Boys of Baraka

The word I'm choosing to begin with is "strength." The trajectory of the boys' journey, from the projects in Baltimore to Africa and back, impressed me with how huge 0f a stretch it was from their sense of what was known, to the unknown, and then back to their old world transformed--and that they were able to integrate these new experiences into something useful. To relate it to the theorists, the ability of a human being to construct new knowledge and integrate it, to grow in spite of having things stacked against you, is striking. The word "resilience" also comes to mind. Also, underneath the tough exteriors, the boys were still boys underneath, as was so visible when they relaxed into their world in Kenya and were able to play. It is as though the natural state of childhood, the receptiveness and curiosity, is there just waiting for the world to feel safe enough for it to emerge. This reminded me of an experience I noticed, on a smaller/ less intense scale, about 15 years ago when I taught at Outdoor School. Sometimes 6th graders would arrive from rival PPS schools with emerging gang associations. Outdoor School was highly structured but also fun, and the students were held accountable for their behavior by the staff in a loving way. Repeatedly, by the end of the week when the bus came to take them home, the "tough" kids bawled when they had to leave Outdoor School and leave their new friends who had been rivals just a few days before. This to me represents that there is inherent strength in children. In the film, I was worried when the Baraca school closed. I felt that it would be too much of a disappointment and blow to the kids to have the second year taken from them and to have no guidance in transitioning back into the reality of the city school system. I was impressed by the boys' ability to overcome yet another obstacle and to find the strength to draw on their new understanding of their capabilities and continue on a constructive path. I was also especially struck by the strength of the mothers and grandmothers in this film. I felt that having read and discussed Delpit, I had a deeper understanding of how these parents had a keen awareness of the value of education and the codes of power and their link to basic survival for their children. As a parent, I could relate to the "mama grizzly" love from which they acted on behalf of their boys.

As we continue to examine the assumptions of privilege, and unpack the invisible backpack, I've realized that as someone who thought of herself as being open-minded, I still have plenty of learning to do. Being open-minded isn't enough. There are many things to discuss around the film's content, but one thing I wanted to say was that I realize how powerful it is for me to hear people's stories (as in the film). In the lit circle reading for ED 550, bell hooks talks about spirituality as a sense of "connection" in the classroom based in experience, and how it is a pathway to the "other", whatever that other may be. I will go into teaching (and just being) with the desire to honor the strengths of children and families, and to act on the connection.