Hello my fellow Verons!
Yesterday after our first tour we received so much information from departments within Vera as well as a few of the spin off agencies, which most of us have had the opportunity to work with. What impressed me were the range of issues that were being discussed at the table: juvenile justice prison reform, substance abuse work and mental health, a restorative justice program to create harmony after a crime has been committed, and reforming how the prison system works in terms of segregation and pathways to education.
What really impressed me though is the way that everyone at the table was able bring their own unique past experience to contribute to their work.
We are still at the beginning of our Vera journey but as I have come to know all of you I know that we are all passionate about social justice but for many different reasons. Recently too some of our views have been challenged when we have read and discussed the Limits of Charity and Why the Peace Corps is an Affront to the Poor.
So the question I pose to you is this: Using your own unique experience, passions, and knowledge, and taking what we have learned in these last few weeks, what social justice program would you create to tackle any social justice issue of your own choosing?
Granted I know that the question is so large, enough to be a year long project for many companies! For this blog I would just like you to tell us the social justice issue you would choose to work on, why this issue is of importance to you, and provide us with the mission statement and a short plan of action as to how you would approach the issue.
I look forward to hearing what you all have to say!
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Great prompt, Jasmine! Not too sure how to approach this but I’ll do my best to tackle every point. For the past eight summers, I have been attending my church’s annual missions trip to the Dominican Republic. To say that my experiences in the DR have been transformative for me would be an understatement. Going to the DR year after year has allowed me to see poverty first-hand and has taught me to really appreciate what I have. Essentially, it opened my eyes to the world around me. Reading Galtung’s piece has helped me to understand that much of what I have seen in the DR is a direct result of structural violence. As a result of my experiences and recent readings (especially Hilfiker), I have developed a strong desire to assist those affected by poverty (I know, really broad), specifically those who lack access to health care.
During every trip, we dedicate our first week in the DR to holding a summer camp for the kids in the neighborhood of El Baden. I love being a part of the summer camp because it gives me the chance to interact with the children and locals. In fact, I have developed many friendships with the kids of the neighborhood over the many years I have been there and have practically seen most of them grow up from the time they were infants. Nevertheless, El Baden is a village that has been heavily affected by poverty and government corruption. Most of the people in the village of El Baden have no access to doctors or common medicine (like Tylenol). Now, the government has found gold in the area and has attempted to remove all the locals from the land by promising some sort of compensation (structural violence much?).
The second week of our trip is dedicated to setting up day clinics and providing health care for individuals who have inadequate access to health care. Over the years, we have gone to many poverty-stricken areas including villages in the Dominican-Haitian border (a lot of personal violence there due to Dominican-Haitian rivalry), La Rosa, and Kilometer 56. I still remember what I saw the first time I went to Kilometer 56—deteriorating flesh, protruding rib cages, starving children, and scars from almost dehumanizing labor. It was truly an emotional and eye opening experience, as I realized the great need that these people had for health care.
As a result, I would implement a program that affirms health care as a right and provides all individuals with access to common health care (like over the counter medicine, emergency clinics, etc.). My idea would be to set up these clinics around the DR providing access to common health care, free of charge. I would also include a policy that would require individuals who desire to be doctors to sign a contract that states that they will volunteer a few hours at one of these clinics every month.
Past experiences have shown me that this program could have many positive effects. For example, during my first year in the DR, the doctors told us that there was a ringworm outbreak in the town of El Baden. (I myself had also gotten ringworm one year in the DR. When I got back to the U.S., I called my doctor and he prescribed me some cream. Two weeks later, it was gone—just like that. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen in many areas in the DR, and in the world in general). However, after two years of bringing loads of gentian violet (kills the infection) with us and doctors making monthly visits, I can say that ringworm has been almost completely eradicated from El Baden. It goes to show the importance and affect that access to common health care can make on individuals, and the community as a whole.
