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The Super Power of Me

@superpowerofmeproject

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A creative platform for global youth empowerment. We use poetry & photography to help participants discover & express their inner qualities. @kzusman

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This video captures a Super Power of Me writing workshop and portrait session hosted by UAE Board on Books for Young People and the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, UAE. This very special edition of Super Power of Me was invited into collaboration with The Dice Player, an exhibition at The House of Wisdom honoring the legendary Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

Working in dialogue with Darwish’s themes of love, absence, exile, belonging, and becoming, 13 Arab youth were invited to explore who they are through image and language.

The workshop was held in collaboration with esteemed writers Maitha AlKhayaat and Sheikha AlMutairi, whose presence and guidance helped shape the space.

First we all toured the exhibit together. Next, each participant wrote a personal “superpower” poem/statement, then stepped in front of the camera to be seen—on their own terms.

What emerged was honesty, imagination, vulnerability… and a quiet, self-defined strength.

“My superpower is my ability to recognize my incompleteness.”

“Thinking of others makes the heart gentle.”

“How did I become this new me when she was the old me?”

This video, created byUAEBBY and House of Wisdom, offers a glimpse into that process—voices, presence, and the courage of self-expression.

It’s rooted in the real migrations of childhood, the movement of dreams across oceans, borders, and languages.

More to come…✨✨✨

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The Super Power of Me encourages children to celebrate who they are through poetry and photography.

This was an incredible project and we cannot wait to share more. A special thank you to @kzusman, the Creator and Photographer of The Super Power of Me.

#documentary
#thesuperpowerofme
#nonprofit

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Photo by @superpowerofmeproject
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Feature selected by @diselpower_gallery
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October 23, 2023
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is appreciate for introducing your wonderful work
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Date October 16, 2023
Gallery @superpowerofmeproject
Thank you so much for sharing great photography with bnw_lightandshadow.new's farm and tag #bnw_lightandshadow
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We recommand visit the inspriring and inspired gallery, also chance to be featured follow @bnw_lightandshadow.new and tag #bnw_lightandshadow

selected by @diselpower_gallery

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Meet Ammar! 14 years old, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Ammar impressed me right away when after I gave a little talk to his class about the Super Power of Me Project, he stood up in front of me, his teachers and all his classmates and challenged all of them to write about their super power in both Swahili and in English. He said that they all knew enough English and they should take a chance and use the opportunity to build confidence. He said his own super power is confidence, as well as creativity. He knocked me out that day with both.
On our portrait day we had fun and tried many things. Here’s a taste of our time figuring things out together.
Man, I love this project, can you imagine going to a very foreign place and having one of the students not only embrace your vision, but champion and run with it like Ammar did? The youth in Zanzibar that we worked with absolutely blew me away with their thoughts and creativity.
The Super Power of Me empowers youth around the world regardless of circumstance. Through reflective writing, portrait photography and team work, each participant discovers and expresses the qualities they most cherish about themselves. The program culminates in a public art exhibit comprised of the participants’ portraits and writing. A beautiful manifestation of their strength and beauty—for them, their community and beyond.
In Zanzibar we worked with 3 schools, including one class of special needs students. We worked on the writing, collaborated on the portrait shoot concept, and took the photographs. We hope to go back and make the exhibit for the students and community and will be raising funds to do that soon. Please DM if you like the project and have any ideas who we should contact to help make that happen!

#zanzibar #superpowerofmeproject #childrensempowerment #bnw_captures #bnwsouls #bnw_planet #friendsinbnw #leicaq2 #leicawomenfotoproject #leicacamerausa @leicacamerausa #creativityforeveryone #blackandwhiteportrait #poetryforchildren #globalyouth #zanzibar🇹🇿 #superpowerofmeproject

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Meet Valentina from Haiti.
What is my superpower? I have a lot of superpowers but my favorite is my love for music. It's like an antibiotic for all emotional diseases, especially for sadness, a disease of the moment. When I'm singing I'm very happy so I wanna use this super power to make others happy too."

Valentina comes to us from Haiti, arriving here just 3 short months ago. She picked this song (sound on) by Adele bc "I see myself in it, that's why I love it"

She's one of 12 students in the NJ Bayonne Highschool English as a Second Language Program. All the students have arrived to The USA in the last couple of years, some--like Valentina—just recently. Many students are from the DR, and Egypt, also Haiti, Algeria, Martinique & Ecuador.

It's been amazing working with these young people & seeing how Super Power of Me evolves to meet them where they are--turns out this project is a joyful, creative way to learn English, explore identity, and honor where these youth come from and what they bring with them no matter their circumstance. Through reflected writing they're able to express, as Valentina so elegantly does, what they bring with them is the most powerful thing, it’s the passion inside them to love, to create, to heal, and to dream.

