Week 11: Research
Angela C. Stanley
Week 11 Readings: Urban Youth Building Community and Making
Space, Making Change: Models for Youth-Led Social Change Organizations
The
readings for this week caused me to reflect on one of the classes I attend for
my job. Currently, in the ninth grade
English class that I assist my kiddos in at Bellingham High School, the teacher
is focusing on teaching “isms.” For
example: racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, etc.
While these topics made my eyes light up, barely any student felt like
these issues are still relevant in today’s society. This made me question what the is between
those who are fervently passionate about activism and social change versus
those who are ignorant to its very existence?
When
reading these articles about the youth not only participating but taking on
managerial roles, I wonder what fuels them.
Is it the opportunities to obtain knowledge of injustice through direct
experiences or experiences handed down to them?
For example, I think of the CEDAR project in which youth are educated on
how colonialism affected their community in a way where they could not control
the land by means of physical attainment, so they attacked from the inside:
through the youth. Or with KASA, where
the youth are longing for a place of belonging because their life circumstances
cause them to feel isolated from society.
The
emphasis on continuously building trustworthy relationships between youth and
adult allies were strong points in both articles. In thus, by doing this, many things can
happen. For one, the injustices of the
world that many parents hide from their kids, can be exposed to the youth and allow
them to make the decision to stand up for something and use their voice. Secondly, healing can take place. Healing on both sides of the
intergenerational relationship can be a result of the trusting relationships in
which youth are given a strong role model that empowers them and fosters
growth, and adults can learn new ways of actually treating youth as an equal
peer or partner, rather than continuing the bashful stereotypes surrounding
young people.
Building trustworthy relationships with youth are crucial if adults truly want to become allies. Acknowledging your own privileges is the first step. You have to be willing to be honest as well as vulnerable. If you are not, you might as well keep walking because your youth will not open up to you. They will continue to see you as an oppressor who holds power in societal institutions.
ReplyDeleteI love your take-aways about trust and healing as foundational aspects and benefits of deep youth-adult relationships. I wonder about the apathy you witnessed in the English class. Do you think there is a lack of trust in that space? What else do you notice about adult-youth relationships in that room?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your take-aways as well! It always surprises me when youth are unaware of the injustice surrounding them. I think it is attributed to not allowing them to truly express their concerns, I wonder do they just not share their opinions because no one ever truly listens? I also wonder if it is because we do not trust youth to have real feeling towards injustice or think that they are too naive to feel discrimination so we don't ever give them space to talk about it.
ReplyDeleteIt is one thing to feel something internally but to know that others are experiencing the same thing makes something more real.