{"id":7,"date":"2014-11-10T12:53:15","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T17:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2014-12-21T18:46:25","modified_gmt":"2014-12-21T23:46:25","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/","title":{"rendered":"On Boston and its Youth Organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Ah, Boston.<\/strong> Home of elite universities, state-of-the-art museums, extravagant\u00a0shopping districts, a shiny new communal bike system, world-renowned\u00a0hospitals, and champion\u00a0sports teams. In a word, Boston is paradise. It is the perfect city, which explains <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/map-the-cities-with-the-most-gentrified-neighborhoods-2013-11\">the hordes of Yuppies migrating into Boston neighborhoods<\/a>. <sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Unfortunately, however,\u00a0living in Boston doesn&#8217;t spell perfect for all.\u00a0Although this city is the capital of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/08\/04\/wallethub-education-rankings_n_5648067.html\">the state dubbed one of the best for K-12 education<\/a> <sup>2<\/sup>, the Boston Public School system lags\u00a0behind as their schools consist primarily of low-income minority children, while schools in MA suburbs serve a majority of middle- to upper-class White students.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Here are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/news\/politics\/2014\/05\/19\/segregation-ended-years-ago-how-come-getting-worse\/qbvuqM0yLcWrNObVlMC6zH\/story.html\">some facts from the Boston Globe<\/a> <sup>3<\/sup> about modern-day segregation in good ol&#8217; Massachusetts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>MA now has 7x as many highly segregated (at least 90% student body are non-white) schools as it had 2 decades ago<\/li>\n<li>In 1980, just 1 in 50 black students attended a highly-segregated school. Today, the number is 1 in 4.<\/li>\n<li>Across MA, the average white student goes to a school where 23 percent of the kids are low-income. The average black student goes to a school where 59 percent are low-income.<\/li>\n<li>28%\u00a0\u00a0percent of hispanic students are enrolled in highly segregated schools, which is higher than the share of black students and growing faster<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">These facts are not surprising due to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/most-segregated-cities-in-america-2011-3#19-boston-mass-has-a-615-white-black-dissimilarity-score-4\"> the highly segregated nature of MA and the city of Boston itself.<\/a> <sup>4<\/sup>\u00a0This segregation has resulted in an unequal education\u00a0between students who attend Boston Public Schools and those who attend the surrounding suburban public school systems.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonpublicschools.org\/cms\/lib07\/MA01906464\/Centricity\/domain\/187\/publications\/At%20a%20Glance\/BPS%20at%20a%20Glance%2014-1030.pdf\">Boston Public Schools<\/a> <sup>5<\/sup>\u00a0are made up of 41% Hispanic, 36% Black, 13% White, 8% Asian, and 1% Other\/Multiracial students. Despite the grandiose nature of the city as a &#8220;universal hub, &#8221; 78% of the students are low-income. The BPS graduation rate is 65.9% compared to the 85% graduation rate of the rest of MA public schools. While the per pupil expenditure in BPS schools is roughly $11k, if you go half an hour out to the school systems of\u00a0Weston, Lincoln-Sudbury, or Blue Hills, (etc.) per pupil expenditure is nearly double that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Even outside of school, minority students\u00a0are at risk of\u00a0experiencing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/opinion\/2013\/06\/19\/bulger-trial-gets-attention-but-different-gang-wars-still-rage-boston\/RK5R7hAyUR35SXXvt5vZ7K\/story.html\">gang violence<\/a> <sup>6<\/sup>, high levels of concentrated poverty within neighborhoods, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/prc\/prevention-strategies\/health-surveillance-systems.htm\">chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes<\/a> <sup>7<\/sup>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/blog\/criminal-law-reform-racial-justice\/people-your-hood-ride-bikes-shoot-people\">excessive force by the police against citizens of color and other forms of racial profiling<\/a> <sup>8<\/sup>\u00a0than children in wealthier, Whiter suburban neighborhoods experience in their communities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>It is unsurprising, then, to see many Boston youth fighting to have their voices heard amongst the decision-making that goes on in the city. <\/strong>As evinced by the numerous groups you will find listed on this website, there are a multitude of youth organizations in the city \u00a0of Boston working for social justice. Many of these organizations are youth-run\u00a0with the support of adult facilitators; some, however, are directed by adults to educate youth on issues and train them to become active advocates for themselves.