My Story :: Photo Programs for Youth

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This project features the work of seven kids from the Humboldt School in North Portland’s Humboldt neighborhood. The Humboldt neighborhood is one of the oldest in Portland. Many of these kids’ families have lived in the neighborhood for several generations. Over the course of three weeks, these kids documented their lives and community in photographs, writing, and tape-recorded interviews with their elders. Photos and text from this project will soon be mounted in an art installation at Humboldt Gardens, the Housing Authority of Portland’s newly revitalized public housing development in the Humboldt neighborhood. We owe a special thanks to the Housing Authority of Portland, artist Richard Wilhelm, and all the families in the Humboldt community who helped make this project possible.

In my dreams, it’s always the same. I want to become a famous female rapper known for the realness of her rhymes, who wants to change things that are bad. Hip hop keeps my heart beating. My soul is with hip hop.

I dream of coming home to a loving place.

My favorite memories of this neighborhood are of playing with all of the children on my block. My fondest memory is playing kickball on the four corners of my street. We would play that for hours and hours until it got dark. We would play all day during the summer when we weren’t at school.

My dream is to become a role model for the young ones that are coming up in this generation. I want to let the young ones know that life is about setting high goals and dreams for yourself and working hard to fulfill them.

I’m hoping my future holds me going to college and becoming a fashion designer.

Don't let people hinder you from trying to follow your dreams, and if you fail, you get back up, and you start over again.

All my memories of this neighborhood are good. I've lived here for 50 years, and I've never been mistreated, nor my children, and I like this neighborhood a lot. It's a nice part of Portland to live in.

I want to be a business lady and be my own boss. I think of myself in a business suit running my own fashion shows.

$My life is pretty cool, even if I have to take out the garbage and stuff. My neighborhood is boring and cool - boring because we have to play in the front yard, cool because I know everybody. That\'s so cool!$

Every night I go to bed thinking about sports.

I was born in this neighborhood and I've been here 39 years. What I remember most was that when I was growing up, there were lots of children, and lots of elderly people. I had a whole bunch of friends that I would walk from one block to another with, and we would all kind of caravan together, and play, and walk to the park. And then there were the older people. We could go to their houses, and they would give us cookies.

Humboldt School

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Ruth Ball, Anayla's grandmother

All my memories of this neighborhood are good. I've lived here for 50 years, and I've never been mistreated, nor my children, and I like this neighborhood a lot. It's a nice part of Portland to live in.

My Story Workshops :: Every Child Has A Story

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Humboldt School

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Ruth Ball, Anayla's grandmother