Meet the Syrian migrant boy whose story became a portrait
In our series, A More Perfect Union, we aim to show that what unites us as Americans is far greater than what divides us. In this installment, CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford introduces us "Communities in Schools," a non-profit working to support struggling students nationwide, and a Syrian middle school graduate whose life was turned into a portrait.
Shams Alkhouli graduated from Gunston Middle School this year but the milestone is just one chapter in his long international journey. Alkhouli is originally from Syria, where he said that "every day I would hear gunshots, through the night."
Alkhouli and his family fled the war and arrived in the United States four years ago. But America wasn't exactly what he'd imagined.
"I heard that sometimes it could be like the place of freedom but then [it] was kind of different…" he said. "Some people didn't accept you into their groups -- and that was really, it was surprising for me, because I thought like everybody accepted everybody and everybody liked each other."
Alkhouli said that some people bullied him for his grasp of English. "That really hurt me sometimes. And I didn't tell anybody," he said. "But then, when I learned to speak up for myself, I just tried to like talk to them and push them off. And that really helped."
After adjusting to life at the northern Virginia middle school, Alkhouli was accepted into Communities in Schools' "What We Are Made Of" program.
"It meant a lot," he said. "My mom was also super happy -- and that really made me extra happy because I would do anything to make my mom happy."
The program asked Alkhouli to reflect on his personal journey and put together a collection of items that told his story. Among other objects, he chose a microphone – "because it really describes how I learned to speak up for myself" – and a baseball, because "I really like playing baseball."
His box of items traveled from Virginia to the San Francisco studio of pop artist Jason Mecier. Known for his celebrity murals, Mecier took Alkhouli's assorted keepsakes and turned them into a unified portrait.
"A lot of the portraits I do are superficial and I know that," Mecier said. "I guess [this] is more personal."
Just hours before his graduation, Alkhouli met Mecier for the first time to see the final creation. "I love that you used every single thing that I gave you," Alkhouli told him, adding "I'm overwhelmed."
As he heads into high school, Alkhouli said that he hopes the program will help others find their voice.
"Some kids might really get bullied just because they speak a different language or they practice a different religion," he said. "But it doesn't matter what other people think about you. It really just matters what you think about yourself."