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The campaigns of these youth organizations are very diverse. Some of the issues these groups have tackled include:<\/p>\n<p><em>Youth jobs, youth train passes, ending excessive police violence against youth of color, ending\u00a0youth violence and gang violence, student voice in Boston Public School policies, funding for Boston Public School programs, equal access to higher education for immigrant students, sex education and civics education in Boston Public Schools, lowering the voting age, more guidance counselors in Boston Public Schools, and environmental justice. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\u00a0While not all of the campaigns have been successful, many have; and even campaigns that have not been successful function as a learning point for young people. This website serves to highlight some of these organizations and the actions they have taken to improve their own lives as well as the Boston neighborhoods in which they live.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Kiersz, A. (2013, Nov 6). The Most Gentrified Cities in America. <em>Business Insider<\/em>. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/map-the-cities-with-the-most-gentrified-neighborhoods-2013-11<\/p>\n<p>2. Klein, R. (2014 Aug 4). These are the States with the Best and Worst School Rankings, According to New Rankings. <em>Huffington Post<\/em>.\u00a0Retrieved from http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/08\/04\/wallethub-education-rankings_n_5648067.html<\/p>\n<p>3. Horowitz, E. (2014, May 19). Segregation Ended Years Ago How Come Its Getting Worse. <em>The Boston Globe<\/em>. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/news\/politics\/2014\/05\/19\/segregation-ended-years-ago-how-come-getting-worse\/qbvuqM0yLcWrNObVlMC6zH\/story.html<\/p>\n<p>4. Lubin, B., and Jenkins C. (2011, April 1). The 22 Most Segregated Cities in America. <em>Business Insider<\/em>. Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/most-segregated-cities-in-america-2011-3?op=1<\/p>\n<p>5. \u00a0Boston Public Schools Communications Office. (2014).\u00a0<em>Boston Public Schools at a Glance <\/em>(Data File). Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.bostonpublicschools.org\/cms\/lib07\/MA01906464\/Centricity\/domain\/187\/publications\/At%20a%20Glance\/BPS%20at%20a%20Glance%2014-1030.pdf<\/p>\n<p>6. Vennochi, J. (2013 Jun 20).\u00a0<em>The Boston Globe<\/em>. Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/opinion\/2013\/06\/19\/bulger-trial-gets-attention-but-different-gang-wars-still-rage-boston\/RK5R7hAyUR35SXXvt5vZ7K\/story.html<\/p>\n<p>7. Boston University: Partners in Health and Housing Prevention Research Center.\u00a0(2012, Jan 24). <em>PRC Assesses Health among Boston&#8217;s Public Housing Residents<\/em>\u00a0(Data Fiel.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/prc\/prevention-strategies\/health-surveillance-systems.htm<\/p>\n<p>8. Choudhury, N. (2014, Dec 19). People in Your Hood Ride Bikes to Shoot People. <em>American Civil Liberties Union.\u00a0<\/em>Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/blog\/criminal-law-reform-racial-justice\/people-your-hood-ride-bikes-shoot-people<\/p>\n<p>Header Image: Youth Activism [Digital Image]. (2014). Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.google.com\/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluntradio.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F09%2FYouth.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluntradio.org%2F2014%2F09%2F08%2Fyouth-activism%2F&amp;h=295&amp;w=498&amp;tbnid=81HQmtcPgDF19M%3A&amp;zoom=1&amp;docid=uUVzqnOTLSGVXM&amp;ei=WFSXVK6rC67IsQSUyoKQCw&amp;tbm=isch&amp;client=safari&amp;iact=rc&amp;uact=3&amp;dur=0&amp;page=1&amp;start=0&amp;ndsp=16&amp;ved=0CCsQMygBMAE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ah, Boston. Home of elite universities, state-of-the-art museums, extravagant\u00a0shopping districts, a shiny new communal bike system, world-renowned\u00a0hospitals, and champion\u00a0sports teams. In a word, Boston is paradise. It is the perfect city, which explains the hordes of Yuppies migrating into Boston neighborhoods. 1 Unfortunately, however,\u00a0living in Boston doesn&#8217;t spell perfect for all.\u00a0Although this city is the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-kgilmore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}