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tuskegee airmen
“We’ve created art-space social work, I’m
claiming that term,” said Theresa
Ronquillo, the faculty advisor for the
course. “I think that community-based art
practices in social work are a great way to
engage people and promote activism. … the
idea is to connect with different kinds of
communities.”
This project is largely unprecedented,
since there are few resources for the mixed
heritage community to collaborate and
share stories in this way. Intergenerational
Roots aims to address this gap and spear-
head the process of collecting these stories.
This project is largely
unprecedented, since
there are few
resources for the
mixed heritage
community ...
“We wanted the main goal to be how to
build and engage to the community. Bring
our discussion beyond the classroom,”
Jaynina Smith-Prince said. Smith-Prince,
who just finished her last year as a Masters
in Social Work student at the UW, acted as
a T.A. for the course-coordinating the stu-
dent projects as well as participating in the
interviews herself.
The course, initially conceptualized by
Ronquillo, a part-time professor at the UW
School of Social Work, began last fall with
getting to know the issues that surround the
mixed heritage community. Students
reflected on questions of identity, thinking
about what it means to answer, “what are
you?” or to check a box marked “other” on
a form. Topics like how to address discrim-
ination, what it feels like to be called not —
—- enough, or how race intersects with
being a woman or a student were addressed
and analyzed by the group.
Students spent the second quarter collect-
ing recorded interviews from their friends
and family about their experiences with dis-
crimination, race and identity, finding that a
connected, community narrative emerged
rather than individual, isolated experiences.
“I’ve never been in a class like this
before,” Smith-Prince said. “I’m really
grateful that, as a part of my education, I
had an opportunity to talk with my family
and connect with where we came from. It
really gives me perspective.”
“I created a structure and hoped the stu-
dents would drive the direction of the proj-
ect,” Ronquillo said. But what makes their
project unique is that “we don’t just show a
linear, universal U.S. experience, we show a
different, intergenerational perspective. We
centered this project with mixed heritage in
mind, but what came out of it was a deeper
course that addressed class and caste and
living displaced. We found a generational
perspective.”
For the third part of the course, spring stu-
dents decided to compile the footage into a
documentary format, focusing on engaging
the community they were hoping to repre-
sent, though with only two months in the
quarter, students felt the pressure.
“What we’re attempting to do—what we
are doing, is kind of crazy,” Duncalf said.
Photo By susan frIed
continued from page 1
tuskegee airman, sgt George w. hickman signs an autograph for anthony
motley before a panel discussion about the history of the tuskegee airman
sunday may 29th at the Flight museum. the airmen also participated in a
memorial Day Ceremony monday may 30th at the museum.
“No one’s really done exactly what we’re
doing before, so in that sense we feel like
we’re kind of pioneers. It’s exciting.”
Named after the all too familiar spiel indi-
viduals of mixed heritage often give when
asked about their background, their film
“Beyond the Spiel” is a “work in progress,”
Ronquillo said. “We wanted to be able to
show something on Thursday and to also
invite the public to help shape the direction
of the film.”
“We thought it would be the best way for
whatever exhibit we do to get feedback
from community members,” Smith-Prince
said. “We focused on the notion that even
though it is the end of the year, this project
is not ending. We’d like to keep going.”
Though some of the students are graduat-
ing, others have expressed interest in con-
tinuing next year. Ronquillo said they might
give the film’s rights to MIXED, the mul-
tiracial student organization on campus that
sponsored the course.
District
continued from page 1
trict spanning hundreds of miles
across the northern border of the
state. Other districts would be
expanded or squeezed, depending
on their population concentration.
Currently, a group of nonprofits
called the Win/Win Network, is lob-
bying to create a majority people of
color district for the first time in the
state’s history. The proposal would
run from Southeast Seattle to
Federal Way.
Powell said they have a number
of criteria for creating the new dis-
trict and reforming existing dis-
tricts, number one of which is mak-
ing sure districts are “practical.”
That means making districts con-
tiguous and compact, not splitting
communities of interest and ensur-
ing they contain roughly the same
number of people.
Powell said she wants the com-
mission to avoid gerrymandering
districts – that is carving up districts
to the benefit and detriment of spe-
cific political, social or ethnic
groups. In many states, minority
communities have been historically
gerrymandered into different dis-
tricts ensuring they will never have
a majority vote.
