The City as a Classroom

From the program I did on Tuesday, there were somethings that bothered me.

I have been in college for more than two years thus far. And it is 2009 as well. But it took for me to be in a program to learn about homelessness to have an educator of color for a day. I am not demeaning my all-thus-far white professors (most of them good, some of course not), but this says something about society. I have frantically sought to have a professor of color teach me for just one semester and one class at least, but it has been impossible. I do believe someone who looks more like me will help believe in me more. When you have all professors come from one perspective more or less, our education is not as rich (I assume, but obviously I don't know since I have not had a racially diverse pool of professors--do know that other types of differences are important, but race is crucial). It was frustrating that it took my for-a-day educators a life-time in the streets to be become educators like the ones they are today.

I also found it disturbing the food people are fed in the streets. What we had to eat was lots of sodium, oils, carbohydrates. There was fruit given out as well, which is healthy, but so many in the streets can't eat because their teeth are not well-suited for that and often times are not there. Where we went to we so much white bread and butter, that I know is unhealthy if consumed in so large quantities. If people are eating this every day, then it is safe to say they are being killed slowly; the streets can kill you.

I am a vegetarian, but I knew I was not going to have much options. I do recognize my privilege for having choices, which often times healthy food is disregarded (my choice). I am also in this program that takes me out to learn about the homeless and that speaks amounts about our privilege as students in college and receiving an education and not having to stay in the streets. We also have access to many other things homeless people don't. I was privileged to be able to attend for a day this food shelf.

The other thing that disturbed me was who was serving the food and who was being "served." Most of the people serving the food were some white nuns, some more whites, and some white kids--did hear that? Kids serving food! And then those cleaning the dishes and tables were most if not all people of color (for lack of a better term). Most of the people in this room, either behind the kitchen washing dished or on front of the tables were people of color; the disproportion racially was shocking. Again, this says something about where we live.

Besides that all, it was important to learn that we all got something out of this experience in the life of a homeless person. For the first time I had an educator of color for day. I learned about the different ways a homeless person is kept homeless or not being able to stay in descent housing. I also witnessed the transformation of thinking in many of us in this group that day.

It is important for me to say and reinforce what I learned this summer--something we hear often times at Augsburg, but never really take it to heart. We are a city in the college and what that means for us as a school was a major topic in my research this summer. I found that working with people in what we can collaborate together is more important than trying to solve their problems; that every person we encounter is an educator, that we learn from them and that they might learn from us. In conclusion, the city is an extended classroom of the college full of a diverse group of educators.

So, let us all come together and learn from each other, even the person we have deemed cursed and do our part in working with each other to end the atrocities of the world.