Interview With Reading Buddies

From the interview with Diana Lopez, I learned about what the community is doing right now under our current circumstances related to COVID-19. The order to shelter in place was very abrupt, not giving people much time to prepare. With funding from several organizations such as Marin Promise, the libraries worked hard to try and distribute WiFi hotspots out to students who don't have WiFi at home. They gave out about 200 hotspots and then the libraries closed on March 16. The community members of Marin City have a strong sense of caring and looking out for each other. Marin City has been marginalized for so long, that they know how to handle hardships and take care of each other. Many people have lost their jobs and the students are going to suffer from a loss of time in school. It depends on the grade and the teacher, but for the most part, the students have access to the school curriculum online as well as access to the Smarty Ants program. Not only are the students losing out on school for the rest of this school year, but the Hannah project summer reading program is also closed. Other locations were thinking about continuing the program online, but Marin City doesn’t think that would work well for their population. They are trying to give out books to children so they have books at home to read. Students are definitely going to have a hard time when school is able to be in session again. Many students will most likely fall behind and it will be hard to make up for the lost time. The principal has even been calling families and checking up on them to see how they are doing, bringing them groceries, and seeing how the students are doing on their schoolwork. Other things that are going on in the community now include food distribution. Bayside MLK has been giving out breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday and various restaurants in Marin are providing hot meals for families. The community has also gathered resources for helping parents find jobs, create resumes, and let them borrow business attire to wear for interviews.

Diana couldn’t answer questions directly related to the education system since she doesn’t see the school curriculum and she doesn't have test score data to see that impact of Reading Buddies or Smarty Ants on the students. She wants to say that schools do a good job of educating students and preparing them for life, but she can’t say this with confidence. Reading Buddies started out in West Marin, and now there are two additional branches in South Novato and Marin City. Smarty Ants compliments the Reading Buddies program.

I think there are many class themes that are relevant to this community. Specifically, the ideas of creating a critical consciousness, racial oppression, the school-to-prison pipeline, and restorative justice. It is important that children learn to read so that they can further their knowledge. School shouldn’t just be about learning facts, it should teach students to form a strong understand of the world and allow them to ask questions and think critically about the issues that are happening. They should also be immersed in their community and be able to contribute ideas to help create social change. Marin City has a poor reputation of poverty and crime. This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of the population is African American and Latino. This also relates to the idea of who has power in society. The fact is that it is typically the wealthy white men who have all the power and say in policies and since this community is of the minority group, they are “inferior” and have little to no say. With the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy, the school-to-prison pipeline has been an issue with race. I’m not saying this happens specifically at this school, but it is common that white students get away with less harsh consequences than students of color; connecting back to the issue of racial oppression. I think restorative justice could be useful for this community to allow students to share their experiences with each other. Although their community members are already close to each other, I think it would help them further connect them and they can try to overcome the issues together.

I think under these circumstances, Marin City is doing a very good job handling the situation in comparison to other communities such as the Canal that doesn't have such a tight-knit community. In terms of now, I don’t think there is much more they can do, but if we’re thinking in the future when things go back to normal there are a lot of issues that should be addressed, such as racial oppression, the education system, and access to resources. I am still always so amazed that I was unaware of most of these issues happening in this community, especially pertaining to the desegregation order on the school district. I think spreading awareness about these issues and advocating for changing the social structures, the education system, and helping them get more access to resources will benefit the community.