Harlem in This American Life
Posted by Todd Lehman on the Mennonite Poverty Forum:
I am a frequent listener of NPR. Last night I heard a story on "This American Life" by Ira Glass that intreged me so much that I thought I might share it with you.
It is about a fellow in Harleem who does community organizing and who "escaped" the neighborhood he grew up in, got an education, and then decided to work with the community where he gre up. What intreaged me was the philosophy behind the way that he worked. I won't tell all, since the story is best listened to so that you get a first hand account. But I will say this much, his philosophy is that the poor need to learn middle class skills in order to make fundamental changes in their lives.
Steve, you have often written about middle class values being different from those who are poor. That is one reason that I bring this here to you. I am curious to know if what is happening in Harleem with this program really isn't applicable to what you are doing, or if there might be some wisdom to gain from it. I eagerly await your response.
The program is: 364: Going Big (only listen to the first part)
Here is the website introduction for it:
Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.
Prologue.
Host Ira Glass introduces a story on the most ambitious and hopeful solution to urban poverty in the country—the Harlem Children’s Zone. The project’s goal is nothing less than changing the lives of thousands of children in Harlem, starting at birth and continuing until they go to college. (2 minutes)
Act One. Harlem Renaissance.
Paul Tough reports on the Harlem Children’s Zone, and its CEO and president, Geoffrey Canada. Among the project’s many facets is Baby College, an 8-week program where young parents and parents-to-be learn how to help their children get the education they need to be successful. Tough’s just-published book about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem's Children Zone is called Whatever It Takes. You can see a slideshow of more photographs from the project here. (30 and 1⁄2 minutes)
You can listen to the story using the following link:
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Archive.aspx#9
Shalom,
Todd Lehman
Zion Mennonite Church
I am a frequent listener of NPR. Last night I heard a story on "This American Life" by Ira Glass that intreged me so much that I thought I might share it with you.
It is about a fellow in Harleem who does community organizing and who "escaped" the neighborhood he grew up in, got an education, and then decided to work with the community where he gre up. What intreaged me was the philosophy behind the way that he worked. I won't tell all, since the story is best listened to so that you get a first hand account. But I will say this much, his philosophy is that the poor need to learn middle class skills in order to make fundamental changes in their lives.
Steve, you have often written about middle class values being different from those who are poor. That is one reason that I bring this here to you. I am curious to know if what is happening in Harleem with this program really isn't applicable to what you are doing, or if there might be some wisdom to gain from it. I eagerly await your response.
The program is: 364: Going Big (only listen to the first part)
Here is the website introduction for it:
Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.
Prologue.
Host Ira Glass introduces a story on the most ambitious and hopeful solution to urban poverty in the country—the Harlem Children’s Zone. The project’s goal is nothing less than changing the lives of thousands of children in Harlem, starting at birth and continuing until they go to college. (2 minutes)
Act One. Harlem Renaissance.
Paul Tough reports on the Harlem Children’s Zone, and its CEO and president, Geoffrey Canada. Among the project’s many facets is Baby College, an 8-week program where young parents and parents-to-be learn how to help their children get the education they need to be successful. Tough’s just-published book about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem's Children Zone is called Whatever It Takes. You can see a slideshow of more photographs from the project here. (30 and 1⁄2 minutes)
You can listen to the story using the following link:
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Archive.aspx#9
Shalom,
Todd Lehman
Zion Mennonite Church
posted by Steve Kimes at 2:02 PM
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