The Coalition “Pass(t) uns allen” (“Citizenship Suits Us All”) campaigns for fair citizenship, naturalization and voting rights. There are currently more than 12 million people without German citizenship living in Germany, 10 million of whom are of voting age. Of these, 1.5 million do not have a German passport, even though they were born here. At the same time, the naturalization rate of less than 2% is in the bottom third of the EU. If people who have lived here for years or were born here are not protected from deportation, are not allowed to vote and are subject to numerous restrictions in their everyday lives, this is not only unjust, but also a massive democratic deficit! Even in the face of right-wing terrorist attacks and everyday racism, it is crucial that those who are affected by them are able to vote and hold political office. Only those who vote count!
The alliance consists of migrant and racism-critical interest groups and self-organizations. Miman Jasarovski, who like so many was born in Germany but has no German citizenship, initiated the alliance together with Olga Gerstenberger and further activists from the initiative “With Wings and Roots”. We have jointly formulated the demands of the campaign. We are becoming bigger and stronger.
Campaign Organizers: Olga Gerstenberger, Miman Jasarovski
A unique workshop series designed for Sudanese and Palestinian refugees in Egypt. This initiative aims to amplify their authentic voices through audiovisual outputs, which will then be shared with European and American audiences via the With Wings and Roots platform, and as part of short programs before feature film screenings, and through our larger network.
The workshop series encompasses two key activities: training and screenings. Participants will receive comprehensive training in media production, enabling them to create personal videos that reflect their experiences and perspectives. These videos will follow the format and themes of the “With Wings and Roots” platform, providing a space for refugees to share their stories and voices with a global audience.
Partners: Union of Egyptian Media Women, Jesuit Cultural Center Cairo
Funders: IFA
Project Lead: Manar El-Zohery
In cooperation with the SWANE Café, With Wings and Roots is presenting an exhibition and series of events on migration, rights and belonging from May 8 to December 15, 2024.
The focus is on the installation of our timeline on migration, rights and belonging in Germany as well as our video-based story collection. Visitors can explore how political and cultural events over the past centuries have shaped our understanding of migration, rights and belonging. At the same time, young people share their very personal perspectives on migration, racism and belonging in short clips from over 50 video interviews. The exhibition is accompanied by a monthly supporting program with discussion rounds, concerts and spoken word as well as workshops for young people and adults.
The exhibition invites visitors to learn about various forms of migrant self-organization and resistance movements from a historical and biographical perspective and to share their own experiences and stories.
Project Coordinator: Miman Jasharovski
Over the years, we have offered extended storytelling workshops for young people in Berlin, New York and Seattle. We work to address participants’ experiences with immigration, identity, and racism through media-making and team-building activities. We do activities exploring histories of migration, critical media analysis, ant-oppression, and hands-on video production.
Funders: Brooklyn Arts Council, Local Action Funds – Neukolln, EU Youth in Action Grant, Doris Wupperman Foundation, respektABl
Partners: Club Dialog, Mayday Space, Alte Feuerwache Berlin, Young Women Empowered, Global Action Project
When and where: May 5, 2015, Heinrich-Boell Foundation
Panel: “Reimagine Belonging: How Do We Narrate Germany?” with Saraya Gomis (Teacher and Black Diaspora School/EOTO e.V.), Leila Younes El-Amaire (i,Slam), Breschkai Ferhad (Neue Deutsche Medienmacher) und Çığır Özyurt (JugendtheaterBüro Berlin), moderated by Pasquale Virginie Rotter (With Wings and Roots Collaborator and Empowerment Trainer)
Performances: Spoken Word from i,Slam
Panel: “Immigrant Rights, Racial Justice, and New Visions of Citizenship” with Peter Kwong (CUNY Graduate Center/Hunter College), Tania Mattos (UnLocal), David Levy (Facing History) and Abraham Paulos (Families for Freedom), moderated by Christina Antonakos-Wallace (With Wings and Roots director)
When and where: April 2, 2016, VHS FORUM
Panel: “Contested Belonging in Polarizing Times” with Mely Kiyak (Journalisti ZEIT online), Massimo Perinelli (Senior Advisor Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung), Emine Aslan (Blogger and activist) and Gladis Douabalet Maika (Activist Jugendliche ohne Grenzen), moderated by Nesrine Shibib (Coach e.V.)