Grateful to their amazing teacher, Julie Kelman, @jkelman01 who came to the exhibit last summer in Brooklyn and decided to teach her ESL students poetry by sharing the Super Power of Me exhibit with her students. We met randomly, and together applied for a small grant to bring @superpowerofmeproject to her new ESL class this spring.

We worked for 6 weeks w/ the students on their poems and I brainstormed with them on their portrait concept. All portraits were shot behind the school on Bayonne Bay.

Our exhibit of poems & portraits is today! 6/14 at 2pm. The students will recite their poems, families will join & refreshments will be provided. Shot on Leica Q2.

#superpowerofmeproject #empowerment #immigrantsmakeamericagreat #immigrantsmatter #bnwmood #bnwsouls #bnw_portrait #poetrysociety #education #leicaq2
@leicacamerausa #haitianpride

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Meet Rafael.
“My super power is a strong mind...
I have the power
to be hard to see
I have the power
to be seen"

Rafael is one of 12 students in the NJ Bayonne Highschool English as a Second Language Program. All the students have arrived to The USA in the last couple of years, some within the last 3 months. Rafael comes to us from The Dominican Republic. Many students are from the DR, we also have many from Egypt, and representation from Algeria, Haiti, St Lucia & Ecuador.

It's been amazing working with these young people & seeing how Super Power of Me evolves to meet them where they are--turns out this project is a joyful, creative way to learn English, explore identity, and honor where these youth come from and what they bring with them no matter their circumstance.Through reflected writing they're able to express, as Rafael does, what they bring with them is the most powerful thing, it’s the strength of their inner selves.
Grateful to their amazing teacher, Julie Kelman, @jkelman01 who came to the exhibit last summer in Brooklyn and decided to teach her ESL students poetry by sharing the Super Power of Me exhibit with her students. We met randomly, and together applied for a small grant to bring @superpowerofmeproject to her new ESL class this spring.

We worked for 6 weeks w/ the students on their poems and I brainstormed with them on their portrait concept. All portraits were shot behind the school on Bayonne Bay. Each session i picked an assistant from the class and it turned into a remarkable experience of collaboration, sharing and making new friends for all. Students commented it was the 1st time they felt comfortable w/ each other & how amazing they felt behind the lens.

Our exhibit of poems & portraits is today! 6/14 at 2pm. The students will recite their poems, the families will join & refreshments will be provided. Huge to @jkelman01 and BHS for inviting us. Shot on Leica Q2.

#superpowerofmeproject #empowerment #immigrantsmakeamericagreat #immigrantsmatter #bnwmood #bnwsouls #bnw_portrait #poetrysociety #education #leicaq2
@leicacamerausa

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Meet Engy.
"My name is like a pearl.
A pearl with a milky white color. A pearl is located inside a shell
This Shell whispers my name as a part of my identity”.

Engy is one of 12 students in the NJ Bayonne Highschool English as a Second Language Program. All the students have arrived to USA in the last couple of years, some within the last 3 mos. Engy comes to us from Egypt. Many are from The Dominican Republic, we also have representation from Algeria, Haiti, St Lucia & Ecuador.

It's been amazing working w/ these young people & seeing how Super Power of Me evolves to meet them where they are--turns out this project is a joyful, creative way to learn English, explore identity, and honor where these youth come from and what they bring with them no matter their circumstance.Through reflected writing they're able to express, as Engy so creatively articulates, the beauty of their unique identity--the thing they bring with them, the thing that will always shimmer deep inside them, the thing that never leaves...

Grateful to their amazing teacher, Julie Kelman, @jkelman01 who came to the exhibit last summer in Brooklyn and decided to teach her ESL students poetry by sharing the Super Power of Me exhibit with her students. We met randomly, and together applied for a small grant to bring @superpowerofmeproject to her new ESL class this spring.

We worked for 6 weeks w/ the students on their poems and I brainstormed with them on their portrait concept. All portraits were shot behind the school on Bayonne Bay. Each session i picked an assistant from the class and it turned into a remarkable experience of collaboration, sharing and making new friends for all. Students commented that it was the first time they felt comfortable with each other & how amazing they felt behind the lens.

Our exhibit of poems & portraits will be at BHS Wednesday, 6/14 at 2pm. The students will recite their poems, the families will join & refreshments will be provided. Shot on Leica Q2.

#superpowerofmeproject #empowerment #immigrantsmakeamericagreat #immigrantsmatter #bnwmood #bnwsouls #bnw_portrait #poetrysociety #education #leicaq2
@leicacamerausa #leicawomenfotoproject

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Meet Haneen. "My super power is helping myself by myself. Like twins together in harmony."

Haneen is one of 12 students in the NJ Bayonne Highschool English as a Second Language Program. All the students have arrived to The USA in the last couple of years, some within the last 3 months. Haneen comes to us from Egypt. Many students are from The Dominican Republic, we also have representation from Algeria, Haiti, St Lucia & Ecuador.