The commission was established
in 1983 by voters, effectively taking
the control of redrawing district
lines from the people who benefit-
ted most – the legislature.
Commissioners are not allowed to
hold public office during their time
on the commission and they aren’t
allowed to run for office for an
additional two years after they’ve
left the commission.
The new district may be attracting
a congressman who is losing his
district due to population atrophy in
Ohio. Democrat Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, who has made several
presidential runs, is toying with the
idea of relocating to Washington
state in order to keep his job.
oregon
In Oregon, the legislature decides
on boundaries. As history shows,
it’s been decades since the legisla-
ture has been able to do this job.
During the last census, when law-
makers failed to produce a map that
could be agreed upon by the gover-
nor, Secretary of State Bill
Bradbury was forced by law to cre-
ate one.
If lawmakers fail again, it’ll be up
to Secretary of State Kate Brown to
redraw district boundaries, a job she
says she has no interest in pursuing.
“I have said from the beginning
that the diverse, unique, and knowl-
edgeable perspectives of the 90 leg-
islators, augmented by considerable
public input, could produce a sound
and reasonable plan,” she said in a
statement. “Having these varied
voices at the table is better for
Oregonians than one person draw-
ing a map, no matter how much
public involvement is included.”
House and Senate Redistricting
Committees released their plans on
June 7. All plans can be reviewed
on
their
website
http://www.leg.state.or.us/redis-
tricting
SCHEDULE
Commissioner Meetings begin at 10 a.m. on the second Tuesday
of each month.*
The agenda for public forums*:
6 p.m. - Pre-forum Open House
6:30 p.m. - Introduction of Commissioners, Redistricting
Overview (interactive webcast begins)
7 p.m. - Public Comment and Meeting Summary
Meetings and forums
Meeting Type
City
Date
Location
Public Forum Wenatchee
Thursday, June 9 TBD
Public Forum Seattle Monday, June 13 TBD
Commissioner Meeting Olympia Tuesday, June 14
J A Cherberg Bldg. - Hearing Room 3
Public Forum Auburn
Tuesday, June 14 TBD
Public Forum Bremerton
Thursday, June 30 TBD
Public Forum Tacoma Monday, July 11 TBD
Public Forum SpokaneTuesday, July 12 TBD
Commissioner Meeting TBD
TBD
TBD
Public Forum Walla Walla
Wednesday, July 13 TBD
Public Forum Moses Lake
Thursday, July 14 TBD
Commissioner Meeting Olympia Tuesday, August 9
J A Cherberg Bldg. - Hearing Room 3
Commissioner Meeting Olympia Tuesday, September 13
J A Cherberg Bldg. - Hearing Room 3
Commissioner Meeting Olympia Tuesday, October 11
J A Cherberg Bldg. - Hearing Room 3
Commissioner Meeting Olympia Tuesday, November 8
J A Cherberg Bldg. - Hearing Room 3
Youth
continued from page 1
ect,” stated Food Bank Executive Director
Joe Gruber. “We’ll have room to accept sig-
nificantly more food donations and offer
outreach and training onsite so more cus-
tomer families can be linked to the impor-
tant services they need to help meet their
basic needs.” The agency distributes
40,000-45,000 pounds of food each week.
(www.udistrictfoodbank.org)
The vibrant University District is a good
place for the apartment complex, Lee said,
as residents access transit nearby, and be
close to jobs and educational opportunities
in the neighborhood.
“In these times of economic devastation,
young people become the last to bear the
burden of homelessness and the last to be
considered for help out of homelessness,”
said YouthCare Executive Director Melinda
Giovengo. YouthCare provides emergency
services, housing, education and job train-
ing for homeless and runaway youth.
(www.youthcare.org)
An estimated 800 to 1,200 young adults
are homeless in King County and there are
few housing options linked with appropriate
services to address their needs.
The Low Income Housing Institute is a
non-profit organization with a portfolio of
over 1,800 affordable housing units in the
Puget Sound region. LIHI’s housing serves
low-income and formerly homeless individ-
uals and families most in need including
seniors, youth, veterans, large families and
people with special needs. (www.LIHI.org)
June 8, 2011 The Seattle Skanner Page 3