A Day to Rememebr

The passing of time can make it easy to forget but reading my news feed I was once again gripped by the tragic shooting of Treyvon Martin, particularly in the shadow Sandy Hook and the epidemic gun deaths in Chicago. I wanted to share this article with you all as Treyvon's mom thinks of her son on his birthday and the debate on gun laws (stand your ground).

http://thegrio.com/2013/02/05/trayvon-martin-birthday-his-mom-reflects-on-laws/#s:sybrina-fulton-jahvaris-16x9

Hi Class,

I read this blog and thought about our discussion today:
http://www.joshiejuice.com/blog/on-the-hysteria-of-anti-affirmative-actions/
I am following a colleague of mine on her blog - she is teaching the same class I taught last year (Foundations of Social Justice) - and she posted about this blog.

I have encountered many conflicting emotions about race, class, culture, when working in communities, particularly in Mart where I am the white family of a black family, a UT professor, artist and founder of the MCP. I wrote and created art work about the complexity of my work there and the consequence of having multiple roles. I will write more about this as the semester progresses and share some of the visual work I did as a result. Reflection helps put things in perspective!

This a picture of Quan Cosby and I - UT social work alum, UT football star and NFL player who was born and raised in Mart. Quan is a supporter of the MCP and still returns to Mart to visit family and make a contribution.

Hi class,

I wanted to post the link to Imagining America. ( http://imaginingamerica.org/) On the homepage they describe themselves as follows:

We are an organization grounded in scholarship and creative practice, looking to translate our best thinking and creation into actions. Whether exploring how arts contribute to community development, recognizing the wealth of knowledge produced through partnerships bringing together community and campus stakeholders, or making it possible for a faculty member’s public scholarship to “count” when he or she comes up for tenure and promotion, IA is committed to higher education as an active agent for the public good.
A consortium of 90 colleges and universities, and their partners, IA emphasizes the possibilities of humanities, arts, and design in knowledge-generating initiatives. Such activity can span disciplines through collaborations with public health, environmental issues, community education, neighborhood development, and others. We also value the knowledge and creativity-generating components of partnerships among people whose everyday lives produce different kinds of expertise. So the scholar in the library, the teacher in the classroom, the organizer in the community – each provides different expertise that together is greater than the sum of its parts.
Through our website, you can learn about specific projects in this spirit carried out by our members and partners, as well as about IA’s collaborative Research & Action initiatives. You can download various publications produced under our wing. You can find out how to join us at regional and national convenings, and receive our field-wide news. Enjoy!

They have a blog, a Face Book page, and an excellent publications tab so I encourage you to explore as we navigate the waters of community engagement.

Thinking About Community

The debate about gun control has been in the news since the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary. The President announced 23 Executive Orders and urged Congress to act immediately. On a visit to Auburn University this week I taught a Policy class and discussed social problems - and what makes an issue a social problem. I used gun control as an example of how social policy is a value statement and included statistics about Chicago and the record number of gun deaths in the city in 2012 and already 41 deaths since January 1st, including a 15 year old honor student who played in her school band at the presidential inauguration. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/us/chicago-shooting-shakes-city-and-capital.html) Chicago has strict gun control laws; however, the guns are coming in from surrounding counties and states that looser laws.

I thought about the pain and grief in the hardest hit communities and how violence tears apart the fabric of a community that is already struggling to survive. Hadiya Pendleton's mother was interviewed and broke down in tears - and so did I. As a mother I wondered how you carry on after a loss like that? Two students in the class at Auburn said they were from the town where a child is being held hostage and were checking the news in their phones for updates. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/us/standoff-in-alabama-kidnapping-continues.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0) For these two students the news flash was personal - and touched them as community members. And then I remembered the outpouring of grief after the Sandy Hook killings - how we as a nation felt part of that community and what we call a "policy window" was created as a result of the tragedy. But the epidemic number of gun deaths in Chicago, the senseless murder of Hadiya Pendleton, and the incident in Alabama reminded me as a nation we are many communities threaded together. Strengthening communities and working collectively to abate the violence that claims far too many lives is a shared responsibility and takes many forms.  

Hi Class, I decided to get on the blogging band wagon and blog along with you. Feel free to comment on my blog!