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Trent Gilliss

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September 2, 2010
Gaza’s Steadfast Faces of Survival by Trent Gilliss, senior editor “This, I realized, was what I could add. Not the familiar scenes of destruction in Gaza but the steadfast faces of survival. To capture each intimate portrait required that I spend just a little more time with people, that I hear a bit more about their lives, look more deeply at them. And find the story of Gaza in their faces.” —Asim Rafiqui, photojournalist The Virginia Quarterly Review has published Rafiqui’s stunning set of black-and-white portraits of Palestinians living through the ongoing struggle for Gaza. The photojournalist’s introduction to “Portraits of Survival” with its brief captions give the viewer an intimate glimpse into his subjects’ lives. A point emphasized that resonated with me in several stories: stripping a person of the ability to offer hospitality to a guest is to strip one of his or her dignity.

Gaza’s Steadfast Faces of Survival

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

“This, I realized, was what I could add. Not the familiar scenes of destruction in Gaza but the steadfast faces of survival. To capture each intimate portrait required that I spend just a little more time with people, that I hear a bit more about their lives, look more deeply at them. And find the story of Gaza in their faces.”
—Asim Rafiqui, photojournalist

The Virginia Quarterly Review has published Rafiqui’s stunning set of black-and-white portraits of Palestinians living through the ongoing struggle for Gaza. The photojournalist’s introduction to “Portraits of Survival” with its brief captions give the viewer an intimate glimpse into his subjects’ lives.

A point emphasized that resonated with me in several stories: stripping a person of the ability to offer hospitality to a guest is to strip one of his or her dignity.

(September 2, 2010 at 5:00 am)
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September 1, 2010
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Day 22 - Ilana Alazzeh: “Singing in a Car”

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Voices [mp3, 4:14]

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Ilana AlazzehOur 22nd voice in this series is Ilana Alazzeh, a student at Smith College in Massachusetts. Growing up in California, Texas, and Virginia, she talks about spending Ramadan with a family rich in religious diversity, and driving while singing Jewish and Christmas songs during Ramadan.

Check back on this blog each day or on our Facebook page to hear a new voice in our “Revealing Ramadan” series. If you’re the on demand type or simply need a more automated form of listening, we’ve produced a special podcast feed that’s available now. Oh, and a special show too!

(September 1, 2010 at 5:00 pm)
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August 30, 2010
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Day 20 - Muna Jondy: “After Faith, It’s Character”

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Voices [mp3, 4:14]

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Muna JondyMuna Jondy is the 20th voice in this series. She’s an immigration attorney who runs her own private practice in Michigan. Muna, who was born in the U.S., is one of nine children of immigrant parents. She says the simplicity of her faith streamlines her life, but that the society around her can make it difficult to raise her children in an Islamic manner — instilling values of kindness, consideration, and community.

Check back on this blog each day or on our Facebook page to hear a new voice in our “Revealing Ramadan” series. If you’re the on demand type or simply need a more automated form of listening, we’ve produced a special podcast feed that’s available now. Oh, and a special show too!

(August 30, 2010 at 5:00 pm)
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August 29, 2010
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Day 19 - Hussein Rashid: “The Night of Power, and Imperfection”

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Voices [mp3, 5:23]

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Hussein RashidThe 19th voice in this series is Hussein Rashid, a Nizari Ismaili Muslim who was born and raised in New York City. He recounts one of his favorite vigils of Ramadan, Laylat al-Qadr or The Night of Power — a night in which many Muslims stay up all night in constant prayerm, reading Qur’an, reflecting. On this night, Muslims believe that the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. He also recites one of his favorite passages from the Quran prayed on this night, The Verse of Light.

Hussein currently teaches at Hofstra University in New York and writes for several blogs, including Religion Dispatches.

Check back on this blog each day or on our Facebook page to hear a new voice in our “Revealing Ramadan” series. If you’re the on demand type or simply need a more automated form of listening, we’ve produced a special podcast feed that’s available now. Oh, and a special show too!

