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Created: October 5, 2003
Latest Update: October 5, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

I will seek to stay aware of my surroundings

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, October 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.

On Sunday, October 5, Donna Hill, CSUDH, wrote:

Sociology 328

Jeanne, last week I brought in an article to share with the class regarding the recall and how it is affecting the people who are less fortunate than others. This article is from the Wave Community Newspapers called the Street Beat, titled "What issue concerns you the most? The article is based on four individuals of African American descent, of different ages, who needed to express their concerns regarding the concern that is spreading in their community (Compton area). For example, complaints relating to War, health care and schools (vaccines), school fundings, updated schoolbooks for their children, assistance for the homeless, concern about children receiving proper manners from within the home where learning starts (comment made by an 84 year old citizen).

What I learned from these individuals was that awareness comes with recognizing Answerability. Since, I have taken your classes Jeanne, and listening to the students expressing their thoughts and opinions regarding related issues that affects our economy, this has made me understand that it does matter. I had stopped voting, being concerned about the next person, because of the bias of others along with discrimination within our own community. I am glad that I saw this article, and I am glad to be one of your students, because I took back my interest and will seek to stay aware of my surroundings and say hello to my fellow neighbors.

Thanks, Jeanne.

On Sunday, October 5, 2003, jeanne responded:

Thank you, Donna. I see you coming and going in both classes, rushing back and forth, and sometimes I wonder, as I do with all students, "does it matter?" You just answered that for me, and that gives me the courage to go on being tired and yelping when I hurt and there are too many people all around me, all of whom really do need my attention. I yelped at Ottawa Curetin, not even sure I have the name right, on Thursday, when she kept asking me if she should go check the grade roster right then or later. She didn't notice that there were three or four other people with three or four other questions equally urgeent. Granted, my yelp was "I don' care when you do it" she says. But I'll bet it was closer to "I don't give a damn." I remember how I felt. I did take two aspirin when we got to stat class and my temperament improved just a little.

I hope you'll all forgive me when the pain (I had taken a bad fall the week before Pat took her fall) yelps out, and remember that what we are doing, creating a learning climate in which we do go on listening to and forgiving and trying to respect one another does have an impact on all of us and on the learning community we create.

And you know what? On Friday, I checked the grade roster for 328, and for some crazy reason, Ottawa really isn't on it. Folks, we don't just stop to smell the roses because they smell good; they need to be smelled and cared for so things don't go wrong later. At least now, since Ottawa, which can't really be her name, but was all I could understand, forgave me, maybe we can figure out how to get her name on the roster where it belongs.

Donna, your letter was what Susan and I call a "Good Dog!" A quick reminder in the fast track of bureaucracy that we do care underneath it all. Good submission. And for those of you concerned about grades, this was an A submission because Donna gave very specific information of how she reacted to ther learning, how the learning mattered to the news piece in her real life, and how she conceptually linked and assimilated that learning in her lived experience.

love and peace, jeanne