July 2007

well, i haven’t been blogging much because mike and I moved last weekend and our new place doesn’t have internet yet, and I didn’t blog before that because i was gone for a week for Americorps training, so sorry this has been few and far between. Hopefully we can figure out some cheap way to get internet soon and then i’ll be up and writing more! (And hopefully pictures of our beautiful new apartment will be coming your way…!)

in the absence of my own blogging I wanted to share my sister’s blog with you. She just moved to Switzerland for a year to be a live-in nanny for a family that lives outside of Bern. So go ahead and read about all of her adventures. Oh, and you can try to learn the metric system, how km convert to miles, and how swiss francs convert to dollars with me.

I already miss her but it’s so exciting to hear about her adventures abroad- from not being able to read road signs to exploring new cities. I already want to go visit her so badly and she’s been there less than three weeks! We’ll see if it happens or not this year for me. (My first trip to Europe!) In the mean time, I’m going to try to live in Switzerland vicariously through Justine’s blogs and our internet chats.

Last friday I went with the students at the Christopher House to a day-long career fair. I was really looking forward to the day. Most days we just spend three or four hours with the students but this friday we were going to be together from 8am-4pm. The career fair was on Navy Pier in Chicago at a big conference center. The career fair was sponsored by LULAC (Leauge of United Latin American Citizens) and was targeting Latin American students, which the majority of my students are. I was told that they were going to learn about things like college degrees and writing resumes, along with spending some time at the career fair, walking around to different booths.

Now I’m pretty sure LULAC is an awesome organization, but this student career fair was pretty messed up. In the morning we went to different conference rooms depending on the student’s grades… and the 3 hour seminars were all about jobs in the military or government agencies. We learned about the Air Force, OSHA, the FAA, and other government agencies that the students could work for. We were told over and over “stay in school”, “don’t do drugs”, “get a college degree”, and most of all, “we need more Latinos in these agencies/in the military” and “you can make great money doing this”. The entire thing was a three-hour commercial for jobs with the government and the military. The students didn’t learn anything new except some cool things they could do in these jobs and what great benefits they would get.

It got event worse when we went to lunch. I was pretty excited because we were going to get free lunch… and who doesn’t like free lunch? I arrived with my group of students and probably 250 other teens and some leaders into the room for lunch at 12. We were all hungry and the buffet tables were all set up around the room… it seemed like it was time to start eating. Instead we were subjected to over an hour of people in the military sharing their stories and motivational speeches, their arguments and their commercials for joining the military…. all before they let us get up and get anything to eat. For better or for worse, many of the men they had speak were latino like many of the students and told stories of growing up in poverty… “I had no way to pay for college”, “my parents were working 3 jobs and I raised myself”, “I was stuck in life on the streets”… and, of course, for all of them the military “saved” them and answered all of their problems in life. The military was the solution.

What do you think? I felt like my students were being sold a line… like the military was a sleazy car salesman trying to unload a car that was going to break down 5 miles off the lot. What was military life really like? What will help you make it through, what do you need to make it, and what sacrifices do you need to make? There was simply no mention of any of that. Instead the military gathered a group of students who may not have the same opportunities as students who grew up like me… students who may be worried about their future or getting into college… students who may feel like they have a little less to loose or may feel like this is the best option they will be able to find because so many options seem closed to them. The military seems to seek out these vulnerable students…

isn’t that wrong?

Why didn’t the military come into my high school? Why didn’t they come after me. I was a leader with great grades and spent three years on a varsity team… why didn’t they try to recruit me? Wouldn’t I have been a good fit for the military? But my life was different than the lives of the students that I am working with. I knew that I would go to college, make it through pretty easily, and get a good job. I was a legal citizen with parents who could support me, both financially and with encouragement. I didn’t feel like I needed a way to escape my life or my situation or my neighborhood… my situation was different. So maybe the military has decided that it is just easier or more efficient to go after the vulnerable kids in our communities…

why are we not standing up for these kids? why are we not objecting to these practices?

It’s really disturbing that I have to walk by military recruiters at my school every Tuesday and Thursday. Friends of mine who are considering military service do so because their grades aren’t good. But why can’t the government just encourage them to do well in school? Or give them options other than the military? It makes me sick and it’s time we do something about it. Recruiters don’t belong in high schools. My friends and I shouldn’t be exposed to them in our place of learning.

