Understanding as a Gateway to Action
Having grown up in the most impoverished and disadvantaged regions within their Countries, Freire and Horton shared an unforeseen analytical and philosophical bond. Despite the physical separation between their homes of Brazil and the rural Appalachia mountains, their educational and sociological upbringings were so similar that, upon meeting in adulthood, their ideas of educational and developmental reformation were eerily similar. One of these main ideas what the belief that “knowledge grows from and is a reflection of social experience” (xvi). By making this statement these great thinkers were attempting to deconstruct the most typical misconception about childhood development. This was that book-learning and general academia was the most powerful tool in establishing not only a child’s wisdom, but their general sense of self as well. Instead they are stating that the most valuable lessons in life can not simply be taught through paper in pencil, but through participation and consideration through life’s most challenging moments for not only oneself, but for all people. They claim that one can be formally educated throughout their entire life, yet never find the answer they truly desire, because it can only be understood if it has been experienced within a life situation. This is because “Without practice there’s no knowledge; at least it’s difficult to know without practice” (98). The WOKE organization completely embodied this montra of knowledge through interpersonal connections, as it calls on everybody to share their “social biography”, which has shaped each person into who they are today. Until this incredible organization entered my colloquium classroom on Monday I could never have perceived that sharing would be such an aid to the development of compassion, connection, and understanding. In life it is such a basic and common tendency to view every person to be as different as the the characteristics on everybody’s faces. In fact, after the intervention of this program I am willing to say that in the past I unintentionally slipped into this vapid understanding of my fellow classmates. However, after completing the exercise of sharing our social biographies, I was able to see that no matter our race or cultural background, we students are not that different. We all have some struggle or characteristic within our self can be related and excepted by all people. This is an exercise I will surely embraced throughout my future social interactions and employment as a social worker. Sharing our histories with others, no matter how scary, can only strengthen social bonds as well as our sense of self.
Freire and Horton also discuss a social issue that has, perhaps unintentionally been embodied by the majority of the inhabitants of this continually conflicting and imperfect world. This is the embodiment of neutrality. Through today’s prominence of media it is nearly impossible to cognitively ignore the struggles that countless racial, cultural, and general groups experience everyday. In fact, with all the injustices occurring throughout the world it is almost impossible to not identify a particular hardship that does not resonate with your personal definition of inequity. Unfortunately it is far too easy in life to become absorbed with the idealization that one’s own difficulties are the greatest struggle in their lifetimes. Or to tell oneself that their voice will make such a mundane impact that it is just as effective to give into their own laziness. In my opinion people need to spend more time taking a step back from their own lives and embracing the other inhabitant of this chaotic world that would typically be outside of the tunnel vision of their own lives. See every person with the same respect and potential that you see for yourself, and fight for their right just as you would for your own. As stated by Horton, “if you don’t have some vision of what ought to be or what they can become, then you have no way of contributing anything to the process”(100). In relation to my community partner I have felt a growing sense of responsibility for the students I work with and their continuously repressed culture. The Latino communities throughout this nation as continuously been used as a scapegoat for America’s general economic and social problems. This widespread prejudice has transformed into a systematic discrimination towards the Latino community, creating an increasingly disadvantaged community, and therefore making it harder on these students to reestablish a new identity for not only themeselves but also their social group. In addition these students, specifically those who are undocumented, are now living their lives in fear, under the impression that no one, except those of their own community, are on their side and rooting for their prosperity in this country. However, if more Americans were to step forward with their support of the Latino community the social stigma regarding the equality of this social group would gradual decrease.
Working with AVID has undeniably awoken a desire within me to not only connect, but to provide service and support for the continuous struggle of equality. But before entering my first tutoring session, and event occurred that allowed me to first break apart from the discourse surrounding the Latino community. This was my involvement in recreational soccer as a youth in Petaluma. On my soccer teams as a young child I stood out like a sore thumb as one of the only, if not the only, white player amongst a team full of Latino children. Although this was always quite a spectacle for the parents and older fans of our games, I was innocent and only saw my teammates as friends and fellow soldiers in the battle for athletic superiority in Petaluma. Without conscious realization, each game I played with my beloved team broke a wall of discourse that heavily surrounded my life as white child in a farming community. From that point on I have never been able to understand prejudice that unwaveringly follows the Latino community. I remember the countless sleepovers I had with my friend Evelyn and the birthday parties for my friend Ynez, and all I can see are amazing people that deserve success and happiness just as much as I do. Now that I am older, working with AVID has provided me with a direct ability to serve the Latino community. With each tutoring session I try my hardest to help the students acquire learning skills that they can carry in into the future in their journey to shatter the glass ceiling that the United States fondly holds over them.
