Space Matters: Race, Equity, and the PCC Landscape
Spatial Space: relating to, occupying, or having the character of space.
Spatial Justice: Is the intersection of space and social justice Critical Race Theory: Erinn's Personal Perspective on Spatial Space When I first started thinking about Amara Pérez's project Race, Equity, & The PCC Landscape, I thought that that was all that I was to focus on. In further conversations with Pérez, I was assured to think of space in all of its infinite abundance while defining and being critical of how I fit into all of it. This made me think about where I have been in all of my 30-years of life, what I have lived through, and what that has meant for me overall.
I am a bi-sexual, bi-racial woman of color that identifies as African, and I was brought up in a small country town where it was a predominantly european dominated space. Making my siblings and I among a few other African and Latina/o the minorities. It was not until I was entering into the 8th grade that I would move to another state and see Africans and all other heritages as the majority. Looking back on the small town that I come from, and moving to California at such a critical time in my teenage years, I realized that I came from two extremes, which was all european to mostly only seeing my people and other People of Color (POC). I struggled with my identity and where I fit in for many years, and I often felt lost living in a illusion that I could not make reality. I ultimately prevailed and I did so by accepting who I was first while not apologizing for who I was or could not be anymore. I know now exactly who I am and where I am meant to be. Stacy Sutton on
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Pictured above is Justice not worried about anythingThe picture above and to the right of me is my nephew Justice, and our old home that we recently moved out of. I shared this picture because this was a home that I made for me and my children that was both a reflection of the two extreme worlds that I grew up in, and a critical reality check to examine closely what is happening on a geographical scale based on race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
One of which was the country, small town living, filled with many racists europeans some of which were really good to me. The second extreme came with answers, African love, acceptance in some forms, and rejection in many others. Though they were extremes in my life, they both have been foundations and building blocks for me in my life that have helped me to the very place and spaces I am now. Since moving DownTown, I have been able to see and be critical of what this space means for myself and children. Costello, in Schooled by the Classroom, stated that "However, it is important to note at the outset that while everyone is constantly subject to socializing influence of their surroundings, most people are unaware of being so influenced (Pg 45)." Who uses the place? Who does not, and why? How is the spaced used? What talents and gifts do people have here? What is unique about the history and culture of the area? What qualities would you use to describe the place? How are people able to practice, contribute and create here? What messages and behaviors does the space suggest? What prevents anyone from full participation in personal or public life? Space Matters!!!The slideshow above are of pictures and quotes that I envision or ways that I spend time thinking about space and how I think humans got it all wrong.
Humans have taken over something that I believe was never meant to be owned. As a result of the FEW that are in power and ownership, are wars, death, genocide of people, animals, insects, and nature... Injustices prevail while the mass continue to be oppressed. "Our" world is purging the sickness that humans created, and the finale is that this world will continue on even after the sickness has been removed from the core. |
The picture above was at a "natural habitat park,"and surrounding this nature parks parameter were all apartments, condos, and businesses. Making this space, to me, look like an exhibit in an art gallery meant for one to be in awe at its evolution
"If we demand the reworking of spatial arrangements, we are demanding the reworking of all other arrangements---those of nation, ownership, class, race, gender, etc." ----The Design Studio for Social Intervention & Praxis Project This is another angle of the nature park. Every time I look at these pictures or even visit the location, all that I see is a manicured place made simple for people who can afford the "simpleness" and all of its infinite ammenities
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Above, is a picture of my backyard where there is a small playground for the children to play in. Outside of the fence are railroad tracks, and many more apartments and condos where I am also told that I have a great view because you can see a smidge of the river...
The picture above makes me think of the walk of colonial assimilation, perpetuation of colonialism, and the sustainable practices of capitalism and imperialism
"Space is a place of intersecting struggles/oppression/opportunities. How we move or not move through it, adapt to it, monitor it, buy or borrow it, claim or cut it off shapes everything we do and big parts of who we are" --- Makani Themba, the Praxis Project |
Link to: CRT in Facilities Planning PCC Board Meeting: March 15, 2018 This information and presentation was Created and is owned by Amara Pérez
www.pcc.edu/about/administration/board/materials/2018-03-15/Facilities-Plan2.pdf My kids and I were getting on the elevator
to go to our apartment, and one other person joined us. My daughter said "what floor are you going to?" He said "Oh I need to use my key card to access this floor" The five floors below were all low-income tax credit approved units. This is a perfect example of what privilege is through "dominant" race privileges, classism, and the support and perpetuation to sustain capitalism even though statistics prove that the system currently in place is ineffective and hurts more people then "it" does any do good. |
Amara Pérez on point per usual
You can read her interview here at: https://www.pcc.edu/news/2018/05/crt-fms/
"Critical Race Theory is a framework whose larger purpose is to advance racial equity for diverse communities of color. It’s used to examine racism as a system of domination, to uncover how racism is reproduced, and how it can be both implicit and explicit."
