Monday, March 06, 2006
community action
We have a location!!!
On April 30th, 2006 from 11:00 to 4:00 our concert and environmental festival will be held on Barnard's Quad Lawn and Lounge. We are, for the first time thinking and working in terms of our own interest and our own community. We have not compromised the focus or the aim of our project by changing its location, we have only made more sense of it. It's not all about Harlem, and its not all about the kids. It's about all of us.
Sure, I'm black. But I'm not from Harlem and I don't live there. The fact that I buy my herbal deoderant on 125th street or occassionally perchase 5 dollar boot legged CD's there does not give me a right to Harlem.
But I did choose to come to Barnard, and my parents give Barnard their hard earned money, and I do use my hard earned money to pay for overpriced textbooks for Barnard courses, so I do have the right to creating and participating in what's happening on this campus. It is my responsibility. My community is right here. And this is something that Megan, Jennifer and I have in common. These are some of the things that define our community.
Our Celebration of Life and the environment is a community service event now more than it ever was. We are doing our Barnard community a great service by creating a program that is both community and serviced based on its campus. And, we are doing so in an innovative way: responsibly.
This event is not co-sponsored by Aramark for the purpose of getting people together for the sake of unhealthy food give aways. This is actually about community for the community's sake. This is an exercise in community building. And the people that we are reaching out to on campus for support are understanding this and are jumping on board. The Office of Residential Life and Housing has already contributed greatly to our project by helping us secure a space as well as providing us with ways of attaining monetary support on campus and broadening our field of human resources.
Fresh, the new cafe on 121st and Amsterdam, a few skips from the Plimpton residence Hall is ready and willing to donate food for our event.
Making the switch to work within our community has equaled rapid results. Securing a space meant walking into Sulz and talking to Velma and Lorie in Res Life. It all happend in a matter of minutes. And getting support from Fresh Cafe meant walking in and asking for it.
On April 30th, 2006 from 11:00 to 4:00 our concert and environmental festival will be held on Barnard's Quad Lawn and Lounge. We are, for the first time thinking and working in terms of our own interest and our own community. We have not compromised the focus or the aim of our project by changing its location, we have only made more sense of it. It's not all about Harlem, and its not all about the kids. It's about all of us.
Sure, I'm black. But I'm not from Harlem and I don't live there. The fact that I buy my herbal deoderant on 125th street or occassionally perchase 5 dollar boot legged CD's there does not give me a right to Harlem.
But I did choose to come to Barnard, and my parents give Barnard their hard earned money, and I do use my hard earned money to pay for overpriced textbooks for Barnard courses, so I do have the right to creating and participating in what's happening on this campus. It is my responsibility. My community is right here. And this is something that Megan, Jennifer and I have in common. These are some of the things that define our community.
Our Celebration of Life and the environment is a community service event now more than it ever was. We are doing our Barnard community a great service by creating a program that is both community and serviced based on its campus. And, we are doing so in an innovative way: responsibly.
This event is not co-sponsored by Aramark for the purpose of getting people together for the sake of unhealthy food give aways. This is actually about community for the community's sake. This is an exercise in community building. And the people that we are reaching out to on campus for support are understanding this and are jumping on board. The Office of Residential Life and Housing has already contributed greatly to our project by helping us secure a space as well as providing us with ways of attaining monetary support on campus and broadening our field of human resources.
Fresh, the new cafe on 121st and Amsterdam, a few skips from the Plimpton residence Hall is ready and willing to donate food for our event.
Making the switch to work within our community has equaled rapid results. Securing a space meant walking into Sulz and talking to Velma and Lorie in Res Life. It all happend in a matter of minutes. And getting support from Fresh Cafe meant walking in and asking for it.
posted by A.C. Fike at 9:04 PM
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