- Whit Allen, 16, Aurora USA

I started my new job on Tuesday (July 10th) at the Christopher House. I’m not an actual employee because I am doing Americorps this year. Americorps volunteers serve in communities, mostly at social service organizations and non-profits, with the overall goal to fight poverty…. right up my alley. We serve for one year and work 40 hours a week, if not more.

I have had a lot of jobs, but this one feels completely different. I have worked jobs that have taken a lot of responsibility, a lot of hours, and a lot of self-motivation. I have worked jobs for only 10 hours a week and others for over 80. I’m on my 19th or 20th job with this one, but I finally feel like I have really entered the workforce.

I’m working the regular 9-to-5.

I have my very own desk.

I have a work e-mail, a phone number, and a computer.

I have a budget to work with.

All the rest has been the same as some of my other jobs, but the frills of being treated like a real employee are brand new. Even though I’m not really being paid this year, having my own computer and a budget makes me feel a lot better about it.

For the first time, I feel like I have a “real” job. It’s a good day.

So this summer has taken me on a new and exciting adventure… this time into the world of politics and community organizing. I am part of a leadership class in community organizing through Public Action for Change Today (PACT), a community organization of young adults from around Chicago. PACT is a “broad-based” organization, which means it tries to be as diverse as possible; it is made up of different ethnic groups, religious groups, and tries to span the political spectrum to include conservatives, moderates, and liberals.

I’ve been on a few PACT adventures so far, but this one was pretty sweet. A group of eight of us went down to Springfield, IL to lobby our state representatives. We were lobbying for expanded healthcare (we really wanted universal healthcare, but that didn’t look like it was going to happen…), money for a transitional job program for homeless teens, and school finance reform (because IL is the worst state in the country when it comes to inequalities in school funding).

The eight of us met early in Chicago, all dressed up, and made the four hour journey to Springfield. We came armed with statistics, personal stories, and knowledge of what was currently going on in Springfield (the bills, the budgets, the schedule…). We went around all afternoon in small groups getting meetings with our own members of the state house and our state senators, and also meeting with other reps and senators from the Chicago area. Most were nice to us and were in support of some of the things we wanted to do. Others loved all our ideas. And then there were the few that were really really stinking mean (and one who was drunk…).

I had never done anything like this before so it was an amazing experience. I am blown away at how easy it is to get into politics. You just need to show up! Yeah, it was very difficult to get meetings with some people, and lobbying a state rep can be nerve-racking, especially when they disagree with you, but you can do it. Just drive to your state capital and meet with people. (Of course, check the schedule first to make sure that they are in sess

ion.) I had about an hour of training in how to lobby well and studied up on the bills and budgets we were supporting, but it really is pretty easy to do.

I also found out that you can’t really expect to change a senator’s or rep’s mind when you go into a meeting with them. But you can change their mind on the little things, you can let them know what you support, and you can begin to understand where they are coming from. For instance, we met with a freshman senator who was all for universal healthcare (IL SB5) but would not vote for it. The reason? Illinois is deep in debt and is not funding a bunch of programs that were already brought into existence as a state and was promised funding. So although he really wanted to see universal healthcare in IL, he first needed to see the budget balanced and the current programs funded, and then he would fight for universal healthcare. I completely respected him for that- he was a smart and honest man. Plus he met with four of us 20-something women from PACT for almost 45 minutes. That right there is a good senator, in my opinion.

I also met with my own state senator, an awesome woman named Iris Martinez. She was already fighting for many of the things that PACT had been working on. It was after 5 and at the end of a long work day when she agreed to meet with me for a few minutes… which turned into almost a half hour. She was really glad that people from her own district were coming down to see her and we had a good talk about what was going on in our neighborhoods. I’m planning on heading over to her local district office soon and meeting her staff there and seeing how I can get more involved in improving our local community.

If you are able to, you should find a broad-based community organization in your own community. Not only will it be an amazing experience, but you’ll be able to work with a diverse crowd of people from your community to try to make it a better place.