I thought I understood poverty but it wasn’t until my first trip to Greensboro, Alabama that I really got a feel for what true poverty really is. Ironically I had to travel to what many consider to be the richest country on the planet to experience it. I have never seen poverty of that intensity in Canada.
It was also in Greensboro where the abstraction of racism was removed for me. There most definitely is racism in Canada but I had never seen the in your face segregating, “your kind can’t be here”, that is found in Alabama.
First hand experience removes the veil of abstraction that keeps many of us from serious active engagement. Do you think we would continue to allow the economy to take precedence over the environment if the entire planet was shrouded in the the same toxic smog that envelops China? Would as many of us be as quick to support military action, an eye for an eye, over dialogue if we were experiencing the horrors of war first hand?
I am very proud that four of my students will be taking part in the Ultimate Black Belt Test’s Alabama Project in a couple of weeks. They will be spending four days with some amazing people, experientially learning about poverty, racism, and the value of community activism. The power to change the world resides within each of us. We just need to be willing to exercise it.
“What is important is using one’s talent, intellect, and energy in order to gain an appreciation and affection for people and place.” - Samuel Mockbee (1944 - 2001)
2 comments:
There's an editing mistake in your blog. Had me confused for a minute.
Weird. It intermittently has been displaying that way on the web but correctly on mobile devices. I just wiped it out and reposted it. Hopefully that solves the issue.
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