Interview: Quadeer Porter on Humanitarianism

Quadeer Porter, currently a sophomore at Rutgers University, is originally from Newark, NJ. Quadeer is a self-described “humanitarian” whose most recently is working to found a chapter of Journalists for Human Rights on his campus. Quadeer is currently Vice President of EOPSA, a student government organization for students from underprivileged backgrounds. EOPSA is involved in lobbying the state government on behalf of the Educational Opportunity Fund students. The organization is also involved in community service, and in providing students with scholarship information Recently, I spoke with Quadeer outside an EOPSA meeting about his involvement with these organizations

John Connelly: What got you involved in Journalists for Human Rights?
Quadeer Porter: Because, it’s funny, because, as I was growing up, even in America, I had struggles with human rights myself. I was going through a lot of things that were inhumane in my neighborhood, and when I grew up and came to Rutgers and I saw what freedom really was, and it sounds weird. Because you live in America, and you think that everybody has freedom of speech, everybody has a way to kind of “up” themselves in society. My family was involved a lot in crime, and, as a youth, my voice was always overshadowed by someone else’s. I went through a lot of abuse, a lot of inhumane things. So, when I came to Rutgers, I said ‘I really want to give back to the community, I really want to help other people.’ It was just in my spirit to do that... I Googled “human rights” and that was one of the first organizations to pop up, JHR- Journalists for Human Rights. They really just, pretty much embodied everything that I wanted to do: to voice people’s human rights concerns through media and through writing, and to teach also, and to go to third world countries that have even worse human rights disparities than here in America to do so. Their mission was the same mission that I wanted. I called them up and said I wanted to make a new chapter, and made the new chapter.

John Connelly : What specifically would a new chapter of JHR add to the greater New Brunswick area?
Quadeer Porter: It would add a new kind of way to show the disparities of human rights, I think. John, [we have organizations like] RAH, (Rutgers Against Hunger), Amnesty (International), there’s a lot of them. And I think what makes JHR so amazing is that it also gives you internships after college. So it’s not just something that you just do, and you just leave and go on to your “normal life. “After your fourth year in college in Journalism or Media Studies, you can go off to third world countries and actually help them. And they [JHR] will actually support you in going to these countries while you are in school if you wanted to try that. And also, they do this thing called “Change Writing.” It’s really very fascinating; through “Change Writing,” a kind of writing that embodies people’s struggles, throughout whatever trials and tribulations they are going through, and it’s a very amazing thing. I’ve read several of their articles, and it’s amazing what these people have to say. So, it [a new chapter of JHR] would bring internships, and experience, and a certain depth, really giving back to the Rutgers Community.

John Connelly: Now, you are not a Journalism major. What specifically attracts you to this, and what skills do you bring?
Quadeer Porter: that’s right, I am on the Pre-Med track, and I’m a Public Policy major, actually. But, I am also a humanitarian. And that’s what I believe [I bring], I bring a lot of passion. Within public policy, you have to want change and reform what goes on in people’s every day lives. And I think that’s what I bring, a lot of passion, because I know how it feels when someone tries to shut you up or doesn’t want you to tell your story to others. Because some people just really hate change. Some people hate seeing things being done differently. And that’s what I can bring, passion to this organization. Because, I grew, and I came to the Rutgers Community, and I grew a lot. And Now, I want to show people that it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can not only become a leader you can become a leader and give back, also.

John Connelly: Here in the United States, what are the forces that are keeping people from sharing their stories?
Quadeer Porter: It’s just that mentality of poverty. That mentality keeps people, and it’s even when you get money, that’s the funny thing. Even when you get money, because of the mindset of poverty you feel as though you are still encased in it. So.. I know some people who make six digits and they still live as though they have to penny pinch every single thing. And it’s traumatizing. It’s what my family had to go through, and it’s what we are still going through right now. But it’s just that mindset that you can’t go any further than where you are right now. Because you were told for years that you aren’t going to. Even in high school, you weren’t taught and you weren’t trained that you could hold executive positions, that you could hold positions of power in big organizations. We were just trained to be workers in the urban areas…. That’s what’s so hard for people to kind of tell their stories and really go upward in society. They were taught and they were told pretty much over and over again that they can’t do it

