Documentary reflection on gentrification and community displacement

1 Journal Reflections Journal Reflection #4 Watching “Not in My Neighborhood,” I was struck by how it seemed that the people in the communities of New York, Sao Paulo and Cape Town were basically like the Native Americans in the 19th century in the US, who were forced to give up their land and go live somewhere else because the powers that be wanted it for their own purposes. It really is no different today. People live in certain communities, and the ruling class decides they want to make that community into something else that they can profit from and it does not matter who lives there or for how long they have been there—they have to get out, go somewhere else; the people who rule over them want something new in that place. It left me wondering why any of this happens in our modern world, and yet I already know the answer—it is just one that no one really likes to think about because it touches on our own culpability. Who doesn’t like to see communities fixed up and made into something nice with new shops and new restaurants and revitalized homes and new parks? We all enjoy things that go along with gentrification—but we don’t stop to think about is what has happened to the people who lived there before gentrification and who are now displaced as a result. Why is it that we don’t stop to think about these people or how their lives are affected? Instead, our first thoughts tend to be self-centered. We think about how we can benefit from the new park or from the new restaurant; we think about our own pleasure. This film got me wondering about the other people, whose lives are personally affected in a negative away by all the redevelopment. It got me wondering about whether or not I should even be taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by gentrification, or whether I should just stay away from gentrified neighborhoods completely to show my support for the people who are hurt by the process. The film definitely influenced me as a leader in terms of how I need to start thinking about my role in society. If we are truly going to be a society in which we believe in equality and in which we promote the idea of justice and fairness for all, how is that we stand by and allow big, powerful interest groups to come in and dictate to others, to the less powerful, how they are going to live or where they are going to go. These are people’s homes and lives that are being harmed by these interests, and people who are not affected will take no action. Yet their advocacy and their voices could be instrumental in making a difference. As a leader I want to hold myself more accountable in the future by getting involved in local politics and advocating for those who do not have much voice or power when it comes to combating the powerful interests of those who would like to move them off their land, out of their homes, and into different parts of the country. Others might say that the landowners and landlords have as much right to do what they want as do their tenants. And of course that issue makes this even more complex, because of course owners have a right to do what they want with their property. So it is really a matter of how decide to portray issues and how we think of them. Still, I hate to see people’s lives turned upside down in the name of so-called “progress” because it may seem like progress for some but it is certainly not progress for everyone—and unless it can be progress for everyone I do not see how we can support it or get behind it to the extent that we recommend this type of behavior by giving our financial support to it. Journal Reflection #5 These videos contributed to my well-being and individual growth by deepening my understanding of the wealth gap and how our cities are so segregated. The case of Sheff v. O’Neill showed that very well. For instance, the minority communities were only getting a fraction of the expenditure that the white communities were getting from the state government in Connecticut. This was a clear example of bias and prejudice on the part of the government in terms of how it spent money to fund education for the minority community. The parents of the minority children in the minority community had to sue to get their voices heard and eventually a settlement was reached, but it all just goes to show that there is an unequal distribution of power and money and this is a big reason why the wealth gap exists. The fact is that in this country there is a ruling class that does not want a minority population rising up in power or having an equal opportunity. As much as the ruling class might like to pretend that it acts in the best interests of minorities, the fact is that it does not ever want to give minorities an advantage. It is too focused on figuring out ways to keep them oppressed so that the ruling class can continue on its merry, profitable way. By realizing all that, these short films provided me with a more complex understanding of the diverse contexts of educational experience in the sense that I began to see just how impoverished minority communities are when they are cut off from the money tap and not given the investment that other communities benefit from. While it is easy to act as though minority communities and minority schools are poor because the people there do not care about education, the fact is that the ruling class has not cared about the education of these communities first and foremost. If the ruling class does not care, how is that these communities are supposed to step up and provide for themselves when everything they need is withheld from them and given to the favored people in the other communities? That right there is really what opens my eyes