The UCR ARTSBlock Little India Field Trip (July 30, 2008) went really well: students seemed to have enjoyed playing dress-up, and everyone did their best being adventurous with Indian food at lunch. In true Indian fashion, I way-over-ordered food for everyone and we had plenty of left overs on our table! Nevertheless, students seemed to appreciate the opportunity to have an adventure in California: a "rediscovery" of California, if you will. The footage from the film and photography they took during this excursion will be shown to the students in India to incite conversation and creative, media response.
Elaine Rugus of the Press Enterprise wrote an absolutely beautiful article about the work we are doing with the students at ARTSBlock. She was able to attend the closing session on Thursday, July 31, 2008. After some discussion about civil disobedience and the parallels between Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, we took a walk to Downtown Riverside and sat by the Gandhi statue. The statue was made in India and commissioned by Riverside City Hall. As we sat around the statue, we discussed leadership in the context of service and social justice. Using the quote below as inspiration, students read the quotes around the base of the statue and wrote briefly about what their "life's message" would be.
"Gandhi's life was not governed by policies: it was governed by principles and values. The best political leaders have their country as the source of their passion. Business leaders have as their passion the organization, whether it is through customers, products, or technology. Gandhi's life was driven by his religion: truth and nonviolence and a life of service to others. When a journalist asked Gandhi for a message for the United States, especially for African Americans, Gandhi responded, 'My life is its own message.'" -Keshavan Nair, "A Higher Standard of Leadership"
Students had an opportunity to reflect and write on this quote and the quotes around the base of the statue as I spoke with the Elaine. Their reflections were very empowering and exciting-- it is a truly outstanding moment to see youth empowered through relationships of mutual respect. Through mentorship and one-on-one, intentional community, youth feel important, and in these moments, that importance arouses a sense of great optimism and strength.
Luckily, I accidentally ended up with some of the student's papers. Here's what I read:
"This is what I believe: we need to look outside the box. We need to see and learn the truth. I will stand up and look outside the box. As a people we need to step up to the plate and stand up for what we want and what we believe in-- that every body in this world is equal and we should not be seen as different by color."
"Some people say 'you can't make everyone happy.' My goal is to make everyone happy and at peace with one another through positive changes, beginning with myself and how I live my life. However, this can never be truly possible unless everyone works together and we can work for change and peace."
In preparing for this lesson, I stayed up one night and read from Martin Luther King's autobiography with special attention to the chapter that reflects on his experience in India ("Pilgrimage to Nonviolence"). During his stay in India, he was once introduced to a group of high school students as "...a fellow untouchable from the United States of America" (131). As a result of his trip to India, MLK's "understanding of nonviolence became greater" and his "commitment deeper" (134). It becomes clear that the trajectory of the Civil Rights struggle in the United States was deeply influenced by the independent India movement of Gandhi Ji. Currently, present day movements within India that strive to challenge caste discrimination can re-examine the Civil Rights struggle and anti-racism movements in the United States to seek new tools to fight these forms of oppression. These connections can be explored further by the youth who participate in these programs: with Indian youth exploring USA racism, and American youth exploring caste, students see parallels between their struggles and the struggles of communities on the other side of the world. This begs the question: how can we work together?
The Press Enterprise article is available here: Press Enterprise- The Child Leader Project.
I have recently returned from a 10-day road trip with 13 other young adults/young adult allies exploring different Water Justice issues in Northern and Central California (http://uuroadtrip.blogspot.com/). This provided a welcome opportunity to redirect my attention towards other aspects of my life-- particularly the ones that fuel this project: my spirituality and my social justice community. This also provided me the opportunity to practice my workshop-leading-organizing-time-making skills before I run off to India. I do not do very well with "self-care:" rather than resting and recuperating from 10 days of community organizing and massive amounts of caravaning, I spent today on the laptop and at the white board, making lists, sending emails, shuffling papers, and moving stacks of books.
This evening, however, I was given the blessing of an Indian dinner with Ms. Rosetta Isaac. She is the newest mentor and supporter to the Child Leader Project, offering her services and insights to the project in whatever way is most helpful. She heard about the project through the PE Article-- I'm beyond thrilled to now be in contact with her. During our dinner, however, we spent some time discussing impacts: what are the most important impacts we can make in India in such a short amount of time with these kids? What is the goal? On this, Rosetta spoke passionately: the goal is to provide ALL students, regardless of caste, the opportunity for a holistic and personalized education. I may not be able to get each of these students into school, but I can devote my time and energy into developing relationships that empower and that communicate importance and respect.
Rosetta said, "Your theme should be: I Can Do It!" I rather like that!
The Child Leader Project is about recognizing the intrinsic and extrinsic values of education. Intrinsically, we are providing students opportunities to explore their personality, their desires, dreams, and goals. We are providing theme glimpses into academic fields of social justice and creativity. These opportunities, although students are not expected to be social activists or artists, are imperative to the full and balanced development of one's personality and the expression thereof. Extrinsically, we are working on placing these students into direct contact with opportunities for higher education in an explicitly goal-oriented way.
Looking towards the future: what does the Child Leader Project have to do with "sustainable communities" and democracy? Tomorrow I meet with a professor who is developing a sort of internet-based people's parliament through the UCR Institute for Research on World Systems (IROWS). Furthermore, I'm beginning to brainstorm on how to approach the research/thesis-writing piece to this project. I am in the process of developing some basic research questions and goals to be "armed" with after I've completed the project and I'm there as a humble University of California researcher. To this end, I need to buy the James Spradley book on "interviewing" and brush up on my anthropological "skills."
On a personal note, I'm horribly exhausted. I hope this post doesn't sound too much like a tired person trying to sound overly academic and not-tired. If it does, its a moment for humility!
Good night!
