Humans of St. Louis

Abstract

“In Arabic, we have a saying: ‘Don't thank me for something that's a duty.’” (Photograph and interview by Lindy Drew / Humans of St. Louis, August 14, 2014) (Maleeha Samer) Lindy Drew cofounded Humans of St. Louis (HOSTL) four months before Mike Brown was killed. It was meant to share an intimate look into the lives and struggles of the people of St. Louis, one photo and story at a time, and to invite larger community conversations. During the Ferguson protests, many people flocked to streets to join the protests. At its five-year mark, HOSTL had grown organically to over 130,000 followers from the stories shared of everyday life, loss, and love in and around St. Louis. With every post, the project continues to dispel stereotypes and assumptions while providing an opportunity for people to hear and see each other in person, not just online. www.humansofstl.org; https://forwardthroughferguson.org/stories/ “With HOSTL I've heard over 2,500 stories in the 30,000 minutes of footage I've captured talking to strangers and taking their portraits on the street. As a white female artist who isn't from St. Louis, but now calls this city home, I've had a tremendous awakening to the historical, social, economic, and regional strife that racism has caused and continues to cause. I've heard stories of resiliency, perseverance, and ways that everyday individuals are working to make improvements that right the wrongs from years past.” “‘Still here’ means to have survived through inequities and injustices, which are no strangers to this region. Moving forward, the work continues as we educate ourselves and those who are still blind to the problems they play a role in.” “In Arabic, we have a saying: ‘Don't thank me for something that's a duty.’” (Photograph and interview by Lindy Drew / Humans of St. Louis, August 14, 2014) Lindy: “If you could finish the sentence, ‘I have a dream …,’ what would you say?” Ferguson resident: “I have a dream for peace and prosperity. Everybody should live equally. It shouldn't have to be this way. We're trying as hard as we can. Even though some of us have a good college degree. It's hard for us. And it starts with education. Education is the backbone of everything.” (Photograph and interview by Lindy Drew / Humans of St. Louis, August 19, 2014)