Prizes:
$10,000 in total prize money: One grand prize winner in the Middle East and one in the US will receive $2,000. One second place winner in the Middle East and one in the US will receive $1,500. Three runners up in the Middle East and three in the US will receive $500 each. 50 book prizes will be awarded to additional outstanding essays.
HAMSA's annual contest comes from a 1951 Langston Hughes poem: What Happens to a Dream Deferred?. The poem helped propel the civil rights movement in the US. Today, it can inspire your dream deferred for the Middle East, which the UN calls the "world’s least free region." The contest has two parts: one for Middle Eastern youth and one for American youth. Write a brief essay addressing one of the questions below. Winning essays - selected by a panel of celebrity judges - receive $10,000 in prizes.
Please answer one of the questions below
If you live in the Middle East
1. Identify a civil rights abuse in your local community – how does this repression impact you or someone you know?Describe a personal experience with civil rights restrictions (censorship, discrimination, protest, etc.). Consider what can be done – and what is being done - to reform these abuses. Explain whether your children will still face the same restrictions when they are your age.
2. What would you with $1,000 to organize a civil rights event or campaign?You can use this money in any way you want to help secure individual rights in your community. Describe with details the activity, its intended impact, strategic approach, budget, and marketing plan. Structure your essay creatively: perhaps as a grant proposal, a mock police report on the event, or a story imagining how the event comes together to make an impact. Consider that winning the contest will give you the funds to make this vision a reality.
3. What is your “dream deferred”: a vision of your society with civil rights for all?Share your dream of a successful civil rights movement. Explain what is needed for this campaign to overcome obstacles. If you like, write a mock newspaper article from the future reporting on a ground-breaking event, campaign, or new project (e.g., a civil rights TV station, web portal, online training center, etc.). Describe successful collaboration between Mideast activists and grassroots American supporters.
4. You have been given $2,000 to produce a short (1-4 minutes) viral video on civil rights in the Middle East. The challenge is to grab viewers’ attention, link viewers to a specific action to address the abuse, and ultimately get them to forward the video to friends?The video should aim to make an emotional and educational impact that spurs a clear practical action by viewers. It could also be a video answer to one of the essay questions posed above. Include the script for the video as well as the marketing plan to distribute it virally. For bonus points: Actually produce the video and provide a link to it with your essay.
If you live in United States
1. Profile a Middle East civil rights reformer: What about their work inspires you and how can you assist their struggle?Explain the challenge to individual rights this reformer addresses. Describe the nonviolent strategic approach the reformer uses to advance change. And suggest ways that you as an individual in America can help support their struggle – from social media tools to solidarity rallies to fundraising.
2. Imagine that you have decided to help the campaign to free a young Middle Eastern blogger in jail (e.g., Bahrain’s Ali Abdulemam), but some friends argue that Americans should not “impose their values” on foreign cultures. What is your response to arguments of “cultural relativism,” and what direct appeal can you make to convince your friends to help? In addition to moral points, describe your campaign’s practical steps to engage ordinary Americans to help secure the blogger’s release.
3. What can the future look like if Americans - like you - partner with Middle Eastern reformers? Share your vision of a successful collaboration between Middle East and American activists. Describe how an effective joint campaign overcomes key obstacles. If you like, answer the question by writing a mock newspaper article or blog from the future reporting on this new alliance. Consider the impact of social media tools to build bridges and build effective partnerships between activists on opposite sides of the world.
4. You have been given $2,000 to produce a short (1-4 minutes) viral video on civil rights in the Middle East. The challenge is to grab viewers’ attention, link viewers to a specific action to address the abuse, and ultimately get them to forward the video to friends?The video should aim to make an emotional and educational impact that spurs a clear practical action by viewers. It could also be a video answer to one of the essay questions posed above. Include the script for the video as well as the marketing plan to distribute it virally. For bonus points: Actually produce the video and provide a link to it with your essay.
Who can enter the contest?
Entrants must be 25 years old or younger as of the contest deadline: February 20, 2011. Entrants must reside in Arab League member states, Iran, Afghanistan, or the United States. There is no minimum age requirement, and entrants do not need to be students. Prizes are awarded as cash, not scholarships.
Foreign Students: If you are a foreigner currently studying in the US, you can enter the contest. If you are a Middle Easterner studying in the US, answer one of the questions posed to Middle Easterners. If you are a citizen of the Middle East temporarily living outside the region, you can still enter the contest. If you are an American currently living overseas, you can enter the contest. Equal Opportunity: All essays are evaluated without regard for race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation of the author, as well as other classifications protected by applicable international US laws.
How long should entries be?
Essays should be at least 600 words, but no longer than 1,500 words. Footnotes, citations, and essay title do not count towards the word limit.
Can an essay entry remain anonymous?
If do not want your name made public in the event your essay is selected as a winner, check the "anonymous" box when submitting your essay. Several past winners have chosen this option.
When will HAMSA announce the winners?
Winners will be notified (and announced on our web site) by June 2010. Judges evaluate each essay for clarity, creativity, and persuasiveness to determine prize winners.
What are common mistakes to avoid when writing an essay?
Do not focus on US government policy and regional geo-politics (the Iraq War debate, the Arab-Israeli-Iranian conflict, Iran's nuclear program, etc.). Essays based on these topics are disqualified. Judges are looking for essays that explore what ordinary citizens can do on the grassroots level to strengthen individual rights within Middle Eastern societies. These civil rights include, but are not limited to, free expression, women's equality, minority rights, religious freedom, economic liberty, and artistic freedom.
How can a brief essay cover the broad topic of civil rights in the Mideast?
There are several ways to address this challenge. Past prize winners have discussed the larger problem of civil rights abuses across the Middle East with a range of examples. Others have focused on one particular country (Middle Eastern participants are strongly encouraged to address their own society). Others have focused on a particular kind of civil rights abuse (e.g., press censorship). There is no one "right" answer to any of the essay questions.
Do essays have to be original and does HAMSA retain the right to reprint essays?
Yes. Any quotations or outside intellectual material should have citations. All essay submissions become the property of the contest sponsor. At the same time, entrants can republish their essay on their own (e.g., on a blog, for a class paper, etc.) and use ideas for other writing.
Submit your essay here.
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