This summer, Shift has taken us all over. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ultimate List: All 30 Things You Should Do Before You Turn 30
You may have skimmed our lists of 30 things to do before you turn 30. See the complete list all at once and learn more about each item, with additional resources, links and photos. Read the rest of this entry »
In the name of Dios: Mormon missionaries bring urban Hispanics, Catholics into the church
Traditional greetings—“buenos dias” and smacking kisses, one on each cheek—sound out over the organ music 22-year-old missionary Charisse Horn plays at a Sunday morning service in Logan Square.
A year ago, she’d never spoken a word of Spanish. Now, as one of about 35 Spanish-speaking missionaries in Chicago, she worships, gives testimony and reads El Libro de Mormon, or the Book of Mormon, all in Spanish. Read the rest of this entry »
An alternate path: Community living experiments in the city
Cooperatives. Communes. Intentional communities. Utopian experiments.
Whenever the idea of “living in community” gets thrown out, at least one and (more likely) all of these terms will inevitably appear in the conversation. “Utopian” risks sounding naïve in the cynical, postmodern era, and “commune” is often flat-out wrong (properly, it’s only used to describe communities that pool all their finances, which most do not). Read the rest of this entry »
New takes on old media
I previously discussed the burgeoning market of ethnic media, which got me thinking about different storytelling methods. Lo and behold, what I found were unique ways in which ethnic media and/or their audiences were taking steps to change news.
Take a look at the models I found: Read the rest of this entry »
The Moving Diaries
Meet Chris and Lisa. They are among the many college graduates in the U.S. each year who are uprooting their lives to move to a new city and advance their careers. In the process they must come to terms with departing familiar surroundings and the nitty-gritty of physically relocating across the country. Get a look inside their (messy) homes as they pack up boxes and consider life at their future addresses.
Read the rest of this entry »
30 Things Before 30: Part Three
The last installment includes a special bonus option for your 30th year. Leave a comment and let us know what you would add or what you’ve done! Missed the first two? Read the first ten here and the second ten here. Read the rest of this entry »
Bollywood the American Way
All it took was a dash of insomnia, a long plane journey and a big helping of boredom for Jennifer Hopfinger to get hooked on the world of Bollywood.
Listening to her relate the experience of watching her first mass dance sequence, the lip-synching stylings of actor Shah Rukh Khan, or the sultry moves of actress Rani Mukerji is an out-of-body experience for me – having grown up watching Amitabh Bachchan and Brad Pitt on screen (although not together… yet!)
But while most fans would keep their obsession limited to the couch and perhaps a cup of steaming chai (maybe a bhangra lesson or two), Hopfinger turned it into a full-time project and created The Bollywood Ticket. Watch the video and see what I mean: Read the rest of this entry »
This Muslim-American life: A virtual round table
No single voice or organization can speak for the colorful, diverse spectrum of Islam in America, so here we give you ten of them. Read the rest of this entry »
This Muslim-American life: Meet Ahlam, a Chicago activist
Ahlam Said, a 23-year-old working for a Muslim community-organizing group in Chicago, talks about her take on race and religion.
This Muslim-American life: Sharing their stories
The Inner-City Muslim Action Network, a community organizing group based on Chicago’s South Side, brings together Muslims across races and backgrounds several times a year with Community Café, an event where Muslims (and non-Muslims, as well) are given a place to gather together and connect with one another.
Read the rest of this entry »
Forming community – online and offline
Coming of age in the 21 Century, my adolescent years were defined by experiences and interactions with the online communities I joined during my formative years. There’s been no denying the extreme power that the Internet and technology have had while I attended high school, college, and even graduate school today.
I am proud to be South Asian because…
So I took a hike to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. for the South Asian Carnival on Aug. 15 and Aug. 16. In light of India Independence Day and Pakistan Independence Day, I thought it’d be neat to ask people there just why they were proud to be who they are. Listen to their responses and share your own below.
The art of salvation: Kirsten’s creative life and Christian call
Much like her hipster friends and fellow art majors, Kirsten Aho relied on Salvation Army stores for hand-me-downs: clothes, college furniture and craft supplies. But as a 23-year-old soldier in the Salvation Army, she has a much deeper, lifelong connection to the international church and charity organization. Read the rest of this entry »
Dating & Marriage: Tradition meets tension in Indian‑American homes
Dating and marriage, a universal source of parent-child friction, can be especially shaky in the homes of Indian-Americans, as U.S.-raised children of immigrant parents carefully tread between assimilating into American culture, and remaining true to their parents’ old-country beliefs and customs.