--- Amara Pérez
You can read her interview here at: https://www.pcc.edu/news/2018/05/crt-fms/
"Critical Race Theory is a framework whose larger purpose is to advance racial equity for diverse communities of color. It’s used to examine racism as a system of domination, to uncover how racism is reproduced, and how it can be both implicit and explicit."
--- Amara Pérez
Amara Pérez A Mentor, Leader, and Revolutionary
Amara has over 20 years of experience in program and curriculum design, training and facilitation, participatory action research and assessment, and organizational development and institutional change informed by the philosophy and methodology of critical theories. She has worked with community groups, county health departments, philanthropic foundations, and institutions of higher education to apply critical theories and critical race theory as approaches to institutional change and advancing equity and inclusion.
Currently a third year doctoral student and senior teaching assistant in the Educational Studies & Cultural Foundations program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Amara received her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy at Portland State University and B.A. in Sociology at Randolph Macon Woman’s College. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses with a focus on identity, equity, and social change. She has designed and facilitated trainings on community organizing, critical theories, curriculum as a means of social change, social justice pedagogies, and institutional change.
In her roles at Portland Community College as Multicultural Center Director, Diversity Council Coordinator, and Co-coordinator of the Teaching and Learning Center, Amara applied critical theories and social justice pedagogies to design and coordinate student retention and leadership programs, college-wide educational programming, and “equity-initiatives” to further college priorities on equity and inclusion.
Prior to that Amara served as Executive Director of a non-profit social justice organization dedicated to developing the leadership and organizing skills of low- income girls of color in Portland, Oregon. The program developed “critical”educational practices, learning strategies, and curricular approaches to engaging student leaders in analyzing community problems, determining meaningful solutions, taking collective action, and instituting local policy change.
Amara’s research interests include: curricular approaches to organizational and social change and applied critical race theory and critical spatial analysis as frameworks for equity and inclusion
Currently a third year doctoral student and senior teaching assistant in the Educational Studies & Cultural Foundations program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Amara received her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy at Portland State University and B.A. in Sociology at Randolph Macon Woman’s College. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses with a focus on identity, equity, and social change. She has designed and facilitated trainings on community organizing, critical theories, curriculum as a means of social change, social justice pedagogies, and institutional change.
In her roles at Portland Community College as Multicultural Center Director, Diversity Council Coordinator, and Co-coordinator of the Teaching and Learning Center, Amara applied critical theories and social justice pedagogies to design and coordinate student retention and leadership programs, college-wide educational programming, and “equity-initiatives” to further college priorities on equity and inclusion.
Prior to that Amara served as Executive Director of a non-profit social justice organization dedicated to developing the leadership and organizing skills of low- income girls of color in Portland, Oregon. The program developed “critical”educational practices, learning strategies, and curricular approaches to engaging student leaders in analyzing community problems, determining meaningful solutions, taking collective action, and instituting local policy change.
Amara’s research interests include: curricular approaches to organizational and social change and applied critical race theory and critical spatial analysis as frameworks for equity and inclusion
References:
Amara Pérez
Why Spatial? Why Justice (Soja, 2010)
Spatial Justice: A Frame for Reclaiming our Rights to be, Thrive, Express and Connect (Design Studio for Social intervention)
Impressions: African American First Year Students Perceptions of a Predominantly White University (Douglass, 1998)
Schooled by the Classroom (Costello, 2001)
Claiming Space: Aboriginal Students within School Landscapes (Van Ingen and Halas, 2006)
Latina/o Transfer Students’ Selective within School Integration and Spatial Awareness of University Spaces (Andrade, 2017)
Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education:
The Space that Race Makes:
At the Crossroads: Critical Race Theory and Critical Geographies of Race:
Critical Race Theory and the Landscape of Higher Education:
Why Spatial? Why Justice (Soja, 2010)
Spatial Justice: A Frame for Reclaiming our Rights to be, Thrive, Express and Connect (Design Studio for Social intervention)
Impressions: African American First Year Students Perceptions of a Predominantly White University (Douglass, 1998)
Schooled by the Classroom (Costello, 2001)
Claiming Space: Aboriginal Students within School Landscapes (Van Ingen and Halas, 2006)
Latina/o Transfer Students’ Selective within School Integration and Spatial Awareness of University Spaces (Andrade, 2017)
Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education:
The Space that Race Makes:
At the Crossroads: Critical Race Theory and Critical Geographies of Race:
Critical Race Theory and the Landscape of Higher Education: