Indeed, The Dialogue Project, which was founded in the spring of 2001, emphasizes bringing people together and dispelling judgments. For 15 years, founder Marcia Kannry and a team of volunteers have brought Teach-Ins and monthly events, such as “Speaking Across Differences,” around Brooklyn and the other boroughs. The Dialogue Project has expanded from its original focus of helping Jews, Israelis Muslims and Arabs find common ground. The events of 9/11 brought added urgency to Kannry’s mission.

The Dialogue Project’s scope has broadened over the years to include many ethnicities and age groups, including teenagers. People meet throughout the year to explore differences and personal stories, exchange personal histories and engage in dialogue about their core values and connections to the Middle East.

The Dialogue Project’s Youth Dialogue Corps each year selects only 12-15 diverse teens from all over Brooklyn to participate in the program. Through experiential workshops, the participants explore issues that affect their lives, learn how to challenge their own perspectives and develop dialogue facilitation skills such as active and generous listening.

This year’s group partnered with Urban Word NYC who helped them produce a CD of original spoken word performances, titled “Youth Voices, Volume III.” Participants in this year’s program were drawn from Al-Noor School, Edward R. Murrow High School and M.S. 88. Applications for the 2016-17 school year are currently available to students ages 13-17 who attend school in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Director of Faith-Based and Clergy Initiatives Pastor Gilford Monrose proclaimed “Brooklyn Youth Dialogue Day” at Borough Hall as local students graduated from the 2015-16 Youth Dialogue Corps program. The teens then headed out to the plaza in front of 209 Joralemon St. to encourage the public to share meaningful words from their cultures and issues.

Kannry articulated how much she had seen the teens grow over the past year as they struggled with various issues. She said, “You learned how to claim your identity without anyone else telling you what your identity is. You define who are.”

Pastor Monrose saluted the diverse group, encouraging them to not be shy or scared of the assignment ahead, but to have a positive attitude. However, Adams, speaking right after Monrose, countered that being scared can also motivate one in a positive way.

Adams, who was a veteran police officer before seeking public office, said, “Be scared. There is not a day in which I move about in my job in which I’m not afraid. Fear is so healthy. Discomfort yourself. Because discomfort is a sign of growth and that you are growing. When you are comfortable, that means you are stagnant and you are not moving.”

He added, “We want to be around the people who look like us, talk like us, eat the same food, listen to the same music. That is not growth. We are always changing. The only way to grow is to get out of the classroom and engage the people.”

Adams also told the youths about the importance of cultivating humility as a way of becoming a better listener.

“Leave your comfort zone as much as possible. The more you leave your comfort zone, the more you will grow and become not only who you think you are, but who you know you are.”

Adams then wrote something on the poster board. Explaining that it looked like the word “Impossible,” he then pointed out that appearances can be superficial. “What I wrote was the phrase, ‘I’m Possible.’”

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