SpaceKitty Wanderings

I visited their program a couple of days ago. The classroom is filled with a students of all colors and backgrounds, clearly excited and engaged. Step outside their program at Berkeley High, and the classes are segregated, whites and Asians in the Advanced Placement Classes, the Latinos and African-American dominating the remedial classes. Right now they're studying immigration and borderlands. They're reading The Tortilla Curtain and their homework is to interview mexican day laborers about their life and experiences in the U.S.. Since the program was started, students have gone to Vietnam and Cuba.

Excerpts for their welcome letter:

Welcome to the CAS...We have read and discussed some important questions of social justice over the years. What kind of society do we wish to live in? How can we sucessfully create a diverse and just society? How can we act as responsible citizens in a democracy? How can we take charge of our education and the institutions of our society to remake the world as a fair, caring and fulfilling place?

from their curriculum (for later in the year):

Organizing for Social Change

Focusing on selected aspects of the Civil Rights movement, we will explore how strategies for social change are developed and used. We open the unit with Herb Kohl's critique of the way children learn about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott. Then, we analyze the debates over strategy that occurred at several key turning points in the movement, drawing primarily on chapters from James Forman's The Making of Black Revolutionaries. You will begin to apply your understanding of strategy to the various approaches for addressing your chosen social problem. You will also become familiar with local organizations working on your issue and narrow the possibilities for where to do your service project.

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