In addition, there was an outbreak of a mosquito virus in the Caribbean last year that caused many deaths. While we were in the DR, one of the kids that came to our camp fell really ill one night. His temperature skyrocketed and his family became really worried that he had contracted the virus. Although we didn’t have medicine to counter the virus, we had a supply of acetaminophen, which we gave to them hoping that it would help bring down the child’s temperature. The next morning, his temperature dropped to normal levels and everyone was relieved. Again, it was as simple as giving fever-reducing medicine.
Possible Mission Statement: The mission of the Health Care for All (HCFA) is to promote access to health care as a right for all individuals by providing assistance through the establishment of free emergency clinics.
I know that my program/policy proposal may be a little unrealistic, as it neglects to take into account many factors (How do we raise the money? What kind of incentive is there for doctors to actually comply with such a program? How do we implement a program in corrupt systems?). I realize that implementing a program as such would prove to be difficult under many circumstances. Nevertheless, my experiences from going to the Dominican Republic and reading Hilfiker’s “Justice and the Limits of Charity” has convinced me that access to health care should be established as a right and that something must be done.
Nick, I think it's amazing the kind of work that you're doing! I completely agree with you that health care should be a right, especially when we see so many preventable deaths with simple medication that we take advantage of right here in the US. I mean how many times have we walked straight past fever reducing medicine in our local drug store and thought nothing of it? I love the idea behind your mission statement too! It seems to be along the lines of the amazing program that Farmer founded which really works to bring health care in a sustainable way to the community. Thank you for your response and sharing so much!
Thank you for your great prompt, Jasmine, and for responding to Nick's concept and conceptualization. Nick: thank you for tackling the question. As Jasmine notes, your idea for a nonprofit resonates with Partners In Health (PIH)--which is founded on the principle of solidarity and is dedicated to shifting resources to where there is a lot to where there is way too little. Of course, even in places (such as the US) where we live amidst abundance, there is enormous poverty, and where health care is NOT considered a right. If it were a right, we might have a single payer health care system, not a system in which health care operates in the market place, with insurance companies as major players in that market place (and the insurance industry and other health-related industries such as the pharmaceutical industry can afford to send lobbyists to Washington to ensure the marketplace system for health care remains intact).
That said, one question I have for you, Nick, is this: Given the mission you have in mind, what would be the purpose of developing a new, independent health care program such as the one you describe rather than working within an organization that already has the infrastructure to deliver what you describe--though perhaps not in all the locations that need it (e.g., PIH)? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of doing partnering or working within an existing organization?
There are two resources I'd like to share with you. One is a biography of Paul Farmer that I think is a must-read. It's an easy read and inspiring: Mountains Beyond Mountains
The second is my editorial in Open Anthropology, a public journal for which I served as editor, in the issue: The Social Life of Health, Illness, Medicine and Health Care: Anthropological Perspectives
Thanks for correcting me Jasmine! Yes, I had actually meant that Farmer's “Three Stories, Three Paradigms, And a Critique of Social Entrepreneurship” had me thinking about health care being a right, not Hilfiker.
Great question, Professor Waterson. I can see how working within an organization like PIH could have it's benefits, and also it's disadvantages. When I think about working within or partnering with an existing system, I think about how Herb Sturz chose to work alongside the government, rather than implement programs independently to oppose it. Evidently, this strategy proved effective in Sturz's case. However, different circumstances often call for different approaches, and I am not sure which strategy would be most effective in this case. Nevertheless, these are some of my ideas.
The first advantage I see with partnering or working within an existing system or organization is the fact that you won't need to raise funds from the bottom up. As a result, the time that one would spend contacting sponsors and raising money for the cause could be directed to planning. Another advantage to working within systems is the greater chance than one has to avoid being thrown into the limelight (Sturz and his self effacement). This gives you more room to breathe and can possibly allow more room to take good risks. In addition, working within a system gives you the advantage of having a support system already in place (though this is not always the case). Having a support system could be really beneficial, as it would allow you to discuss your ideas with others to get their opinions.