(August 29, 2010 at 5:00 pm)
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August 27, 2010
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Day 17 - Reuben Jackson: “Support in Those Beginning Years”

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Voices [mp3, 3:58]

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Reuben JacksonOn this 17th day of Ramadan, Reuben Jackson, an African-American man who was raised Southern Baptist and converted, or “reverted” as he says, to Islam in May 2001. He immersed himself in Islam’s sacred texts and memorized prayers by Yusef Islam (formerly Cat Stevens). His Ramadan reflection tells about the support he received early on from friends at his local mosque in Arlington, Virginia to trainers at his gym.

Check back on this blog each day or on our Facebook page to hear a new voice in our “Revealing Ramadan” series. If you’re the on demand type or simply need a more automated form of listening, we’ve produced a special podcast feed that’s available now. Oh, and a special show too!

(August 27, 2010 at 6:00 pm)
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Walking. Without Words.

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

For this Friday afternoon, a throwback video snack from 1968. Artistic renderings of being through ambulatory expression. The film as described by the National Film Board of Canada’s website:

Animator Ryan Larkin uses an artist’s sensibility to illustrate the way people walk. He employs a variety of techniques—line drawing, colour wash, etc.—to catch and reproduce the motion of people afoot. The springing gait of youth, the mincing step of the high-heeled female, the doddering amble of the elderly—all are registered with humour and individuality, to the accompaniment of special sound. Without words.

(August 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm)
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August 26, 2010
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Day 16 - Parisa Popalzai: “Ramadan in Indonesia”

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Voices [mp3, 3:04]

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Parisa PopalzaiParisa Popalzai, an Afghani-American woman who immigrated to California after the Soviets invaded her home country in 1979, is our 16th voice in this series. She is an American Muslim who didn’t grow up with Muslim friends and, in the process, began to lose her religious identity. Her year of studying abroad in the world’s most populous Muslim country gave her a new perspective on the month of Ramadan, and her religious identity.

Check back on this blog each day or on our Facebook page to hear a new voice in our “Revealing Ramadan” series. If you’re the on demand type or simply need a more automated form of listening, we’ve produced a special podcast feed that’s available now. Oh, and a special show too!

(August 26, 2010 at 2:56 pm)
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August 25, 2010
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Day 15 - Ny’Kisha Pettiford: “Who’s in the Kitchen at Night”

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Voices [mp3, 2:52]

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Ny'Kisha Pettiford with Girl Scouts troopThe 15th voice in our series is Ny’Kisha Pettiford, an African-American woman who works for a health care communications company. She grew up in a Christian household — her mother Catholic, her father non-denominational — and converted to Islam while in college. She talks about how her family celebrates holidays and the cultural warmth of her local mosque during the month of Ramadan.

Check back on this blog each day or on our Facebook page to hear a new voice in our “Revealing Ramadan” series. If you’re the on demand type or simply need a more automated form of listening, we’ve produced a special podcast feed that’s available now. Oh, and a special show too!

(August 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm)
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August 24, 2010

The Glory of the Perseids (in One Minute)

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Holland LakeAfter a wonderful couple weeks of vacation, most of it in the Swan Valley of the Montana Rockies, I find myself pining for the starry night skies and the richness of the Milky Way. Growing up in Minneapolis, my two young boys had never seen anything like it. They marveled and remarked without prompting. They’re 4 and 2. I grew up in North Dakota and the vast density of stars adorning the night sky was all I knew. I found myself delighting in their pleasure and saddened by the thought that this was an uncommon event for them.

Some mornings the news doesn’t cut it. Information is too much. We need something to help us remember the moments that give meaning to our lives. Something that gives us hope. Natural events that shake our inner being and relationship to this magnificent world. Henry Jun Wah Lee’s “Joshua Tree Under the Milky Way” time lapse is a welcome relief to start this day.

If you have a photo or a video or a quote that does this for you, share it here. I’m always looking for new material to post that might boost our spirits for the working week.

(photo: “Holland Lake” by Trent Gilliss)

(August 24, 2010 at 6:29 am)
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