more about the diverse contexts of the educational experience. Students from poor communities come to school with little hope and few aspirations as they are given no real-world vision of what life can actually be like for them, and there is no funding to create a vision that they can buy into. They are basically just passed along down through the system, just as is happening in Baltimore today. For instance, there was recently a story put out about a high school senior with an abysmal GPA who had somehow managed to be passed along even though he had done nothing but fail class after class—and what was worse was that he was ranked in the middle of his class, meaning that there were many more in his class with worse grades. Yet these students are being ignored by the system and they are being cheated by the schools and their communities are eroding because there is no hope or future for them. Diverse contexts of the educational experience have to be understood and appreciated because otherwise everyone goes on his own blissfully ignorant way, paying no attention to anything other than his own life and concerns. Yet educators have to be tuned in to what is happening with their students. They have to be connecting with parents at home. They have to be aware of how money is being spent in communities and they have to be advocates for these children because no one else is going to stand up and do it otherwise. Journal Reflection #6 American Teacher is a really disturbing film that shows the brutal reality of what is going on in America’s schools. Teachers are simply not paid what they are worth, and so it is difficult for good teachers to want to get into the profession. Teachers are leaving right and left and it means that students are being neglected as there is no one of much worth who will take up the job. I found it hard to watch this film because it shows what teachers are up against and how it really does feel like a losing battle, especially when a teacher has to go out and get a second job or a third job just to make ends meet. Teachers are already asked to do so much for the young generation, and they already sacrifice so much; yet they have to sacrifice more and give up even more of their time just to be able to earn enough to support their own families. It truly is a wild situation because even as easy as it is to argue that teachers deserve better pay, the fact of the matter is that there simply is not enough money to go around. Pension funds are deeply in the red, and school systems simply cannot afford to pay teachers what they deserve. People in these communities do not want to pay more in taxes to support these teachers and the federal government doesn’t have the money to keep handing out. So there are major problems of funding. What is the solution? Should schools be closed? Should students be enrolled in local trade schools where they can learn some real-world skills? What is the solution to pursue? The film helped me develop a deeper analysis of the current context of my work as an educator by showing me what teachers themselves are up against when it comes to pursuing this vocation. Too many people enter into this profession thinking that it is going to work for them financially and then they see how little they actually make and how much time they put into their work and they are just flabbergasted by it all. It really takes the wind out of the sails. Teachers need to feel like their work is worthwhile and yet at the same time they need to feel like they are making a positive impact and it is often that case that neither of these needs is met. As an educator it is important to understand how frustrating it can be for one’s colleagues and how the bar continues to move in terms of what is expected, what is allowed, and what is possible. I know many teachers who are just completely overwhelmed by it all. I know many teachers who have left the profession completely because they felt the sacrifices they were making were not worth it. I know teachers who have no real job satisfaction at all. It is very sad to see and yet the reality of the situation is that things are only getting worse—nothing is really improving. This film also made me think differently about the change continuum in the sense that something needs to change in terms of how we define our parameters. These parameters are too stifling; teachers are hemmed in on all sides. For instance, one thing I thought of is why we can’t get wealthy donors to give more to public schools; they give to all sorts of initiatives—so why not to public schools, or why not to a big fund that all the schools can tap? Why is it that schools are so underfunded years after year? It is almost as though the system is designed to stay that way. That is what is particularly worrisome to me. I think that change should be possible, particularly as we become more aware of the difficulties and the problems—yet no changes ever seem to happen because everyone is stuck thinking inside the box, when what is needed from a change continuum perspective is for that box to be thrown out and for everyone to start thinking outside the box to make a difference. Journal Reflection #7 The speech by Dr. Cornel West begins with a personal anecdote about his brother running with Steve Prefontaine, the legendary track star, and how the three of them knew each other as human beings and how West viewed Steve as possessing excellence in every sense of the word. It is a good anecdote that really drives home the point of the talk, which is that human beings need to be excellent and that the black experience has primed the black population to teach the rest of the world about what it means to love and show love and give love back even when slapped and beaten and