There are some possible disadvantages to working within existing organizations. For example, it is often easier to begin with a policy (e.g., making doctor's sign off a contract ensuring that they would volunteer a certain hours a month to an emergency clinic), than to go in and change the policies of another organization (What if you felt really strongly about how an organization is doing something wrong or immoral? How would one go about changing someone else's policy?) Another possible disadvantage is the fact that everything you do is monitored by supervisors. This could be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on the person. While you aren't necessarily in the spotlight, you have to follow rules that you may not agree with. In addition, you may realize while working within an existing system that this wasn't what you thought it would be.
I guess the purpose of starting an independent organization from an existing one would be to be able to form a unique mission and establish fundamental policies (rather than change others), while having the freedom to manage and oversee the building of this program from the bottom up (though this would not necessarily be my approach to take). Looking at PIH's website, I found some things to be really interesting. For example, under its mission tab, it says that "At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone" (Hilfiker reading!). I thought that was a really interesting concept, which sort of refutes the idea that this is some sort of goodwill service for individuals who want to engage in charity to be seen as selfless, altruistic, etc.. Thus, PIH is more likely to avoid Kortava's criticism of the Peace Corps, in which he claims that individuals have joined for self-benefit and to boost their resumes.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Nick. Other Verons??? Where are your voices???
The social justice issue I would tackle is education. There are many outside factors that could negatively impact education but I feel like education is worth focusing on for my community because it has the power to elevate people. Hands down there are places that keep students more engaged in school than others. Certain neighborhoods have more funding than others. This translates to better teachers, privileges, special opportunities, support, and more resources for those students. Based on my experience I remember being in school and not feeling interested, not wanting to be there, and not understanding the bigger picture. Fortunately, that is not the case anymore however now that I am interested in so many things I am overwhelmed and it has become very difficult to narrow my path. In schools where my former experience may be a common feeling shared among students, we need teachers who are brutally honest. In the sense that they explain to students the importance of learning what is being taught and the consequences of avoiding the information. I remember a time when shadowing the entertainment industry was cool while getting good grades, reading, etc. wasn’t. Unfortunately, the entertainment industry has great influence and might be responsible, in addition to other things, for people who are behind in life. We hear about many cases of people behind bars who might have reached a certain grade but is on a 3rd grade reading level. Social promotion as well as other things might be to blame. And as people age lacking certain basic skills they unfortunately start to fall behind. I believe if their speaking, reading and writing skills were to be improved upon or even perfected, there is no longer a barrier to catching up or even reaching their greatest potential. The social program I would create would focus on intensively improving reading, writing and speaking skills of public school students to move them forward in life. It would kind of be like Teach for America. The teachers I would hire would need certain personalities, characteristics and giving up on our students should be the last thing on their mind.
Improving reading skills would be important so that the students can obtain new information about anything. They can learn from the mistakes and successes of others through autobiographies, be informed about how the systems they interact with everyday work through textbooks and discover their interests through various books. Information through reading will help with familiarizing themselves with the world around them and help identify what they would like to potentially focus on. Great writing would be stressed upon so that they can communicate their thinking clearly with people they might not be able to reach face to face. Whether it’s the masses via internet or an executive in a position they aspire to be in. Speaking skills will also be practiced because communication is key. Effective communication alone could put your foot in any door. Knowing how to use body language, avoid unnecessary filler words, tell a story, etc could really influence. So these three skills would be the focus of my social program. I don’t know what age group I would target exactly but I know the younger the better. The programming would consist of activities students might feel they don’t have time for or would be bored with. This includes challenges like 5 books a year, one book a month and eventually a book a week. Writing will be tracked and improved upon with personal blogs, journals, peer editing peer sharing, etc. Speaking will be practiced through story sharing, improve games, debate competitions, etc. These skills will also translate into confidence, the confidence to at least try, which alone breaks barriers between ourselves and success. The mission statement would be something along the lines of
XXXXX aims to help public school students reduce and eventually remove the barriers of achievement by practicing and perfecting the skills of succeeding in life: reading, writing and speaking. We strive eliminate the issue of not knowing enough.
