HUMANS OF MALDEN
Madiha Goma, Gillian Hodgden, Taylor Lee, Sylvia Xu, Max Zlochiver
Humans of Malden is a photo-journalistic and film project that reveals the daily lives and experiences of people from all across Malden. The purpose of this project is to display the variety in our individual experiences, and how through these differences we can find comfort and affinity with others we don’t know. We went out into the Malden community finding people in their simple, everyday moments, and asked them to give us a glimpse into their lives. We collected 20 interviews, more than 50 photos, and 5 videos and compiled them in both physical and digital form to create a timeless collection of these moments. This project would not have been possible without the help of Masio, Anne D’Urso-Rose, Keren He, and the support of the UMA staff.
“I loved that this project introduced me to the Malden community. We talked to more than 20 people, and almost all of them mentioned “diversity” when asked what they liked the most about Malden. We, as interviewers, witnessed this diversity when we reached out to people. Ideally, we wanted to show diversity by talking to people from different backgrounds and cultures. And we didn’t intentionally plan for it. It just happened naturally, which was absolutely amazing.”-Madiha
“What drew me to Urban Media Arts in the first place was the emphasis on community. Getting this opportunity to highlight the people that make the Malden community what it is simply by being themselves has been profound, and I feel so grateful for the chance to have been apart of this.”-Gillian
“Humans of Malden strikes a personal chord for me as someone who's lived in Malden for a decade and a half now. It's heartwarming to hear the various stories of Malden residents and see the way all of their stories share similarities.”-Taylor
“The final project is not only an exhibition of Malden people's life but also an achievement exhibition of my three months at UMA growing out of nothing. ”-Sylvia
“This project is the culmination of both the technical skills I've learned over my time at UMA, but more so it's about community. I've come to connect with Malden and its citizens this past summer, and this project is an opportunity to display the vibrant, wonderful community in Malden.”-Max
"I fractured my leg at the end of April, and so I had to have surgery. I haven’t been able to drive my car for two months. I’m planning on getting the cast off on Friday. I want to be ready to get in my car and take off. I want to go down to the Cape, and I wanna ride up to New Hampshire—I have a to-do list. I was kind of down about it at first, but it’s only April and May, I have the rest of the summer,"
Heitor SoaresI
I have two brothers. I’m the oldest. Being the oldest is nice because I feel it’s good to be that role model. I feel like I could be a better role model, I’m probably not the best, but I’m happy trying because my dad’s not really around that much. So at least, I’m happy I can be in that place for them. Because if I were a younger brother, I would look up to my older brother, so I’m glad that I can do that for them.
Alexander Berhane
I actually live in Everett, but it’s relatively close to Malden. I feel like these two communities are very diverse, so being in a very diverse community has taught me a lot about different outlooks on life, and I feel like that’s allowed me to mature and learn a lot of skills along the way.
JEN HEDRINGTON
I'm in the school system, and I definitely want to help change systems, not just education but in general. Living and working here, you see many people with potential, but the system doesn’t allow these potentials to blossom. It’s not going to be easy because it’s a mindset. You got to change people’s mindsets. I think Chavez is the one who said that you need to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.
Anne-Meryll Gedeus
I'm from Haiti. I've been living in Malden for a year now. There are a lot more trees here. It’s quieter, and there are a lot of activities. In Haiti, too, but the activities here are much more monitored. Life here is more calculated. Everyone is busy doing something. When I say it’s quieter, it’s because, in Haiti, we have a lot of revolutions and civil wars. Here it’s more quiet and safe.
Matthew Mijares
I've lived in Malden for about 19 years. It definitely has changed over the years, especially downtown. So there's been a ton of apartment offices being built up. Sometimes I think having all of these kinds of luxury housing units kind of takes the character away from Malden. But it's also nice that they're bringing some businesses here too.
I think our large immigrant community is a big part of what makes Malden Malden. And a lot of these immigrants don't come from high-income backgrounds, and the apartment development in the city has caused prices to go up, which drives away a lot of families that would otherwise be able to afford living here. What we're getting now seems to be more like professionals from overseas and younger people who just freshly graduated college, which is not typically what you would think of when you think of Malden.