oppressed and held down by the powers that be. It is a remarkable talk because of that one point, which really contributed to my well-being and individual growth in the sense that it made me wonder why I hold on to so much hate at times. I will nurse little grudges and be mad at a person for weeks on end all because of some slight or some perceived injury that probably was not even intentional on the part of the other person. I will nurse my wounds and show ill-will to others who I believe have mistreated me—and yet that is not what leads one to excellence of the sort that Steve Prefontaine possessed. That is not really what it means to teach the world about love. I was really struck by that moment in West’s speech because it drove home a very important piece of wisdom to me, which is that in order to master the world one must first master oneself. And of course that means I have a lot of growing to do before I can do real good in the world. I have to grow to get over my own pettiness and my own complaints. I have to grow to get over my own sense of how I believe I should be treated, whereas the real trick to this life is to treat others the way you want to be treated. Instead, I find myself often becoming outraged because of how others treat me. But if I look at the world through the eyes given me by West, I will not even think about myself first—I will focus on treating others with the kind of love that I want to receive, and that will be me only focus. This has influenced my thinking as a student in the sense that I do not even want to think of myself as someone who is self-centered; I want to think of myself as someone who is other-centered. I want to transcend boundaries and boxed-in notions of race and class. I want to epitomize the kind of love that West is talking about in his speech, and I can do this as a student because anyone can do it in his life. To be a student is to be one who is interested in learning. To learn is to grow and develop, and that is what one must be willing to do if one is really going to grow in love and respect for others. To be a teacher is also to be a student, because a teacher is not just there to tell others how to think or act but is also there to learn from others and to demonstrate the kind of conviction that he wants to see more of in the world. To teach, to learn, to love, it is all really the same thing—it is about being human and about being excellent to one another, just as West described was the situation with him and Steve and his brother at the beginning of the speech. It is about always putting one’s best foot forward and striving to be the best possible version of ourselves that we can be. That is all that anyone can really ask of us, whether we are students or teachers or leaders. But as leaders, which is what we all must be, we have a higher duty to love more than others because our behavior and our actions and our words set the tone and set the stage for what others do. We have to be the change that we want to see in the world and that change has to be rooted in love. Journal Reflection #8 The film Precious Knowledge really gets to the heart of what education is all about. For the ruling class, it appears that education is supposed to be a means of indoctrination in which the students learn to recite facts about George Washington and Ben Franklin; in which they are expected to be content with their lot in life, their meager portion, their station, their few little crumbs, and so on. The ruling class obviously does not care about the dropout rate or the fact that so many immigrants have no real opportunities to climb the socio-economic ladder in America. The schools are not giving them the tools they need. Yet one program that focuses on ethnic studies does turn students into active learners and does get them engaged in their communities and does help them to graduate and go on to college. This program is yet targeted by the ruling class and the program is threatened. Why? Because it puts power into the hands of the learners and the system is designed to keep power out of the hands of the learners, as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed points out. It is interesting that this book is attacked for promoting victimization, when victimization is what is promoted endlessly by the media. The real reason the book is attacked by the powers that be is that it tells the truth about the education system and how students are taught in a certain way so as to keep them passive learners, unengaged and uninspired to take out the bigger problems in their lives and communities. The film really left me wondering how this so-called education system of ours even manages to exist at all? It all feels like it should be falling apart (and no doubt it is coming apart at the seams). But when there are teachers and students who are as engaged as they appear to be in this film, it gives me a good feeling about the future of education in America. The problem is that I feel like education is going to have to go offline, i.e., go off the grid, go underground, and go outside the normal parameters—because the ruling class does not want an education system that empowers learners, that is learners who are minorities. It wants learners who will accept the system as it is and not try to challenge it. The film has really influenced my thinking as a leader because now I want to get this book and start teaching it and helping others to challenge the system, to get engaged, and to make a difference. Is it really possible to challenge the system, however? That is another thing that I wonder about. The system as is currently is nothing to fight for—it underpays teachers, under-provides for students, does not give them anything substantial that they can use