Conversation With Imani Yasin
Imani Yasin has made a career of working with students in a mentoring capacity. She first became acquainted with TCS when she was working with the mentoring program Sisters Circle as their High School Programs Coordinator. Imani has been a sponsor for students in the school for 2 years now and her niece also attended TCS.
This spring Imani was awarded as a “Woman to Watch” by the Baltimore Philomathians. Imani is also a local hip hop artist when she isn’t doing amazing work with youth. Imani has led a Conversation With at TCS before, focusing on her music and career. Today, she came back to share her experience traveling in South Africa and Mozambique over the summer.
In early summer, Imani co-lead a study abroad program for high school students through the group called The Experiment in International Living. The program aims to teach the students about leadership, human rights, peace, and politics. They embed themselves in the local communities, learn about the culture and unlearn stereotypes.
Because the majority of the program was in various South African cities, a major learning experience for Imani and the students focused on the history of Apartheid. Unlike American segregation which split people by white and not-white, South African Apartheid split people into multiple categories based on the lightness and darkness of their skin.
As a part of the program, Imani got to experience a diverse range of ways of life throughout South Africa. They stayed in busy cities, and with families in a rural village. She says that she really admired the pace of life in the village. “We don’t really get the opportunity to sit and observe because we live in a culture that’s so focused on the future,” she said. Her takeaways from the trip were the importance of community, gratitude, humility, history, and simplicity.
The students were all attentive and appreciative of this informative and relaxed conversation Thank you for coming and sharing your experience, Imani!