Sanda Htyte

In 2011, the New York Police Department made more than 120,000 stops of black and Latino kids between the ages of 14 and 18.  

This fall, we began a new broadcast workshop in Flushing, Queens in partnership with the Flushing YMCA. During the past month, the Rookies have started to roll through their lessons, putting their new skills to practice. They are well on their way to making their radio documentaries.

One of the Rookies asked me 'why is it that we have to throw the party on a brick cold day?' But, despite the arctic temperature and the wind chill factor Rookies from past and present showed up. We all came together and celebrated being a part of the Rookies family for the past 10 years and looking ahead to many more years.

I felt like such a hypocrite. Here I am in Queens, challenging the teens to find a sense of connection to their community, possibly eradicate their assumptions, and change their views about the place, while I think to myself 'me? Start a radio workshop in Queens? How dreadful! Love the kids, just not Queens - it's my least favorite borough.' Come on! Can Queens really be anyone's favorite borough? But after the 5 weeks long workshop, these kids and their stories about flushing made me reevaluate.

The third round of Short Wave Rookies comes from Queens, NY. We collaborated with Mapping Main Street, a documentary project that set out to tell the stories of all the Main Streets in the United States.