Micheal Cloherty
Writing is something you have to be passionate about. In high school, I tried to do it as well. I was in my 20s; I wrote a book and didn't finish it. For this book, I did the research and had the real people, and I had the whole story. This time I did finish the book. I'm 50 today. I started writing this book when I was 40, so it took ten years, Kinda a long time. I always tell people not to give up on stuff.
Mardi Nadia and Fawzy Bomkarf
We are from Morocco. We’ve been in Malden for two months now. We came here to visit our daughter; she has been living in Malden for 15 years and just gave birth to our first grandchild last week. We liked Malden so much and have not encountered any racism whatsoever. We didn't expect people to be that friendly and welcoming. So far, we’re having so much fun.
Michael Leggiero
I've been so busy lately. I am putting a lot of stuff on my plate. My friends and I are entering a business venture, which is exciting but very hectic too. At the same time, I'm trying to maximize my time with family, especially with my son; I only have a certain amount of years where he's a toddler and still like a little kid, you know, because once they get a little bit older, it's a different dynamic. So I'm trying to take advantage of him being a small child now and doing all the fun stuff we can. I'm also a person in recovery, so doing a lot of recovery-related activities that help bring the community some education about what recovery really is and what it looks like is very important to me.
"I think communities like Malden do a really good job identifying what recovery is. But there are some communities out there that stigmatize people in recovery. They think we're all just a bunch of savage drug addicts when that's not the case. You know, we've turned our lives into being some of the best fathers. I know some of the best mothers, some of the best people who were once doing drugs, and I know they're in recovery. Because part of being in recovery is we try to give all of ourselves back to the community, and we give all of ourselves back to people who are still struggling. Helping people helps us stay in the process,"
Yoseph T
I miss the social life back in Ethiopia. I've always dreamed of building something like a community space for the Ethiopian community in Malden, A big hall or building that would hold at least 350 or 400 people. We need a place like this for people to gather, throw parties, or do whatever they want. In our culture, when someone dies, we have to show up for two or three days to offer solace; we don't have a place for that in Malden. That's why our community isn't that strong.
Siena Lee
I feel like we have a really friendly community. I never really felt like anything offensive or discriminatory my whole life. And just seeing the contrast between our town versus every other town in America, you'll know how kind and loving place Malden is; everyone has always been so open-minded. It's been a nice community to grow up in. If I were to be anywhere and I needed extra money, or some help or even directions, there's always going to be someone to do that.
Something on my mind right now and really important to me is that we have a community garden near Malden High School, and the government and lawyers are trying to get rid of it. They're trying to remove some of the green space in that area. It's important to us because many Malden high school students worked on it. It was a community-based project. We're actively trying to fight this change, even though we know we can't win because they made this decision before we could really discuss it. We definitely want to use this in the future to show the importance of communication between our government and the people before making such decisions.
Donnell Bailey
I was born and raised in Malden. It definitely has changed over the years. I remember we had a skating rink in Malden. And there were quite a few different ones in the surrounding community. But the one next to my housing project was the most popular even people from Boston would come there. I also remember that there was a movie theater in Malden square, and for some reason. It just sticks in my mind. I was just talking about it the other day. I remember some of the very few first movies I've seen there: Rambo: first blood and Scarface. We also had a BMX race track. None of that exists anymore. It kind of disappoints me, but I know that as time goes on, things change.
Hailey Hao
I came to Malden in 2008, and that’s when I started my job at MATV(UMA now). I have worked at MATV until 2020. I officially started my business as a real estate agent during the pandemic in 2020 because of my love for real estate, my background in media, and my negotiating skills. It was a new opportunity, and I think I have found my thing. I feel like Malden is my second hometown. I know it very well, and I have a lot of friends here. Malden is a great place to live in. When people tell me they are looking for a place, I always recommend Malden because it is very conveniently located, and the downtown area is wonderfully developed.