When We Fight We Win

Jobin-leads states to readers that: “Communities are poor and have failing schools and broken homes not because of their personal failings, but because we’ve declared war on them, spent billions building prisons while allowing schools to fail, targeted children in these communities” (53). This may relate to the Canal, where my service learning is. Communities such as low-income areas do not have top schools, as opposed to the other areas of Marin with the more wealthy population. Rather than have large spacious homes, those families in the Canal often share a living space with over 10 others just to make ends meet. This would be considered as a “broken home,” in which these children are born into. Our money should be well-spent on building a better education for the younger generations to make sure they have all the resources that they need.

“Networking is key for movements to take shape” (61). Networking is the act of reaching out to others — which is always important. Community engagement allows us to think of others while including ourselves and seeing how we can help. Networking for this class, CLQ, is substantial. Our main idea is “Thinking for a Change.” By finding out what we can do for the community around us is the first step for a movement. Doing what we can such as tutoring kids is something little from us, but goes a long way for these children.

The guidance counselor told Rodriguez “You should think about what you want to do when you become an adult so you can go back to your home country and pursue your education there” (84). This is a challenge that many kids in the Canal face. They are put under the category that they are all “bad.” Their potential is over-looked oftentimes because of the race or financial-status. They get put down when all they need is encouragement to keep them motivated to do well. That is what our goal as service learners should be. By interacting with these kids we must give them hope for a better future if they stay motivated and work hard.