The first fieldwork day of the year was a lot more intriguing than I thought; after all I am happy that we were not told what groups we were in or even where we were going because the suspense was worth it. One tactic and piece of advice that stood out to me from a woman who spoke on behalf of senator Jacqueline Collins at Auburn Gresham was that the best way to see the change you want is to call your alderman. I learned that you have to be precise and clear in what you say to them because the constituency matters greatly. This woman told us that whether you are 18 years old like us or a billionaire, you are viewed the same and taken just as seriously, if not more importantly because we are the youth, the future generation. The person who spoke with us the most was Carlos Nelson. I really liked him because he values education, especially knowing about the places you live in day to day. He told us all that we must e-mail him telling him who our alderman is, what police district we live under, what ward we live in, who our state senator is, and who our state representative is. No one in our class could name all of these things about where they live, and it was important to him that we get and maintain being more and more educated- this is also important to me! Lastly, Carlos told us that a classic Chicago community consists of great housing, churches, arts/entertainment, commercial services, transportation, and education. One of my questions is can't you replace "Chicago" with a lot of places/cities in the world and say that a classic and flourishing community consists (or strives to consist) of those things? How is that unique to Chicago? My other question is does the 95% black majority in this 71st community area in Chicago still allow kids (and adults too) to be exposed to diversity?
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Paris, this is an interesting response to your day -- your observations and questions are pithy and compelling. I'm glad the emphasis on local politics and tools of citizen power resonated for you! I agree with your first question; I wonder too! Your second question raises lots of questions for me! For example -- Is it the neighborhood that "allows" for access to diversity? Who in the neighborhood? Families? Schools? If residential patterns were established in large part by racist real estate practices generations ago, doesn't the responsibility for access to diversity fall outside the community at least somewhat? Keep asking your good questions, Paris!
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