It's been amazing working with these young people & seeing how Super Power of Me evolves to meet them where they are--turns out this project is a joyful, creative way to learn English, explore identity, and honor where these youth come from and what they bring with them no matter their circumstance.Through reflected writing they are able to express, as Haneen so beautifully articulated--that they bring with them the most powerful thing of all: Themselves.
Haneen selected this music, which inspired her poem.

Grateful to their amazing teacher, Julie Kelman, @jkelman01 who came to the exhibit last summer in Brooklyn and decided to teach her ESL students poetry by sharing the Super Power of Me exhibit with her students. We met randomly, and together applied for a small grant to bring @superpowerofmeproject to her new ESL class this spring.

We worked for 6 weeks w/ the students on their poems and I brainstormed with them on their portrait concept. All portraits were shot behind the school on Bayonne Bay. Each session i picked an assistant from the class and it turned into a remarkable experience of collaboration, sharing and making new friends for all. Students commented that it was the first time they felt comfortable with each other & how amazing they felt behind the lens.

Our exhibit of poems & portraits will be at BHS Wednesday, 6/14 at 2pm. The students will recite their poems, the families will join & refreshments will be provided. Huge 🙏to @jkelman01 and BHS for inviting us and to @brooklyneditions for the beautiful prints. Shot on Leica Q2.

#superpowerofmeproject #empowerment #immigrantsmakeamericagreat #immigrantsmatter #bnwmood #bnwsouls #bnw_portrait #poetrysociety #education #leicaq2

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Earth Day is every day. (9 images swipe left) Last month the students at Chumbuni government school in Zanzibar participated in a joyous beach cleanup as part of our Super Power of Me Program @superpowerofmeproject After listening to their poem/songs the week before, I realized each student shared a common theme with all the other students: The power to care. They made poems about caring for orphans, caring for the forests, caring for animals, and caring for their environment, in general. I heard songs from 13 year olds asking China and other countries to stop polluting Africa, and urging tourists to be careful with their beautiful island. These young people were full of care, and the desire to protect nature and community. The idea to do a beach cleanup came from one of our volunteers. What a beautiful idea. We had so much fun. Made a lot of interesting discoveries in sand and sea. And wrote more poems on the spot. The last image is of the girl who found her star in the beach cleanup...Magical!/
#earthdayeveryday #zanzibar #superpowerofmeproject #childrensempowerment #bnw_captures #bnwsouls #bnw_planet #friendsinbnw #leicaq2 #leicawomenfotoproject #leicacamerausa @leicacamerausa

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The super power of Kassim. First few images of Super Power of Me Project in Zanzibar. We worked with 3 schools and Kassim was from government standard 7A, 13 years old. He wrote about wanting to be a pilot and to help people reach their dreams through flying and traveling. I asked the team if we could get some coconut leaves to use as wings. My taxi driver showed up with the leaves and the volunteers and the students immediately started weaving them into wings, and also a crown! I love the collaborative creative aspect of this project more than anything. It’s amazing to have a team of youngsters help me come up with the concepts for their own portrait. So much creativity and joy. We all felt like super powered humans that day. More to come. 💕/
#superpowerofmeproject #fly #artempowers #collaboration #tanzania🇹🇿 #zanzibar #portraitsinmotion #portraits_bnw #bnwsouls #bnwmood #bnw_mag #bnw_magic #blackboyjoy #africa #teachcreativity #purejoy #futurepilot #wings #thepowerofflight #thepowerofwords #publicart #publicartfund

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The super power of collaboration! One more behind the scenes reel before I start posting the portraits and poems for Super Power of Me Project, Zanzibar edition!!

What I love about how the Super Power of Me project evolved in Zanzibar is how we really focused on collaboration with our incredibly thoughtful and creative students. Afterall, the project is about them—their thoughts and dreams. Here is the result of honing in on 6 of the students from Highview School near Stonetown, whose writing was employing some wonderful creativity. I visited these students a third time in their classroom prior to this shoot to push their creativity even more.

The result was Nihal’s poem about empathy, Aisha’s poem about how death makes life more poignant, Sameer’s poem about wanting to become a teacher to “paint people’s minds”, Amar’s poem about what it means to be a confident and creative person, and Rabia who wrote about her super power of shapeshifting!!
We reviewed the new poems and together came up with our shooting concept on the spot, using whatever props the natural environment presented. Can you guess from this little reel which poems were represented by which shoot? Later I will post the poems along with the final portraits and you will see how it all unfolded...
Much gratitude to teacher Mr.Mwalimu, for all his creativity and openness as well. You are an amazing and super powerful teacher and human being! You really added to the day! And to my volunteers @hudhaymat , Abuu and with a special thanks to Salum for all the great video documentation with my phone! And to Mr Saleh for help coordinating!

#superpoweromeproject #collaboration #zanzibar #poetryandphotography @leicacamerausa @xposurexpf @superpowerofmeproject

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