Noor Tagouri: Protectors All Around Us

“I always knew that I wanted to be a professional question asker,” says Noor Tagouri. As a child she asked so many questions that her father told her, “There’s a name for this thing that you love so much. It’s called journalism.” That inquisitive, investigative instinct helped her forge a path into the worlds of journalism and activism, using her voice to draw attention to the stories of society’s marginalized people. Her stories can be found in a variety of media, including films, videos, podcasts, print, and brand campaigns. In Arabic, her means light, and Noor’s stories shine light on some of the most misunderstood and misrepresented communities in the nation and around the world. 

This work has included reporting on one of the worst cases of medical abuse in US history. Forest Haven, a residential facility for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Laurel, Maryland, closed in 1991 due to severe medical abuse that resulted in patient deaths. In 2015, when Noor became interested in telling the story while working at a local television station in Maryland, there were still lawsuits pending. She proposed the idea to her news director.  She felt it was a huge story, right in their backyard, that had been completely overlooked. He told her no, because it would require trespassing and could garner government criticism. “That was when I knew that this wasn’t the place for me. It was too confined. I wanted to tell the story of Forest Haven without exploiting anyone further and honoring their truth.” She kept returning to this question: “How can the story of Forest Haven be told as a form of justice for those who have been wronged?” 

The result was a stunning documentary series, The Trouble They’ve Seen, focused on the people who had been institutionalized, survived the abuse, and were now, years later, in an art and therapy program preparing for a concert. “How can we honor the artist in those people and the light that they’ve been able to tap into amidst all of the darkness? It doesn’t negate the darkness—but people still find a way.”  

Shortly after the Forest Haven project, a new digital news outlet was launching a documentary team in Washington, DC, and they asked Noor to help start it. “When you choose to tell the truth in this way and maintain a sense of truth in your own voice and your own approach, it also connects you to the other people who are doing that as well.” Noor founded her own media company and continues to tell the stories of people whose voices have been stifled or ignored. As she says, “Storytelling is a form of service.”