{"id":301,"date":"2020-12-07T17:04:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T22:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2020-lcummins\/?page_id=301"},"modified":"2020-12-21T00:12:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T05:12:39","slug":"community-organizing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2020-lcummins\/community-organizing\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Organizing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Current Activism:<\/h1>\n

Researchers Caitlin Cahill, Leticia Alvarez Gutierrez, and David Alberto Quijada Cerecer <\/span><\/em>set out to research, understand, and advocate against what they call \u201cthe school-to-sweatshop pipeline.\u201d The researchers explain the phenomenon as follows:<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cOur analysis considers how culture and policy interact to criminalize, contain, neglect, and exclude, in order to reproduce an economically polarized labor force that sorts and disciplines young people of color and, in particular, young immigrant and undocumented students, for particular roles in the economy. In this framework, the \u2018sweatshop\u2019 denotes not just a place, but a state of labor exploitation, whether working long hours in factory settings, mowing lawns, cleaning hotel rooms, or washing dishes<\/em>.\u201d (Cahill, 2016 pg. 123)<\/span><\/p>\n

Cahill\u2019s research is all about understanding what they call \u201cthe double-knot of dispossession<\/em>,\u201d in which undocumented students \u201cillegality<\/em>\u201d is produced by the culture they live in and institutions they participate in and they are never given room to aspire to go to college (Cahill, 2016, pgs. 128-129). Their work puts equal emphasis on research and<\/em> actual intervention efforts (at the capital and at school). These three ideas are central to their work and key to the power of its impact:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0Resistance happens at home.<\/strong> \u201c…because home is where global restructuring is intimately felt and negotiated but also because it is where we can act and resist. As feminist and critical race theorists have argued, the family, home, and school \u2013 the material conditions of social reproduction \u2013 are targeted by capitalism in part because they are sites of resistance.This is especially true for immigrant communities where the family\/la familia includes an expansive network of kin and community relationships that are central to survival and achievement<\/em>\u201d (Cahill, 2016, pgs. 123-124).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Showing up at the capital, taking up space as brown bodies engaged in the democratic process, makes a difference.<\/strong> \u201cNeoliberal restructuring is not a nameless, faceless political process circling the globe, but happening right here in front of us as legislators make decisions that affect our everyday lives. After years of visiting the legislators at the Capitol, many legislators know our Collective and recognize that we are educated about the issues<\/em>\u201d (Cahill, 2016, pg. 130).<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Storytelling, art, and cultural inclusion\/celebration (in school culture and curriculum) is essential.<\/strong> \u201cYouth and families felt excluded at school because of the hostile tone they encountered when inquiring about educational concerns and access. They shared experiences of being treated as if they were \u2018illegally\u2019 in the school and could be \u2018deported\u2019 at any time, leading to feelings of inadequacy and insecurity\u201d (Cahill, 2016, pg. 130).\u00a0<\/i><\/span>They were able to make a difference in the school by showcasing 140 \u201cimmigration autobiographies\u201d <\/i><\/span>and designing and painting a mural reflecting immigrant experiences <\/i>(Cahill, 2016, pg. 130).\"\"<\/span>Image Source: Mestizo\u00a0Arts Collective<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Department of Education\u2019s Resource Guide<\/a> for Supporting Undocumented Youth:<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n