Student Profile - Jamil Suleman
< Previous | All Archived Profiles | Next >
Leadership Scholar
Major(s): American Ethnic Studies, Comparative History of Ideas
Project: "Truth from the Youth: Seattle 2 Cape Town"- giving voice to underprivileged youth in Seattle and Cape Town, Africa through poetry/rap
Project: "Truth from the Youth: Seattle 2 Cape Town"- giving voice to underprivileged youth in Seattle and Cape Town, Africa through poetry/rap
Where did you graduate from high school?
I graduated from Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Wa. 2002.
Why did you decide to come to the UW?
I decided to come to UW because I heard how good of a school it was, especially internationally. My mom works for Roosevelt Hospital, and she also pushed me to attend.
What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
I have been a part of multiple UW organizations, including MTT (Minority Think Tank). My extracurricular activities include music, poetry, activism, basketball, any type of leadership, writing, hanging out with my family and friends, and just straight hustling in general.
What are your interests?
My interests are all across the board really. I love to write because it expands my capacity to understand things. I keep a close eye on the news so I have a good grip of what is going on in the world. Also, just having the time to hang out with people who are interested in making a change and talking about our next steps for success – understanding diverse viewpoints is crucial when trying to make moves.
How did you first become involved in your project?
I was put onto the Cape Town, South Africa program through Georgia Roberts from the CHID department. She informed me that it was a great opportunity to take my work out into the international realm. I was eager to get poetry from kids because I wanted to see the comparison of their viewpoints to those in Seattle. The idea stemmed from Georgia’s class, the Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur, where we traded poems and responded to them. I wanted to see how kids in lower-income Cape Town would respond to the rhymes of the kids in lower-income Seattle. The results have been fascinating.
Why did you decide to begin/work on your project?
I have always been interested in poetry and the arts as a way for social change. It allows people to be open and honest and this is critical when we are trying to find a solution for any cause, in this case voicing the voiceless of the youth. That is why my project is called Truth from the Youth, because it gives the younger generation a platform to speak their mind.
What is rewarding about your project?
The biggest reward is most definitely working with the kids. They support each other in a way that adults need to, but seem to forget about as they get older. They really teach us as opposed to the other way around. We can’t forget that the youth are like a sponge which reflects what they are facing and how they have been raised. It’s a way for us to see how we will progress in the future and if the change we are making is really effective or not.
What is difficult/challenging about your project?
The logistical element is always an issue. It’s great to have an idealistic view on what you are trying to do, but orchestrating that in real life can be hard sometimes. Often, things just don’t work out the way you plan, so you either have to adapt or scrap your original idea. Though this is a challenge, it allows you to grow and puts you in a spot to see your true potential.
What are your plans after graduation?
My current plan is to take a year off and prepare for Law School. I think this will allow me to better understand how the system works and how I can achieve the maximum benefit for my people within the framework we are forced to deal with. You have to know the rules of the game if you plan on winning.
Is there anything that you'd like other students to know? Any words of advice or encouragement?
Never think you can’t do whatever is in your head. It might sound cliché, but anything is possible as long as you keep focused and are determined not to fail at any cost. I didn’t think that my project would turn into a lifelong campaign, but it seems that it very well has the potential to be that. Getting poetry from kids all over the world is a great way to see how the world will be relatively soon. The youth is the future, so hearing them out now can help us understand where we are headed.
My last piece of advice? Figure out what you are trying to do, figure out how you are going to do it, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t achieve success. Gandhi said it best, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”