Surviving the City on a Little Bit(ty).: January 2010

School started yesterday.

I've drawn a blank!!

hmm... I am a bit overwhelmed and don't know where to start. 2 more classes today and 2 on-line classes that I CAN NOT forget about! I keep having dreams/thoughts that it is the end of the semester and I have completely forgotten to do my work for those classes... Ahhhhh.
I am very excited about my Race, Class and Gender class.. My first paper will be fun. It is a 12-page self study to get us thinking about the topics of the class. The description includes...

Sex, Gender, and Gender Roles: What is your earliest memory of you being aware of your biological sex? How do you see or describe sex? What do you like about your sex? What do you dislike about your sex? What did you learn when you were growing up about how you should act based on your sex? When was the first time that you became aware that people were treated differently because of their sex? Describe that experience. What advantages of disadvantages have you experienced because of your sex? How have you responded to any awareness of gender inequality? How well do you relate to people of your same sex and those of another sex? Do you have issues that may make it difficult for you to help clients of a different sex/ gender? What are your responses to readings and class discussions related to gender? How might you challenge yourself to be more gender-sensitive and to combat sexism in your work?

Ethnicity/Nationality: What do you know about your ethnic heritage? Describe what you know about the heritage of your first or last name, or any culturally significant name change(s) in your family background. What country or countries would you identify as your ancestral geographic base? What values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interest and/or history of the identified ethnic group(s) are parts of which you are your values, language or history? What do you know about your ancestors and how they came to live in the

United States

? How do their experiences and histories affect you? Describe an aspect of you ethnic heritage that you are proud of and an aspect that you are not proud of? What was the ethnic composition of the neighbors in which you have lived? How much contact have you had with members of other ethnic groups? Describe your most significant contact{s} with members of other ethnic groups. Where did you get most of your information or misinformation about other ethnic groups? Give examples. What in your assigned readings and class discussion support or contrast with information you have learned about your cultural identity? How is your background the same or different from other groups? Do you have issues that may make it difficult for you to help clients of a particular ethnicity? How might you challenge yourself to be more ethnically sensitive, to combat xenophobia, hostile nationalism and ethnocentrism in your work?

Race: What race would you say you are? In what racial group would others place you? What is the racial background of your family? When were you first aware of yourself as a member of a particular racial group? When were you first aware of people of other races? Which races? What was the racial composition of the neighborhoods in which you have lived? When did you first witness or experience someone being treated differently because of his/her racial group? What experience made you aware that your racial group affects how you are treated in this society? What advantages or disadvantages have you experienced because of your race? What about your racial group makes you proud to be a member of that racial group? What about your racial group makes you not want to be a member of that racial group? Describe an experience that caused you to feel guilt, shame, anger, or rage because of membership in or identification with your racial group. Describe significant interracial contacts and feedback that you have received from members of other races. Do you have issues (e.g., negative experiences, biases about skin color/physical features, stereotypes about racial groups or mixed/biracial heritage) that make it difficult for you to help clients of a particular race? If so, what strategies might you engage to address any bias you might have? If not, how can you challenge yourself to support your ongoing process of self-awareness regarding racial disparity? What in the assigned readings and class discussions reflect supporting or conflicting information to your understanding of the impact of race?

Sexual Orientation: When did you begin to become aware of your affectional or loving attraction to another person(s)? When did you realize that there were sexual orientations other than your own? What do you remember learning about people who are heterosexual, gay/lesbian or bisexual? From what sources did you get information or misinformation about persons who are heterosexual, gay/lesbian or bisexual? How did you learn that you were expected to be heterosexual? What experiences made you aware that your sexual orientation affects how you are treated in this society? What oppressive acts toward gay, lesbian or bisexual persons do you recall or have you witnessed? How did you respond? What in the assigned readings and class discussions reflect supporting or conflicting information to your understanding of the impact of sexual orientation? Do you have issues that may make it difficult for you to help clients who have a sexual orientation that differs from yours? How might you challenge yourself and others regarding heterosexism in your work?

