11th annual food fest

International Food Fest

Once a year the Parker community hosts a food fest in the cafeteria. Throughout the year our French Club and AFS committee work diligently to plan out the event. AFS committee is Parker's American Field Service program which helps accommodate exchange students we receive at Parker. There are not many committed members to the club, but they organize the food and entertainment. Before the food fest I had attended one of the meetings, where I saw a careful consideration of getting food and entertainment from different cultures. The food is crowdsourced from Parker families and is typically homemade. The effort by the school children, teachers and parents is a democratic process whereby the students give their vision for the event.
I find that sharing home cooked meals is a great way to exchange culture. At the Friday banquet there was an array of food spread out on a long table. We were all in the basement cafeteria at Parker. The amount of people who attended was impressive. Its always nice to see people involved in a community effort. Walking in there were people getting food and watching a performance. There were dancers and singers from different countries. The food, dancing, and singing were all great. I think it is beneficial to have such events because there is an exchange of culture than can impact an entire community.

Unchartered Territory

The School Project: Unchartered Terrirtory

In April, on a rainy day, I took the blue line train to see a film screening of "UnChartered Territory - Charter Schools: For better or for worse?" The event was held at the Chicago Cultural Center, but the film was part of a series focusing on the affects of charter schools. Before the event I hadn't know how Charter differs from public schools. Coming from a private school I have been out of touch with what education in other neighborhoods outside of Lincoln Park is like, though, it has been important for me to understand the struggle of going to a Chicago Public School. I had also not know what a charter school was or how they function. The film was part of a series of six short films and webisodes that explore the highly contentious charter school debate in Chicago. The movie began, but there was a technical interruption that delayed the screening of the movie. We had seen some of the film, and from what I saw the movie looking promising. I had been excited to get a perspective of everyday life at a charter school. I've been curious about how youth in different neighborhoods adapt to the school system, similar to how I've adapted to going the Francis W. Parker in Lincoln Park. The film finally started and there were a lot of jump cuts between an actual school and interview with various people. I became disappointed because it was overly political. The concern was heavily over government funding and privatization. When it spoke of privatization it asked the audience to take comfort in corporate run schools. After the closing of forty-nine neighborhood schools were closed the white public needs to find a solution to another injustice on marginalized communities. This film seemed to aid that.
 Before the movie started I was handed a yellow slip of paper that posed the questions, "Are you for charters or against charters?" and "What value do you find in the School Project and what would you like to see in its future?" After the movie, and more so after the panel discussion, I was unable to answer the question. The movie and discussion focused more on the structure and politics of changing a public school into a charter. The film failed to talk about the education implications. After the film there was a panel of five people; a moderator from WTTW, a CPS board Member, a Legislative coordinator of Chicago Teachers Union, an Editor at Catalyst Chicago and the Superintendent of Noble Network of Charter Schools. No one seemed to agree on an issue that is occuring at charter schools. A discussion that should have been filled with compassion turned into a caucus of separated parties. The moderator failed to give meaningful questions.
Sorry for being so critical. The other films might be better.
Check them out at http://www.schoolprojectfilm.com

Cornel West at University of Chicago

Cornel West: "The Radical King", Public Lecture

In February I went to a public lecture featuring Cornel West. The weather was very snowy, we had to drive through layers of snow, and when we arrived the warmth and glory of the church was comforting. Furthermore it felt good to sit in rows of pews with other people who understood the issue of racial injustice, and who respected Cornel West as a leading figure in the fight against oppression. Prior to the lecture I had never read "The Radical King", but from the title I figured that the issue presented in the book would be power. The "inquiry strand" that I chose to be in as part of my Civic Engagment experience was the power strand, which would serve as a perspective for viewing issues.  When Dr. West began speaking I realized that my initial interpretation was slightly wrong, his new book was about the idea of non-violence that Martin Luther King Junior is known for spreading. The guiding question of my inquiry strand is "What are different forms of power that shape people's lives?" During the civil rights movement the focus of dissent was against the unfair treatment by white people and institutions. Being white at that time was a power and a privilege because their word held authority over the opinion of people of color. King was an advocate for protesting without the use of violence, but in his book West tries direct focus onto the more radical beliefs that King is not known for. During his lecture West did not focus on his new publication, rather he talked about issues of injustice that continue on today. He spoke of King as a wave in an ocean who followed the tradition of love. West conveyed a message that love in public is justice. His lecture answered the question of "How does love look like as justice?" He depicted a world of integrity, honesty and patience.
Making the trek to see him was well worth it and I left positively affected by his words.

Link to a video of his lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X22flAlSVjI

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