MEET THE AUTHOR

Ali Thomas is a multimedia creative dedicated to using her love of storytelling to uplift and educate urban communities about arts education. Ali has worked with the Baltimore office of Promotional Arts as a youth leader and directed short films and poems with Towson University's black theater Union, her writing has been recognized in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards while attending Baltimore City College high school. Now attending Morgan State University, majoring in theater Arts Ali aims to use creative storytelling to unite the urban community and uplift her peers.

This blog is part of our series, A Conversation WITH. As a media organization, we highlight members of our team - past and present - that have done awesome work with Wide Angle, while also pursuing their own creative goals.

Dr. Patrick Oray, Ph.D., is a Literature faculty member at Bard High School Early College in Baltimore. He teaches Literature of the Americas, First Year Seminar, and a Social Justice elective. A Chicago native, he moved to Baltimore in 2014 after earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Iowa, specializing in critical race theory, immigration, and media studies. He led United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers Local 896/COGS during his studies and wrote for Little Village magazine. His work with nonprofits began with Americorps VISTA and the University YMCA, experiences that continue to shape his educational and civic efforts.

Song on repeat: Makeba by Jain 

Favorite quote: Bruce Lees “Be like water”

Most influential piece of media you have consumed:  Devin Allen’s Time Magazine cover

Tell us about your background 

I'm originally from Chicago. I came to Baltimore in 2014 to teach. Then I got a job the year after at my current school, Bard High School Early College. I didn't know anything. I am a first-generation college student and a first-generation immigrant; I had no idea why I was going. I believe that even though I didn't have a plan, whatever brought me to Baltimore was the path that led me to my current school because that's where I feel like I belong.

What's one thing that you are happy you didn't do?

I'm happy that I'm not on a traditional track. I have friends who go wherever the job is. I didn't have to participate in that because I got my first job from a friend. Many people go off to try to teach college, but I ended up teaching in high school. But I'm so glad that I did not do the traditional academic route; I'm so much happier. I get paid nicely, and I still get to do everything I would as a college professor, but I don't have to deal with all the other grief of a traditional academic track job.

What are three things to focus on when discussing Dr. Patrick?

Teaching: It wasn't my plan, but it's become my identity. I want to be the teacher that I did not have when I was growing up. I take my teaching very seriously because I think of it as my craft, not just my job.

Social justice: That's the only steady track I've been on, all my life. I did AmeriCorps out of college. I went to the University of Illinois, where they had a horrible Native American mascot and that was my first taste of social justice ugliness - when people are all up in your face screaming all kinds of nonsense. My school is built on a social justice mission to bring early college education to a population who cannot access college education.

Music:  All self-taught, that's where my soul lives. Teaching social justice, music, and now photography, are my strike zones, the creative parts of me. 

This is how I express myself. So, those three things are important.

How did you find out about Wide Angle? What made you join the board?

I found out from a friend who suggested I would be good on the board of this particular organization. I was interested for personal reasons. I did a documentary on Mondawmin, but my students and I had no background in film. We got a grant to do this documentary, and I was like, I want to do this all the time. I used that video as a part of my interview for the board. It was like I muscled myself in and said, “Hey, I want to be on the board”.

Introduce me to the documentary “For a Greater Mondawmin.”

It was after our school moved to Mondawmin, only a year after the uprising. Parents were raising concerns about the neighborhood, and then another woman stepped up, and she's like, “You got to realize that some of us live in this neighborhood”. The documentary came out of that. There is a rich history in Mondawmin. I thought that was a story that needed to be told, to take the stigma of violence away from Mondawmin.

What was the most impactful part of the students' collaboration on the documentary?

What was most impactful about it was introducing students to history that they didn't know about and having them do all this stuff firsthand, documents, and interviews with people. They're the ones that are doing the interview, going through that process with them was cool. I overheard a couple of students say I was the only teacher who did stuff like this. That keeps me sharing my passions with students.

Tell us about your drummer talents and After School Special!

I was in fourth grade and picked up an instrument; that instrument ended up being a clarinet. I took it for a year and I hated it, and I stopped playing music for like 20 years. Then I took up drums in grad school. A roommate of mine had a set of drums. And I just spent summers practicing, and I ended up thinking I should play lead.

I took one of the guitars from the music teacher's room, then I started to like playing guitar during my lunch break. My students started bringing in their guitars and then all these students were playing music in my room. I thought we should probably do something. I was like, you pick the songs, and I'll play with you. We did a high school Choice Fair last fall at the convention center. That's how that came about; it just popped into my head.

What's your vision for Wide Angle?

Impact, bigger footprint. We have this platform; we have resources and there are plenty of students who we have not reached. How do we put that into action? I want to take a whole bunch of those kids; I want to take them to Glenstone and give them that experience by teaching them how art and sustainability can go together. That's our way for Baltimore to elevate farther. Glenstone is a field trip, but it's also an eye-opening experience. I would have liked to have that as a kid; the vision is to share experiences like that with more kids.