{"id":21021,"date":"2017-06-30T23:52:03","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T23:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=21021"},"modified":"2017-06-30T23:52:03","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T23:52:03","slug":"no-passport-required-detroit-portal-takes-around-world-free-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/no-passport-required-detroit-portal-takes-around-world-free-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"No Passport Required: Detroit Portal Takes You Around the World, Free of Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Despite popular belief, you don\u2019t need to buy an expensive plane ticket to take a trip around the world. In fact, you can travel to Jordan, Berlin, Brooklyn, Honduras, Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda, or Mexico City, without ever going through airport security. You don\u2019t even need to pack a bag.<\/p>\n

Sounds too good to be true, right? As of today, it unfortunately is for those of us in Southeast Michigan. The Detroit portal, which\u00a0made these experiences possible for the past six weeks, closed its golden doors\u00a0yesterday.<\/p>\n

What is a portal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Portals are repurposed shipping containers painted gold and converted into immersive audiovisual studios. You can find them around the world, and connect with people on the other side. Portals\u00a0create conversation across borders and languages: portal \u201ccurators\u201d facilitate discussion and translate when necessary.<\/p>\n

The Detroit portal spent almost three\u00a0weeks in Capitol Park before moving to the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood, where I stumbled upon it today. Inside, I found walls padded for good acoustics, a large screen, chairs, and a smiling Ber-Henda Williams. As the Detroit Portal curator, she has hosted a children\u2019s dance studio, author talks, Afro-Caribbean dancers, house music DJs, women entrepreneurs, and more. She says the portal presents a unique opportunity to exchange information, dialogue, and camaraderie.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ber-Henda Williams, Detroit Portal Curator<\/p><\/div>\n

I asked Ber-Henda to describe a particularly meaningful exchange. She explained to me that the portal in Erbil, Iraq is located within a refugee camp. One young Iraqi man shared his experience of being displaced, while still trying to get his degree in computer science. [I was] \u201cwatching grown men cry in the portal.\u00a0We were all moved by this story of resilience, faith, and community. [This young man is] working towards a future when his circumstances… most people can\u2019t even imagine.”<\/p>\n

There were also uplifting stories of young Afghani students practicing their English speaking skills with American students. \u201cI am so happy to be here” and “I am happy to speak English with you,\u201d were common phrases that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing what we have in common many, many miles apart,\u201d<\/strong> Ber-Henda says as she spends her last few hours in the portal. Because operations were only sponsored for a little over a month, the portal will go into storage until a new way of funding the project is confirmed.<\/p>\n

Shared Studios is seeking sponsors to continue portal operations in Detroit. If you believe in exchange to promote understanding, I hope that \u00a0you will consider how you might contribute to continue this effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe portal puts a human lens on what we might hear or see in the news about Syria, Mexico, and other places where there is political unrest and tension.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am optimistic that the portal will soon emerge from storage in all of its golden glory to\u00a0continue connecting people, promoting understanding, and crossing borders… with no passport required.<\/p>\n

For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.sharedstudios.com.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

*Bedrock, Quicken Loans and Jack Entertainment made the initial Detroit debut possible.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Despite popular belief, you don\u2019t need to buy an expensive plane ticket to take a trip around the world. In fact, you can travel to Jordan, Berlin, Brooklyn, Honduras, Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda, or Mexico City, without ever going through airport security. You don\u2019t even need to pack a bag. Sounds too good to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":21049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}