Ability/Disability: What are your earliest memories of or experiences with a person who has a disability? What images, impressions or feelings did you have as a child about people with disabilities? What messages did the people around you (parents, teachers, and friends) pass on to you about people with disabilities? How did these messages affect you thoughts about yourself? What impressions, thought, feelings or beliefs do you have now about people with disabilities? How have they changed or stayed the same over time? What direct and significant experiences have you had with persons with disabilities? What types of disabilities? Do you have issues that may make it difficult for you to help clients with disabilities? How might you challenge yourself to be sensitive to ability differences and to combat able-ism in your work?

Class: Considering your relative rank in terms of income, wealth, status or power, what class (lower class/ poor, working class, middle class, owning/ruling class) would you say you are? What class would others say or think you are? What would indicate to others that you are of a particular class? How similar or different is the social class/standing of family members of the same generation and of different generations? What is the first memory you have of someone you thought was richer than you were? Why did you think so? What is the first memory you have of someone you thought were poorer than you were? Why did you think so? What have you gained from your class background? What limitations did you experience? Provide examples of memories/critical incidents in your awareness of your class. What class or classes of people lived in your neighborhood(s)? What significant experiences have you had with people persons of different social class? What classes? What in the assigned readings and class discussions reflect supporting or conflicting information to your understanding of the impact of class? Do you have issues that may make it difficulty for you to help clients of a particular social class? How might you challenge yourself to be more sensitive to class differences and to combat classism and the myth of our society as classless in your work?

Religion/Spirituality: What was your religious affiliation during your childhood? What phases growing up as a child or young adult or both within your religious group? What phases have you gone through in the development of your religious or spiritual identity? What is your religious affiliation now? What has been most difficulty about being a member of, or being identified with your particular religious group? What about your religious group, affiliation, or identification pleases you, or is a source of pride? How much do your religious beliefs affect what you think and do? Describe anything you have ever heard about other religious groups or identifications. What significant experiences have you had with people who are religiously or spiritually different from you? What acts have you experienced or witnessed that is anti-a particular religious group or oppressive toward a particular religious group? What was your response? Do you have issues that may make it difficult for you to help religiously or spiritually different clients? Do you have issues with people who do not have/want religious beliefs? How might you challenge yourself to be more sensitive to religious or spiritual differences and to combat anti-religious sentiment and oppression of religious minorities in your work? And how would you challenge yourself to be more inclusive of people who do not have or reject religious beliefs?

I think everyone should have to do this... I feel like so much of this is lightly touched on in our younger years and it's interesting to think about these things again, and elaborate, as an adult. I tried to ask Mat all of these questions.. His responses were interesting. It's even more interesting to hear someone else's responses, when you think you have them completely figured out. It eventually ended with him telling me not to "psycholige" him.. Which is now my favorite word..

I started my Internship today at the San Jose Obrero Mission in the Pilsen District on Chicago's slightly-south side. It is going to blow my mind.. Below is a News piece they did before the holidays, which gives an idea of what goes on there. Since Jan.1st, they have taken over a Women's and Children's Interim home, which is where I will be working. Initially I was to work with the men and was nervous about that. Now that I have wrapped my head around that task, I will, instead, be working with women, my original preference. Now, I am nervous to work with Women.. They bring a lot more baggage/issues with them..specifically, children and everything that entails. I will be working with the Participants and Case Managers doing my own Case Management projects. I will also be helping put together and facilitate Life Skills classes for the Women in English and Spanish. I got to tour the new Woman's facility today and it breaks my heart. The agency that ran it before SJOM wasn't doing a good job. I got to see why.. I am hopeful that I will be able to help improve the new facilty and enjoy this eye-opening learning experience. En Español también.

Channel 7 News Report

This video talks a little bit more about Homelessness and what it really is. I've watched it three times and cried each time.

Classes actually start in a few days. More mind-blowing experiences to come!

We celebrated the arrival of my refund check and enormous box of text-books with Thai Food and Vernors tonight! So classy!