The Problem We all Live With-Connections

This week we were given the options of listening to podcasts or watching videos as points of discussion. I chose to listen to the American Life podcasts titled, “The Problem we all Live With” Parts 1&2. I enjoyed being able to hear the voices of the speakers and then be able to hear the tone that the speakers were all trying to portray. To summarize, the first podcast was an interview with Nikole Hannah Jones is an investigative reporter at the New York Times. She spoke about the importance of closing the education gap between majority and minority districts is integration. She used the example of Michael Brown and the drastic differences between the school districts in Missouri. Because of transfer laws, students from Normandy were able to get bused into a better academic (and also white majority) district. Through personal interviews we were able to hear the struggles faced through this change and how any change through integration is seemingly impossible. The second podcast was about those in Hartford running toward integration. Chana Joffe-Walt was the reporter here, who reports on Kiana, a Latin American girl from NYC who is curious about white kids. We then hear from John Brittain, who was a lawyer fighting for desegregation–and successfully pushes for changes. Enid Ray campaigns to draw in the white suburbs surrounding the city, by promoting the successful magnet school. These podcasts are an example of a city trying to avoid segregation and one promoting it. All in all, both podcasts agree in the theme of integration to fix the academic gaps in America.

Connecting to these podcasts are articles we’ve already discussed in class: “The Hunger of a Memory” by Rodriguez and “Will it Help the Sheep?” by Lisa Delpit. Why? Well, hearing the first hand account of the struggles faced by minority students in their districts made me think of Rodriguez’s account at his school. While he started off in Catholic school, he “was astonished” when arriving at an all white school. This made me think of those who had to ride into the mostly white districts and had to feel the shock of feeling like an outsider. “Will it Help the Sheep?” relates to these podcasts in that Delpit recognizes the evils behind education, just as the interviewees do. Yet, she encourages us to look for the why behind education. She wants us to not settle for the norm society has created, but to look out for who is missing in being represented. This is what those fighting for integration have been fighting for as well! Delpit knows that change can happen when we are determined to unitedly fight for those in our own circles, and then continue to fight for the overall good of society.

How can anything change when there are so many who are against change? By listening to the podcasts and articles like “Will it Help the Sheep?”, I am encouraged to stand up for is right despite what society says. Maybe that means looking out for those feeling different or who are given less opportunities in my own community. Although it is good to discuss these things, we have to make an effort to tangibly change the injustices we see around us every day.

Here is a video link to describing a school like the one explained in the second podcast!