"The best decision I ever made was to start my own business. I was eleven years old. My father taught me how to repair electronics, so I bought items, fixed them, and then sold them. I didn't know how to manage the business in the beginning. It didn't work so well and I got depressed, but then I learned and got on my feet. My father and uncles - all of them - started their own businesses when they were kids too, so I had them as role models.
"Our family left Iraq one night in 2006 and fled to Lebanon. I worked 24/7 to save enough money to open a store there too and make the business work. I didn't sleep a lot---just a little here and there when I could.
"Then, in 2009, we came to the U.S. I'm an Apple engineer now with an electronics company. I also work in customer service and customer tech with my dad's company, buy and sell online, and sell in the open market on weekends. I work hard to help my family and because I want to build up a business. I'm 23 now, and I'd like to get to the point when I'm older---40 or so---that I won't have to work this hard. Hopefully, one day when I get married and have children, they'll have time to focus on their education. I went to school, but honestly, getting an education wasn't really my main concern. I was too busy working."
"I speak Arabic. When I started Kindergarten, I didn't know much English, but I felt happy that I came to school. I loved it because the kids said, 'Hi. What's your name? Do you want to play tag with us?' I made a lot of friends. When new people come to my school now, I ask them to play too. That makes them feel happy. I want to treat people nice and be friends and help them."
"I'm a senior at Melrose, and my intention is to graduate as valedictorian of my class; currently I'm ranked #1. I'm hoping to attend Vanderbilt and study either Social Psychology or Biomedical Engineering. I'm still deciding between the two."
"I've watched my dad fix things since I was little. He taught me how to do maintenance on my bike when I was younger, and I've always watched him repair cars. I thought about going into the medical field, but then I started running errands here [Hub Automotive] and gradually started helping my dad in the shop. I never thought I'd enjoy it this much, but I do. Working on cars is like a puzzle: you have to watch what you take out first. [*laughs*] I'm not as interested in medicine anymore; I've decided I'd rather be a mechanic. My dad is training me, and I'm planning to go to school for it as well. I might even have my own business one day. Auto repair is like being a doctor, but for cars."
"Later, when I was in middle and high school, she picked me up after cleaning houses all day, and I remember how tired she always was. I could see the pain in her whole body, but especially in her hands. Her hands were strong but so fragile at the same time. The drawings I did for the 2015 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards were based on my mother. She was the closest person to me, and I saw her weariness every day. No matter how tired she was, though, she still cooked dinner and ran the household, volunteered on several boards and worked as a community organizer. My mom represents so many women who have sacrificed for their families, especially those who have emigrated from other countries. Their work is often behind the scenes, hidden, and I wanted to bring it out and highlight such tremendous strength and tenacity.
Aylen Mercado's parents now work full-time for Workers' Dignity/Dignidad Obrera, a non-profit based in Nashville. Aylen herself is very active in the Memphis community, serving on boards and steering committees for such organizations as Centro Cultural (also on FB) and the Student/Farmworker Alliance. She graduated from White Station High School in May 2015 and received a full ride to Rhodes College. She is one of the National 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners (chosen from a field of 300,000 students) and one of only 16 students nationwide to receive the program's prestigious 2015 Portfolio Gold Medal Award. In addition to her studies, she teaches at Centro Cultural and feels strongly about helping Latino youth reconnect with their culture and heritage through the arts.
Aylen Mercado was born in Argentina in 1997. Mercado works predominantly in digital photography as a freelance photographer for local non-profit organizations. Her background in darkroom photography influenced her technique in her drawings of white medium on black surfaces. Mercado utilizes creativity as a tool for social change. She incorporates her art in her collaborative work across social justice movements to raise awareness of oppression, inequalities and injustice.
She has had her work featured in New York at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, and in Washington, DC at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building and the U.S. Capitol. Her work has recently been selected for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards' Art.Write.Now.Tour 2015-16, a national traveling exhibition curated, produced, and presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Mercado's work will be featured in St. Petersburg, FL, Indianapolis, IN, Vermillion, SD, and Las Vegas, NV.
She is a Clarence Day Scholar at Rhodes College majoring in Urban Studies and Art. She lives in, works in, and loves Memphis.
"Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person though. Being alive and not living is the worst thing. My grandfather taught me that. He taught me how to live life. The most important things I know, I learned from him."
"I love my life. I wouldn't change anything. I'm exactly where I want to be and how I want to be. It hasn't always been an easy ride, but everything that's happened has brought me to where I am now. See that backpack? It's all I own. It's all I need."
"If I could ask one question of anybody in the world, it would be Jesus. I'd ask him, 'What do you think about all the stuff people have done in your name?' I'd like to hear it from the man himself. I'd like to hear it in his own words."
"I grew up in Memphis, and I miss it; Memphis is where everything began for me. As a teenager, I worked part time at Playhouse on the Square helping build sets and spot lighting for their productions, and that's where I developed much of my interest in theater and film. Even though I'm based in Boston now, I have deep ties in Memphis. Both sides of my family still live there.
"The film I've just released, Punkin Pie, explores the topic of domestic abuse, which is prevalent in our entire society---not just in the black community, as media outlets often portray. I witnessed domestic violence in my family as I was growing up, but it wasn't until much later that I began to understand the depth of the psychological and spiritual damage it inflicts. It's a deep-seated generational epidemic in many cultures around the world. The script for Punkin Pie was extremely difficult to write, given the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the story, but the message is critically important. The film focuses on Katrina 'Punkin' Richardson who must confront her greatest fears in hopes of saving not only herself, but also her mother, Elaine, from an abusive relationship she just can't seem to live without.
"My hope is that viewers who witness the shame, rage, and victimization of this mother and daughter will come away with a greater commitment to stopping that cycle of abuse. It's tragic what domestic violence can do to the soul of a human being.
From Stage 32: "Allen J. Redwing specializes in creating and directing creative, cost effective productions, and employs both effective communication and sound leadership strategies in his filmmaking endeavors. With a background in production management, Cinematography, and with over 15 years in photography and military experience, Allen J. Redwing enjoys producing, directing, and editing independent, feature, and commercial film projects."
Punkin Pie is currently in consideration for 21 film festivals, including Sundance, LA Fest, and the Boston International. It is an official selection for the South Carolina Underground Film Festival.