If you don't know already Verons, I do a lot of research in regards to sex work, and how it is criminalized within the world let alone NYC. As a result of social and cultural norms regarding sex and marriage, sex work is seen as an evil, when in actuality it is to be considered as a necessary evil. Poverty is rampant throughout the world, let alone in NYC, and the reason why people do sex work is because they need financial stability. This has raised many moral, ethical, and health issues regarding this type of work. Although it is more of a health issue, society treats it as if its a moral issue (similar to abortion). Some people see sex workers as the lowest of the low, and are treated with less respect because in essence, sex workers murder their bodies over and over again for money. From a different perspective we can see that the financial gain from working a minimum wage job is nothing compared to sex work. Despite financial gain, sex workers are still killed, harassed, and sent to jail or prison because of the laws restricting their movements, and more importantly their ability to work. In addition, they aren't provided with proper housing, counseling or legal assistance to help make their lives easier. Laws regarding the body, and what you chose to do with it are heavily regulated within our society, and criminalize sex workers who are restricted from receiving proper healthcare and social services. Therefore, we are slowly killing off a portion of our population by refusing to assist those who are vulnerable to STD's and HIV/AIDS. A social movement for sex workers is one that I am passionate about, because like all other movements it spreads the message of the freedom to live a life free from criminalization. Sex work in general has been around for centuries and has been practiced all over the world, and yet sex workers are treated with disrespect. However, there is something to think about...what is demand without supply?
I must admit, this is both an interesting and a challenging prompt, Jasmine! I took my time thinking about my own social justice program, hardly even realizing that I am in a position to better think about and through one considering all that we’ve learned in class thus far. If I were to create my own social justice program, it would be something that provides educational services and opportunities for young people in places where access to it in difficult or even near to impossible given the structural violence in existence. I understand that this is such a broad, vague, and complex plan. However, taking into consideration my feminist stance on things, it is critical to be inclusive in providing educational services to children in underserved communities in third world countries.
Growing up as a relatively privileged, lower middle class child in the Philippines, my journey through the educational system was starkly different compared with other children in underserved communities in the country who face a daily battle against poverty and other systemic violence or obstacles in place that hinder them from getting the same educational opportunities that I had. Each morning, I would go to school wearing a proper uniform and would be carrying necessary school supplies, while some kids would just wear whatever is available to them that is comfortable and appropriate enough for school. I would be driven to school or take public transportation, while some kids would walk kilometers either barefoot or with their flip flops that were barely holding together through some difficult terrains and often dangerous circumstances, such as local terrorism by militant groups.
While corruption is such a venomous stream that runs through the political system in the Philippines, I believe that ultimately, it is a society that is open-minded to begin with that can be the first step (which can also be seen as a great leap) into heading towards a better place. Consciously acknowledging the societal ills is part of it, and this, I believe, can be done through education. Education is the key towards inching closer to what we would consider an ideal and more equitable society. Awareness of our differences, acknowledgement, appreciation, and acceptance of our diversity—from gender, to sexual orientation, race, etc.—are things that I would like to highlight in this kind of social justice work.
It should not escape us, however, that gender, and different societal perception of and attitude towards it remain to be a critical marker of inequality in myriad ways in the world. Education is just a part, albeit a big and significant one, of the problem we wish to address.
For my plan of action, I imagine it would involve the mobilization of academics and other fellow like-minded social entrepreneurs willing to take a risk just to see where a project like such would go. I imagine this program as being very comprehensive, one that actually follows a student’s trajectory through the educational system in place. And going along with the Hilfiker reading, it would have to start as a charity first, considering the realities of political systems in place, especially in third-world countries. It must remain on the plate, however, the fact that this particular issue would need to be politicized in order for the governments to actually address such a malady (unequal educational opportunities) of children, the young citizens and bearers of tomorrow.