Performances: Elektrohafiz (Music), Azadê (Spoken Word)
When and where: June 2, 2016, UT Connewitz
Panel: “Racism in the Education System: Structures, Content and Struggles” with Tuğba Tanyılmaz (i-PÄD), Hajdi Barz (IniRromnja), Anna Nikolenko (LAG pokuBi Sachsen e. V.) and Vincent Bababoutilabo (Initiative of Black People in Germany, Leipzig), moderated by Berena Yogarajah (With Wings and Roots Collaborator)
Performances: DJ Sithara (music), Nhi Le (Spoken Word), Ó – The Banzoi Syndicate (music)
When and where: December 2016, Hiawatha Artspace
Panel: “Reimagine Belonging: Northwest Stories” with activists from Colectiva Legal del Pueblo who shared the post-election realities for the immigrant communities, performances by writers and poets, and screening of local stories in collaboration with Young Women Empowered
Performances: Poetry performances and music from Alex Guy from Led to Sea
Berlin: Olga Gerstenberger, Regina Knoll
New York: Christina Antonakos-Wallace, Rachel Landry, Theresa Navarro
Cologne & Leipzig: Manjiri Palicha
Seattle: Christina Antonakos-Wallace, Cynthia Wu
Fiscal sponsor: Cultures Interactive e.V.
Funders & Donors: The German Federal Agency for Civic Education, the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, EVZ Foundation, New School University Student Senate, the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation – Berlin, Whole Foods NYC – Midtown East and the Central Co-op.
Partners: Anti-Discrimination Office Cologne, Anti-Discrimination Office Saxony, AWO Mittelrhein – Opportunity Workshop for the Diversity and Participation, Coach e.V. – Cologne Initiative for the Education and Integration of Young Migrants, the Hiawatha Arts Space, ISD Leipzig – Initiative Black People in Germany, Humanity in Action – New York, New York Collective of Radical Educators, New School’s Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, Public Against Violence e.V. (ÖgG), ROOTS & ROUTES – Cologne, Teach Dream, Young Women Empowered, StuRa University Leipzig, Urban Culture Bridge, UT Connewitz, and Volkshochschule – Cologne.
Miman’s Story addresses the deficit of educational materials on Gadjé-racism – the structural and interpersonal racism that Roma people are subjected to across Europe. Based on the story of Miman, a protagonist from our film FROM HERE, we developed a multimedia educational resource on Gadjé-racism (link materials) in cooperation with Initiative Rromnja and RomaniPhen in 2015/16. It consists of an extensive curriculum and four accompanying video modules.
The videos profile Berlin-based social worker Miman, a German Roma working with Roma refugees. Miman’s parents immigrated from the former Yugoslavia as so-called “guest workers,” and although he was born in Düsseldorf, he does not have German citizenship. He is the only member of his family open about his Roma identity. Through the videos, Miman addresses the present and historical dimensions of the discrimination faced by Roma communities, and also shares his own experiences of exclusion, as well as his personal struggles with belonging and resistance.
The curriculum offers historical background information for educators, discussion questions about the videos, supporting activities which deepen engagement with the topics, as well as exercises that encourage students and educators to “Take Action.” The materials are a tool to raise awareness in both educators and young people to the history and current situation of Roma and Sinti in Germany, stimulate critical reflection, and offer spaces for empowerment and solidarity for students from various communities. Since 2016, it has been used in various universities across Germany.
Author Study Guide: Hajdi Barz
Project coordination: Lotti Schulz – lotti(@)withwingsandroots.com
The project was realized in cooperation with Initiative Rromnja and RomaniPhen. It was funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future and Humanity in Action.
The project “Un-)erhörte Geschichten“ [translation: Un(Heard Stories] took place in Germany between 2013-2016 in partnership with Cultures Interactive. Its goal was to develop educational materials for the transfer of experiences of collective violence and systematic injustice in the context of the immigrant society in Germany. Within the project we developed educational resources on the use of our timelines and story collection and conducted workshops for youth and educators. The main outcome of this project is the (Link materials).
In 2013-2015, “(Un-)Heard Stories” gathered feedback on our timelines from actors from academia and civil society through individual meetings and a day-long community feedback event. This feedback was instrumental in the development of the website content, a workshop series for teachers, and a weeklong youth workshop at school in Berlin-Wedding.
2015-2016, the focus was on the development of a 150 page curriculum on migration, racism, belonging and identity. We also conducted three day-long workshops on how to use this curriculum for educators in Weimar, Leipzig and Cologne. The guide is intended for school and out of school settings, and consists of activities for historical and political education, as well as storytelling and media literacy elements.
Project coordination: Olga Gerstenberger, Regina Knoll
Funded by: the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility, Future” (EVZ) in cooperation with Cultures Interactive and supported by: Alte Feuerwache in Berlin, Alte Feuerwache in Cologne, Berlin Migration Council, GLADT eV, Saraya Gomis and their class at the Ernst- Reuter-Oberschule in Berlin, Heinrich-Böll Foundation, Workshop of Cultures, EJBW in Weimar, Dok-Leipzig and Pöge-Haus in Leipzig.
