If ten years ago somebody told me that I would be able to talk to people across the world via a live video feed on a TV screen and a microphone, I would've thought they were crazy. If they told me the live video feed would be located in Dudley Square and be used to talk to people in Gaza in Palestine, I would've really thought they were crazy. However yesterday morning I did just that, thanks to Jamarhl Crawford, John Ewing and the work of the Virtual Street Corners project.

Normally Virtual Street Corners connects Dudley Square in Roxbury with Coolidge Corner in Brookline: Two areas in Boston only two miles apart with virtually no interaction with each other until this project.

Yesterday, however, Dudley and Coolidge Corner got to connect with students in the Gaza strip, via the video chat and an organization called Tida that works to connect Palestine with the world at large.

The conversation covered everything from politics, current events, education, the arts, daily life, and of course, World Cup Soccer (We are both supporting the African and Latin American teams).

One of the students shared a rap in Arabic. I could not understand a word of what he said, but his flow was definitely on point and I would love to work with him in the future. I shared with them my verse from 'Thug Survival' about the police. Also, I got to hear a beautiful poem about the struggle in Palestine, from one of the young ladies in the group. I had known there was Hip Hop and poetry in Palestine from a documentary I watched called Slingshot Hip Hop and also from meeting DAM in Boston when they performed here, but I did not know that the talent was so outspread!

After more than an hour of conversing, it became apparent we (young people in the States and in Palestine) have a lot more in common then we realize. By the end of the broadcast we were anxious to continue the conversation, and stay connected. It is absolutely amazing how far technology has come and how we can use it as a tool to connect with the world.



Click here to read what the conversation was like from the perspective of Amal Murtaja who participated in the convo from the Gaza side.

Also, Live from Gaza is a blog run by Lina, who also participated in the convo and is a great source of information on what is going on in the Gaza strip.