It always takes me a little longer than I plan for to get a video up and running. We didn't have time to discuss the video we watched on Thursday. We we seem to be a bit shy about discussing things anyhow. Consequently, I want to try something over the weekend. You'll see that I've added a new tool to Blackboard, called "Clog," which supposedly stands for "collaborative log". I would like to ask each of you to write a short post regarding your reaction to the documentaries we watched on Monday (I've reposted that one above) and Thursday, Signs of the time, which I've posted below. If you need to watch them again, I hope you can find the time to do so. I'm hoping we can share these with each other for part of Monday's Class. Note that you can "respond" to each other's posts. I hope this will be useful.
I think you're going to find a good deal of confirmation between the insights of Kozol's Book and the documentaries we watched. These chapters were not an easy read for me, from an emotional point of view, though otherwise I found them not difficult. Chapter 1 deals primarily with the effect of homelessness on children--problems with nutrition, education, and just about everything else you can imagine. You will read a bit about places other than New York, though the Martinique Hotel remains the focal point. I believe that some of you may be preparing for careers in elementary education. This chapter may be important for you.
Chapter 2 will introduce some stereotypes about the homeless, and challenge those stereotypes as well. We'll see the effects of political power and organized crime on sheltering the homeless, and you'll get to imagine what it is like to have to "beg for toilet paper" at the lobby. "Kim," (remember that names are changed to protect the victims) will give you a very coherent report of what the situation is like.
Chapter 3 needs no explanation--especially if you consider the title of Chapter 4 and know the meaning of a Potter's Field. We'll tackle that on Thursday.
Chapter 5, Distancing Ourselves from Our Pains and Fears. p. 129
Chapter 6, About Prayer p.140
The sadness continues. I mentioned a bit about a Potter's field in the note for Monday. These are areas in cities, large and small where the poor are buried, along with persons who die while incarcerated, providing they have no relatives wishing to claim the body. We'll read about death among the homeless, as well as ways of coping with despair.
Hart Island, New York, home of the Potter's Field
And a Little Research Project
As we've seen in the two videos last week, Homelessness isn't a just a problem in New York and Seattle. I'd like to have the class do a little project. Under Resources, I've added a new folder it appears at the top of the list, and is titled 01 Homelessness.
I want each of you to choose a city in the United States and then find at least one resource on the Internet about homelessness there. It can be either a video or a web page or a newspaper article. Add the web link to the resource folder for Homelessness. Try not to use a city which someone else has used before. You’ll be able to tell by looking at the list. As it develops. New York and Seattle, Washington are off limits because we have resources for them already. As you will see, so is Minneapolis. I chose it. Use Google and/or You Tube; Name the link after the city. Here's an image to show how it looks. First come, first served. Add a minimum of one, but more if you wish.