to better themselves, and it seems opposed to their own socio-economic mobility. So what reason is there to fight for such a system? Better it seems to oppose such a system and start something new. I think that is what Freire is getting at in his book anyway and it seems to be what the teachers in this film are getting at with their focus on ethnic and cultural studies and their empowerment of the Mexican-American student body. Just look at how engaged and active the students are, at how they are graduating compared to the students who are not part of this program. Yet another thing I wonder about is the end to which it all progresses? Are these learners going to go off to college and get a degree that is useful to them? Are they going to burn out and drop out of college with more debt than they had when they went in? Are they going to be met by new and different prejudices? Do they themselves have certain biases that will be reinforced in college? Journal Reflection #9 What is really remarkable about Touch of Greatness is that the teacher, Albert Cullum so loved and so believed in the great dramatic works of Shakespeare, Sophocles and Shaw, that he wanted to share with everyone—including children. Most people think these works are unsuitable for children because they think children are not ready to deal with adult themes and issues; yet children are not stupid: just because they are children doesn’t mean they don’t understand how adults are in the world. What is even more interesting is that children love to play, to role play, to pretend, and to be active, and Cullum tapped into that childlike ability to make-believe and he used it to introduce these young minds to the great narratives and great plays of the greatest artists throughout history. It really is a magnificent approach to education. At the heart of the method is the idea that children learn by being in motion, by being involved, by getting up and acting things out. They learn best when not even realizing that they are learning. They learn just be being immersed in the world of information that the teacher is presenting to them. That was what Collum realized and recognized in his approach to teaching. Collum said that children who get exposed to literature will never run away from it; on the contrary literature will be a friend to them for life. This is a great insight and one that really sticks with me because I love to read and I think children who learn to love to read have an opportunity for a second education that they can continually return to and develop their whole lives. For me, this documentary provided me with a more complex understanding of the diverse contexts of the educational experience by showing me that education is not something that has to take place in a classroom or in a desk or with a book or with a lecture. Education is something that can happen just because it is what happens whenever a person engages with something new. The trick to education is to get young learners engaged in a way that is inviting and interesting and exciting. Collum did this by getting students up out of their desks, taking them outside, planning new experiences for them and asking them questions about what is going on. He didn’t try to shield them from realities and new experiences; rather, he taught them to embrace them and consider them and have fun with them. That is the type of experience I want my students to have; I want them to wake up and be excited about going to school because they never know what is going to happen next. I think we put the idea of education in a box and we don’t let anyone out of that box because we feel safe in it. Yet this documentary takes us out of that box and shows us that education can still work! This documentary built on what I have learned in other psychology courses about child development, where I learned about the stages of development and the conflicts that children face before they can move on to the next phase of development. Children face conflicts that focus on autonomy and self-identity and confidence, and what I see with this film is evidence that teachers can help student address their own inner conflicts by getting them out of themselves and engaged in the real world of ideas and information. By getting engaged, students can be made to feel that they are part of something, that they have a role to play, and that they themselves matter—and all of these things can help them as they grow and deal with their own cognitive development. What a great approach to education is all I can say. Journal Reflection #10 The film It’s Elementary explores how young students react to learning about gay issues and gay themes in elementary school. The film is largely depicted from the students’ perspectives so that viewer gets a sense of what a child feels like when he is called a “faggot” on the playground, or how kids might debate an issue like gay marriage. As the film shows, there are a lot of conflicting beliefs and attitudes among children about being gay, and this should not be surprising since a lot of these beliefs are going to originate in the home, where family values and culture are set by parents. Children are just going to repeat whatever their parents tell them. Children are like parrots in that way, but the documentary shows that by teaching kids about homosexuality and how to respect everyone a new lesson is being taught that the kids can take with them as they grow up. This is obviously not a film that everyone is going to agree with. Those who support the LGBTQ community will see it as important and those who do not support gay rights will likely not find this film helpful at all. The point is that everyone, even adults still today, is going to have his own take on the matter.