and current issues of injustice and
racism and the powerful ways in which mem­
bers of our community are taking action to
fight the abuses are taking center stage at
Roosevelt High School.
Ninety student journalists in training sat
down at the north Portland school Thursday
to interview 16 civil rights activists about
how they are fighting for the freedom of
others in Portland.
The lesson was much like the action the
school took last year when students created
a traveling exhibit-the Freedom Riders, Fight­
ers and Writers Project, compiled of written
interviews, audio recordings and photo­
graphs.
Students arrived for the sessions ready to
record what they heard, equipped with pen­
cils, questions and m ultim edia-devices
(Ipads).
1 I I
In a small room of the library, one group of
freshman had the opportunity to interview
“Papers” documentary filmmakers and life
partners, Rebecca Shine, 43, and Anne
Galisky, 50, along with acouple of Roosevelt
alumni and movie crew members Cesar
Pinada, 23, and Jaime Limon Guzman, 26.
The “Papers” crew, which includes a long
list of other members, formed nearly five
years ago when Shine was tutoring students
at Roosevelt on how to obtain driver’s per­
mits and licenses. Many of her students
were dealing with immigration issues when
they decided to take a stand for what they
saw as injustice.
The documentary follows the lives of five
undocumented youth in America and the
challenges they face as they turn 18 without
a legal status. Filming started at Roosevelt
before moving across America. The movie
then premiered in 2009 at northeast Portland’s
Hollywood Theater.
Shine told students that the idea of the film
was to start a conversation around issues
youth were passionate about and cross un­
crossed boundaries.
“We proved that it’s possible— through
the documentary and film— to make change
at a small level of community,’’.Shine told the
next generation of Roosevelt students.
continued
on page 2