Keegan McChesney
Community-based learning is both a theory and a practice. In theory, it presents a range of opportunities; in practice, it presents a range of challenges. I have taken four courses at Occidental that center community-based learning: “Living Los Angeles”; “Community Organizing”; “Community Planning and Politics Practicum”; and “Spatial Justice”. Spatial Justice in particular, a course in the Critical Theory and Social Justice Department, epitomizes the fundamental tenet of community-based learning — bridging the gap between reading and reality.
Theory is only relevant when it reflects an observable truth. A community-based approach is a form of ground-truthing for theory as well as data. In Spatial Justice, we began with theories from Soja, Villa and Foucault. We also were presented with data about the changing demographics of Highland Park. The goal of our course, I believe, was to test these theories and interrogate these data sets to see if they hold in relation to the lived-experience of our surrounding community to the south and east of campus.
To me, there are three requirements for successful community-based learning: spending time with community members; spending time in the community; and bringing the community and campus together. Spatial Justice achieved all three.
In Spatial Justice, we first spent time with community members. John Urquiza, a talented local photographer, has been documenting changes in Highland Park for decades. Urquiza taught our class about individual narratives, central characters, intimidating tactics used by landlords to evict tenants and the nuanced role of gang-culture in the community. Celestina Castillo, Director of the Center for Community-Based Learning and longtime Highland Park resident, has family members directly impacted by the increasing rents in the neighborhood. Castillo evoked emotional conversation in the classroom about suffering, discrimination, displacement and positionality. Pola Lopez, a self-identified Mestizo-Chicana with Apache ancestry, is a painter from New Mexico who has been working in Highland Park for over a decade with Avenue 50 Studios. Lopez shared the power of art and color with our class, first through an in-class discussion and then on a tour of murals in Highland Park. The teachings of these three community-members validated and in some way elevated the theories of neo-colonialism, displacement and Chicanx art we read about earlier in the semester.
The second aspect of community-based learning, in my opinion, is spending time in the community. In pedagogical terms, this is known as experiential learning. As a senior at Occidental, I have spent a lot of time in Highland Park. I have had internships in Boyle Heights and Downtown, and for both of these positions, I rode my bike to the Highland Park Gold Line Station to get to work. To and from work, I would bike on York and Fig, stopping for tacos, pupusas and frutas, enjoying the ethos of the neighborhood and observing the drastic changes. Our first experience as a class in Highland Park was on a mural tour with Lopez. Though I had seen almost all the murals on our tour, it was nice to hear about the artist and the symbology in their work. However, the tour felt oddly elitist as we rolled through the community in our charter bus and identified most graffiti we encountered as “sad.” Our second assignment in the community was to take photos of businesses along York and Fig. On my way home from work one day, I took photos on York between Avenue 50 and 53; this was an area I knew well and I felt like an intrusive hipster walking down the street taking photos with my large camera. I think the most impactful community learning experience would have been at the protest at Fig Jam, where a die-in and tour of “the real” Highland Park was led by Nela Alliance members, but unfortunately I was out of town that weekend. These experiential learning aspects are important, especially when dealing with gentrification, because when you get out into the community, it is easy to see the difference between the old in the new; however, experiential learning is best as an organic exercise, and when impeded by a tour bus or DSLR camera, much of the experience is lost.
The third and final component of a community-based learning course is, in my opinion, how you can gauge the success of the class. If the students have spent enough time with community members and enough time in the community, then it is much easier to connect the community and the campus. To be clear, when I say campus, I mean the physical space, and more importantly, students, faculty and staff. The play, “Gentrification is Colonization,” written by Karen Anzoategui and performed by Nela Alliance members, was the epitome of community-campus connection. The play brought together nearly a hundred people, about half from the community and the other half from campus. The play intertwined theory, lived-experience, emotional expression and performance art and it proved to be an outstanding example of the potential of community-based learning. The play highlighted the parallels between the colonization of the Americas led by Columbus with the gentrification of Highland Park led by affluent white people. This performance provided an emotional foundation for honest, fruitful discussion between attendees which lasted over two hours after the play.
Though the research in this class was important and requested by Nela Alliance members, I don’t think we were able to achieve the full rigor that is required to meet the standards of community-based participatory research. Community-based participatory research requires extensive meetings between researchers and the community, an ever-evolving feedback loop, an entrenchment of community members in the research process and a leadership development component to ensure long-term impact — due to capacity constraints, we had none of this. Our course was unique in it’s approach, practice and pedagogy, however, the digital, data and mapping components of the course were more reflective of a traditional classroom. As a student, I found the teachings on digital, data and mapping techniques to be quite practical; however, I am skeptical that our work on the Scalar site will be of any benefit to the community, particularly those residents who have been or are in the process of being banished from their home.
In conclusion, community-based and experiential learning is important and impactful. This Spatial Justice course has taught me more about Highland Park than the other seven semesters of my time here combined. But community-based learning is not without its challenges, shortcomings and contradictions. I am particularly appreciative of Urquiza, Castillo and Lopez for sharing their stories, knowledge and experiences with us. I am also appreciative to Professor Maeda for creating a classroom environment where students feel safe and free to speak their mind. I am appreciative of David Kim and Shayne Smith for teaching me skills that I will certainly use in future work. Finally, I am appreciative of the Nela Alliance and Highland Park community members for bringing a powerful performance to campus and fostering a space for productive discussion between campus- and community-members. Community-based learning presents a host of challenges, but if we want our ivory tower to be of any service to our surrounding community, it is our duty to continue creating and improving our community-based learning courses.
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Bio
Keegan McChesney is a human and an animal who grew up in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. In Los Angeles, he has worked for community organizations such as InnerCity Struggle, tutored in schools such as Belmont High, and he is currently working as an intern in City Hall. Keegan is an Urban and Environmental Policy major and will be graduating in May 2016. This summer, he is going to Alaska to fish in the wilderness and pay off his student debts; in the fall, he will be headed to work for a community organization in Bangalore, India. Keegan is appreciative of the Highland Park community — the people and the space — for all it has taught him over the past four years.