Common Threads Akron

Common Threads is a collaboration between Global Ties Akron and the Knight Foundation and is committed to bringing Akronites of different backgrounds and cultures together for a community dialogue.

Akronist article on Common Threads.

Common Threads, Conversation #1

Theme: Akron's Foreign Born

We gathered at Birchwood Supply, Co. and enjoyed food and drinks, while listening the Nepalese tunes played by Puspa and his bandmates. A diverse group of young and old, from North Hill to Barberton to West Akron, brought with them a common interest to better understand some of the stories of our refugees and immigrants.

Behind the engine of Common Threads is the belief that many of us have become so comfortable with our individual worlds that we've nearly created our own clans, making it less likely that we have to rely or work with people outside our world.
An Akron of 24 individual neighborhoods that function independently of the each other run the risk of silo thinking, where each formulates its own narrative and view the other neighborhoods as just that, the others, and we know what a debilitating mindset that caused the districts in the Hunger Games.

During the first event, refugees and immigrants told their stories, as well as their hopes for a future Akron. Bhim Dhunganga told his refugee story of escape from Bhutan into India. Architect and UA instructor Mehrnoush Soroush explained the importance of hubs to help motivate a walking city—the kind she misses in Tehran.

Those in attendance learned about the backgrounds of our new Americans, the open forum making it comfortable for attendees to voice questions and to add their own information.

Join us for our next conversation on March 16, 2017 at the Rialto Theater in Kenmore.

Common Threads, Conversation #2

Theme: International Students at The University of Akron
Location: Rialto Theatre in Kenmore

Facebook event link

Rich insight from our young storytellers. They expressed their love of Akron, such as how everyone is friendly and connected. They suggested ways Akron could improve, such as public transportation or connecting UA more with community events. They talked about struggling through discrimination, such as trying to get a job as a woman wearing a hijab. And they assured the crowd that they should be proud of being Americans. An all around lovely night.