Yes Valfrie, this is very challenging for me as well. To approach this, I'm going to have to take your approach, Valfrie, of relating to my up bringing/ my own experience.
One of the most challenging times of my life was when I went to Michigan State University for my freshman year of college. Growing up in a middle class community, the Westbury population consisted of only Black and Hispanics (It was Old Westbury that consisted of the upper middle class white community for those that may be confused). Growing up in a very limited population, you can only imagine my culture shock when I transitioned into a PWI (predominantly white institution). It bothered me every once in a while, but not to the extent it did when Obama was elected as president.
When President Obama was elected in November of 2012, Michigan State University had a huge upheaval of blatant disrespect for the black community. Our campus was split up into different neighborhoods. North, South, East, and west Neighborhood. Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally) East neighborhood was where majority of the black students were living. I stayed in East neighborhood during the election of Barack Obama to spend time with my friends. I remember a slew of white kids running up and down the halls calling Obama a Monkey, writing on doors saying that all blacks are monkeys, and vulgar body parts. It was definitely THE MOST racist encounter I've had in my entire life. After I left my friends dorm (scared to walk by myself to South neighborhood) I noticed that there was little to none of that nonsense written on our walls (my dorm consisted of majority whites). The only thing I saw/heard, was various commentary of how Mitt Romney should have won.
I knew more than anything then that I wanted to study African American Women in politics--because if there was this much scrutiny for a black male president, I could only imagine a black female president. That being said, I'm passionate about cultural acceptance--and it begins with academia/our school system. There are many cultural factors that can prevent cultural acceptance at large- like your community only consisting of a limited demographic or even your parental influences, but to me, a college setting should not be one of them.
I propose that every academic institution--HBCU and PWI's-- hosts a mandatory culture night for all freshman and sophomores at least once a semester. It would be an interactive seminar addressing social issues pertaining to race, gender, culture, and class and how and why it is important for us as scholars to not feed into the structure that divides us.
My simple mission statement is as follows:
We aim to bridge the cultural divide on campus in hopes to influence this same principle outside of (Insert Academic Institution Here).
Deciding upon what social justice issue to write about was really difficult for me. We are all aware of the many problems that are currently present and have been present for some time now. With this I would like to refer back to an earlier post where I spoke about homelessness in NYC. The problem of homelessness I feel isn’t getting as much attention as it should. You can rarely walk a block or two without seeing a homeless individual in need here in the big apple. So imagine how this problem might scale in other areas. Pressure is put on the social safety net available for the nation’s homeless with the increase in number of people living on the streets or in shelters. I believe that tackling homelessness is more than just finding a fix for people in the moment. It has to expand to finding lasting solutions to stop people from ending up in that situation to begin with. Homelessness is a topic that is of importance to me because I am someone who was directly affected by this issue through family, teammates and even friends. There’s a stigma around what homeless looks like and people need to know that it isn’t always as the extreme form we see on our sidewalks. It honestly hurts my heart hearing some of the stories from people who have experienced it as I have had my own experience with it too in high school. It isn’t something easy to talk about for many and isn’t easy to deal with and that is something I would like to help improve. Every year John Jay’s Habitat for Humanity club hosts a Midnight run event. This event is planned months in advance where students and faculty members collect food and clothing to help supply the food pantry and shelter check points around the during the hours of 10pm to midnight where most of our homeless New Yorkers are out and about. Events like this and volunteering at soup kitchens help me take a part in the movement to help this cause but it just isn’t enough. Some approaches to tackle this social justice issue can be to improve the housing benefit system, make shelters safer, build more affordable housing, have the government build neighborhoods that inhabitants can thrive in and improve homelessness service with better funding, along with creating proactive strategies to prevent homelessness. We should inform all communities of the services available to them. Students should be aware of departments that can help them during this time of need, families should be aware of the options they have before losing their homes and current streetwalkers should be able to get help to remove them from their situation. One shouldn’t be ashamed of how their cards fell but instead look for a way to pick them back up and rebuild a home. This program I have in mind would have government officials, donations and private companies funding the cause. We will create facilities that will securely house those who are homeless (with divisions ex. families, individuals, youth, elderly, ill etc), they will be directed to the proper channels to help them get medical care, find employment, schooling if needed and financial assistance. The preventative portion would consist of having several different headquarters around town where people who are possibly facing homelessness can come and find out what they can to do prevent it. These headquarters will be filled with lawyers, trained professional and individuals who are passionate about the cause. We will not be the ones to say we cannot help and point to the nearest shelter. We will be the ones who will help, make changes and provide support (emotional, financial etc). I know this is maybe a stretch but I do believe this has the makings of being better than what we have in place right now.
