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What does it mean to be a citizen? What are the responsibilities and the rights of membership in a political union? I have always been fascinated by this question, with my answers buried in conversations and blogs long passed. Witnessing part of Atlanta’s Justice for Trayvon rally pictured above reminded me of the many complicating questions put before liberty and equality in the United States.
Among these complicating questions you would find, for example:
- When does what you think is equal representation prove unequal?
- Why are there systemic incentives to remove an individual’s duty to country?
- How do some citizens have less ability to contribute than others?
- What happens when one person’s rights directly take away another’s?
Sparing the layers of frustration over the George Zimmerman verdict as an indicator of this complication, and the accompanying racial and legal implications, I will instead focus on the kinds of solutions I feel are available to Americans to start building bridges and find compassion for each other in justice appropriate for the modern, multi-ethnic democracy in which we live.
There are any number of signs our country has fissures a mile deep in terms of race, class, immigration status, urbanization, access to technology, education, healthcare, political influence and more. I finished reading Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and learned far too many disheartening claims about discrimination enacted through our politics and criminal justice system. This motivates me, however, to accept what Cornel West calls the “grand wake-up call in the midst of a long slumber of indifference” toward these issues. We need to act upon the interdependence of our participation in our political climate and its successful representation of our interests.
Power, control and authority are static things, but reform, social justice and activism are their natural complements and often counterparts: the tide beating against the shore and shaping it to be more free, and more fair. In the past few weeks I watched the movie Lincoln for the first time — it’s superb, by the way. At the end of the movie, Daniel Day-Lewis borrows from the second inaugural address to frame my point here perfectly:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds”
Teach For America has offered its Corps Members (CMs) and community partners routes to reform and justice, and presented them most clearly to us in the 2013 Kickoff activities of the past week. As I prepare to chart out the vision for student achievement and plan for classroom culture for the coming year, I need to ground the national attention on education reform and social justice in terms of the demands on its practitioners — the teachers.
In other words, what must we ask of people in the trenches and their allies — in this case Teach For America — in service to fairness and civic responsibility? And ultimately, what is the responsibility of every person in terms of their time, money, priorities and voices to knit together our frayed social fabric into the assets of one nation?
- Commitment to Equity: Teach For America drives a hard line toward shaking up the views of its new teachers and putting forward bold visions of academic achievement. This week we heard from principals, Atlanta Board of Education candidates and community members about the issues at stake in education. The organization encourages all its members to think critically and fearlessly about what’s possible in the classroom. The tools we are given for this commitment to equity include a strong mentoring structure, resource exchanges, content area support, citywide parent summits and rigorous expectations to monitor student achievement.
- Partnership with Community: In tandem with a commitment to equity is our Executive Director’s image of “linking arms” with the Atlanta community to better know its heart, its strengths and our role in building on its proud heritage. To think Martin Luther King III spoke at yesterday’s rally, and that some of the nation’s leading civil rights scholars and activists live in the city gives me a big dose of humility. To that end, Teach For America offers community action groups during the year to meet and discuss these issues to better inform our decisions about where we work.
- Chasing Critical Hope: Earlier this summer I referenced the work of Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade and the idea of “critical hope” he uses as a counter to the warm, transformative picture we can be tempted to give activism. Having the personal conviction that we can really “fix” what’s happening independently is a slight on the cooperative, sustained work that true participation requires. Rather than be convicted about flaws in social systems we should be convicted about our continued efforts to clear our own eyes as to what actually needs to be done. Teach For America pushes us to be long-term education advocates and relentless workers to ensure the task is accomplished with vision and purpose.
I believe we have the assets here in Atlanta to fulfill the criteria for effective participation and to take the next steps in bringing together our democracy into more perfect union. As teacher training starts and I refocus on the technical aspects of teaching, I will do my best to not lose sight of my right and responsibility to participate.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