John Connelly: Of all of the stories that have been covered by JHR, what stories stick out for you?
Quadeer Porter: It has to be that story I tell everybody. One of the powerful-est ones for me when I read it was one in which women were pretty much counted as witches. And their village thought they were witches and kicked them out… and they lived pretty much on the outskirts, excommunicated from the rest of the community. These are sickly old women to women probably in their thirties and forties. So, the children of the village came down to the women and tried to help them. They skipped school, they brought them food, water, and it was just really powerful. There are many other graphic stories in there, but it just shows me that even at a young age, a child’s heart can still lead him to do the right thing. And these… are in a village [where] kids are dying for an education, but they would give up their education just for these women… I read that, and I said, “Wow! I have to do something!” And I was just planning on making a donation. I wasn’t planning on starting a chapter, let alone! But I called up they said I sounded really involved and they said, “why don’t you start a chapter,” and from there, it’s been growing on.

John Connelly: Betty Baye once said that the most important thing a journalist can do is help someone who can’t tell his own story let his voice be heard. How, specifically, does that improve the lives of, say, the excommunicated women? How does this affect them?
Quadeer Porter: I mean, it’s like you say. There are women in there who don’t know how to read or write. There are some children of war who have never gotten school before, and we can go over there and help. We can go over there and actually write down their words, so they can speak out on paper. And it will really so people… the struggle is not over when it comes to helping other people. We look around now in America and feel as though, “things are getting right. We’re in a recession, but we’re getting out. Our allies are doing pretty well. And I guess overseas must be doing pretty well. There are still… wars, diseases, outbreaks. So much more has to be done before we can call this world “humane.” And I believe that it is just my responsibility, as a human being and as an African American also, to help those… that do not know their human rights know that they do have a choice in the matter and they can overcome. That’s all I want to do. That’s all I want to do.

John Connelly: Tell me about the JHR community.
Quadeer Porter: I’m not the only one working on this. When you are in JHR, it’s everybody. It’s just amazing. You’re not just running the chapter. I can contact chapters in Toronto, in Canada, and they’re… “no problem, Quadeer, you need this? This is how you make a website. This how you…” it’s just amazing what kind of group you enter because there are so many people who want to help other people, and they are so passionate for it. I think our chapter is going to be the largest chapter because of our school. But I’m not going to lie, though… there are some nights that I don’t go to sleep. Because I have to organize, I have to figure out what kind of direction it’s going to be in, how am I going to help people, how am I going to donate to the mother chapter in Canada. But, when you really love something, and you really do it, it doesn’t even matter. Like right now, from the meeting I came out of, I’m energized. I’m cool. When you really love to do something, that energy just flows in you naturally. Even when you do take Chem. and Calc.

John Connelly: what are you doing to foster that kind of energy amongst the student body?
Quadeer Porter: Well… first of all, I go back home. And I take one look at back home, and where I came from. Because I still live in an impoverished area of Newark, still Central Ward where there’s a high crime rate, and after I go there, I really want to do something. I jump up in the morning and say, “I got to save one more youth today….” even If I can’t help somebody, I can talk to somebody, and maybe they can help… You never want anyone to see what you’ve seen, through your eyes. That’s the biggest thing. That’s what I want to prevent. If I can prevent one person from seeing the horrible things that I’ve seen, then I can go to sleep at night. And I can bring that enthusiasm back here, saying “guys, there’s still a mission out there. There’s still a ways to go.” We got to work overtime. Even if there are some who can’t keep up with me. I have friends that tell me every time, “Quadeer, you’re going to were me out, I can’t stick with you, we have to part ways.” And that’s just find. Just don’t hold me back. There’s still a lot of things I got to do here. And even right now, I’m kind of behind in some things in regards to student life, but… that’s just part of the job. And I love it.