Our missions statement would be something along the lines as:
We aim to advocate and empower community collaboration towards ending homelessness and fosters an effective system of homelessness prevention and intervention around the globe.
I would create a social justice program that aims to reduce mass incarceration and incorporates restorative justice principles just like Common Justice. I honestly believe that being placed at Common Justice has been a perfect fit for me considering how I have had the privilege to witness from a unique lens how communities of color are impacted by the criminal justice system. Taking into consideration previous courses, literature, and personal experience I have been able to recognize the need for innovative programs such as Common Justice. If you recall, at our site visit of Vera, Diamond (my mentor from Common Justice) discussed how in her undergraduate career she has heard of the concept of restorative justice and its practice being implemented abroad in Europe. In contrast, a restorative justice program in the United States was unheard of. I can also attest to that experience. Being an International Criminal Justice major, I have learned about several countries and their approach to criminal justice. When the United States is mentioned, it typically discusses our punitive criminal justice system and how we have the largest amount of people currently incarcerated in the world. Just recently, I watched a documentary about mass incarceration that was produced by the innovative and raw news reporting company, “Vice”. This documentary discussed how many individuals in the United States fall victim to the criminal justice system. Furthermore, the documentary explicated how harsh sentencing is in our country and how many people are not given second chances for mistakes that they have made. Life sentencing in addition to long sentences and the death penalty from my perspective are all forms of punishment that does not aim and/or achieve the goal of reducing/preventing crime. In order to accomplish such goals, there must be restoration that takes place. It has been studied that punitive criminal justice systems are more likely to build more animosity and recidivism considering how there are a lack of federal programs that are designed to help reintegrate formerly incarcerated people into society or programs that provide an alternative to incarceration. There are a multitude of issues in the criminal justice system as a whole and I believe there needs to be a comprehensive approach on restoration for all victims and offenders. Victims need to receive adequate support, consideration, and attention to assist in coping with and/or alleviating their trauma. Offenders need to be able to accept full accountability for their actions and take prevalent workshops/training to aid in preventing the crime from reoccurring. My social institution will serve individuals both victims and perpetrators of all ages of all types of felonies using restorative justice principles. Additionally, we will provide job training and informational workshops to help both parties deal with their trauma in an attempt to reintegrate them into society. Also, we will provide an alternative to incarceration while aiming to prevent the crime and trauma from reoccurring.
Mission Statement:
To be a comprehensive approach on restoration for all victims and offenders. Victims need to receive adequate support, consideration, and attention to assist in coping with and/or alleviating their trauma. Offenders need to be able to accept full accountability for their actions and take prevalent workshops/training to aid in preventing the crime from reoccurring. We serve all individuals who have been charged with a felony of all ages.
GREAT prompt Jasmine! Gabby, what program would you start for sex worker and what would be the mission?
*sex workers. GREAT responses Verons!
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