Social Justice Maker
My Social Responsibility Education Began Here
I’m now in a social justice reading group. For our first meeting we discussed a chapter from a book called Engineering and Social Justice by Donna Riley. Before we began discussing the reading, we went around the circle and told each other about our reasons for joining the group and our relationship with social justice.
Several people pointed out that, while they had previously taught classes on human rights, social justice wasn’t a term they personally used. For me, social justice is a phrase rich with meaning.
My mom, who left high school when she was in tenth grade, earned her bachelor’s degree in social justice. After a few years of being busy with dating, marriage, and becoming a mother, she returned to school. She started college soon after I was born and finished when I was fourteen.
My mother worked really hard for that social justice degree. While she was taking a class here and another there she had four more kids, making her the mother of six. Meanwhile, she didn’t only personally design her social justice major, she lived social justice.
She was very involved in our education—either homeschooling us or helping in our schools—and she arranged for people from the community to come to our classes to talk to us about race, poverty, and sustainable living. We had guest speakers from CAMP (Central Area Motivation Program), VORP (Victim Offender Reconciliation Program), PAWS (which caused me to quit eating beef in sixth grade; I’ve rarely eaten it since). We went on field trips to El Centro de la Raza, The Union Gospel Mission, and The Millionair’s Club. She even brought my whole class to our house where she cooked us a meal of whole grains and vegetables.
She always told us “Never do anything for money that you wouldn’t do otherwise,” and “Live simply so others may simply live.”
The words “social justice” remind me why I’ve done the jobs I’ve done in special education and social work. I often feel like a late bloomer, an under achiever. But I have always tried to find things to do that would, at least, lessen my negative impact on those around me.
What is your relationship with social justice? What values have your parents or others you admire inculcated in you? Are there certain phrases that are especially meaningful to you?
Thanks Shira for this important reminder to remember the values which drive the choices we make and the lives we lead!
Your life is another good reminder for me.
Great post about your mom Shira. I love: “Never do anything for money that you wouldn’t do otherwise.” When I was working in Silicon Valley and making great money but had no time to spend them, it was easier to write checks to the causes I believed in than donating time. I’m sure Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Oxfam, Heifer International, and the public radio and TV stations loved those checks, but I didn’t feel like I was doing enough. It wasn’t until I got involved with the local Big Brother and Big Sister and started finding time to judge local kids’ science competitions that I felt like my social justice and community contributions meant something.
Long story short: eventually this and other stuff lead to quitting the high paying job and going into teaching. I also knew that I wanted to teach at a community college. I still write checks, I still donate time to community causes, but what feels like the real thing is to interact with super smart students that may not have had the chance for a college education had the CC system not been there. The pay is lousy compared to what I use to make, but I love going to work every day—and that is such a privilege.
Sounds like a life richly lived!
Yeah, Asa, your life is a life richly lived. I admire you. (And so does meine Mutti!)
I admire you and your parents. So want to meet them!
Nice. I never feel like I’m doing enough. I’m so entrenched in capitalism that if I don’t see results soon, I feel something’s not worth doing. (Which can make writing and submitting rather a chore at times.) It’s something I recently learned about myself that I’m not especially happy about, and not sure quite what to do about it. This is a great post, though. I also love, “Never do anything for money that you wouldn’t do otherwise.” In that respect, I feel as though writing is justified.
Mmm. Sam, I LOVE the new perspective you just offered me on writing.
Nice Sam! Makes me feel good about writing. Often I feel I’m selfish for taking away time from my students or my family because I need to write.
Shira — i am fascinated by your parents. My mom also had six kids, and I can hardly figure out how she managed it, especially once she was essentially single-parenting us. Stories like your mom’s make me feel like a super-slacker, full of self-pity when I have a mildly busy day. Anyway, she sounds pretty amazing, and your posts about your dad have been great, too.
One thing: I wish I could say otherwise, but I have done many things for money that I would never, ever do if I didn’t have to: washed dishes, milked cows, delivered newspapers, moved irrigation pipe, written newspaper stories about parades…
Yeah, my mom’s standards are high. I’m a slacker compared to her for sure.
I miss you, Shawn. It is good to hear from you. Are you too busy to blog these days? I’m not trying to guilt you, but I’m just letting you know I miss your posts. Thanks for visiting home!
I tend to be a particularly loyal personality, which means when I worked for WalMart, I was defensive of the company. I didn’t so much like that. They aren’t good for communities or economies. I’m always uncomfortable when I’m forced to recognize a lack of respect for what my job represents. Rather than never do anything for money you wouldn’t do otherwise (because really dishes and even grant writing, not fun), I’ve striven to work for a company or cause with whom I am comfortable developing the kind of loyalty I know I’m going to have one way or another. My work defines a large part of who I am and it matters to me what that definition is. Also I like that if my work and main focus of my life is about contributing to the community and helping people, then I don’t feel guilty making my play time about me.
[...] interesting responses to my mom’s provocative quote: “Never do anything for money you wouldn’t do otherwise.” I like to roll the advice around in my head because it can resonate best in some less literal ways [...]