When Alaa Basatneh was six months old her parents moved from Syria to Chicago. Alaa went to school here but always paid close attention to news from the Middle East. In 2010 what became known as “The Arab Spring” transformed the region, and Alaa watched closely. She was only nineteen years old and living in the United States, but as Alaa tells her friend Zainab Khan, she felt she had to get involved.

StoryCorps’ mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to share, record and preserve their stories. These excerpts, edited by WBEZ, present some of our favorites from the current visit, as well as from previous trips.