Living the Mission, Restorative Justice, Black and Brown Solidarity, and Mental Health

 

Introduction

Living the Mission presentation examined how you as a student engage in cultural, social religious, and ethical values in service to others. Restorative Justice Practices which are mostly used in schools are policies that are implemented to ensure a safe learning environment. Black and Brown Solidarity involves the African American racism that is experienced even in schools.  The mental health presentation brought to my understanding that the lack of resources makes the Latinos not seek mental health attention. I first want to say it was a pleasure to be involved with these presentations for the information I got is very relevant to today’s issues.

Living the Mission was an examination of what you as a student are doing to engage in cultural, social religious, and ethical values in service to others (Worrall 2007). I feel that volunteering at my CBSL site allows me to serve others in a meaningful way. When at the school I often hear probably, overworked teachers and staff yelling at the children. The CBSL site lacks resources and staff which can foster an environment of stress and burnout. The children and families that I serve at the CBSL site have many barriers, poverty being the main one they face daily. Living the mission for me is helping when needed and to listen when necessary. The children at my site are all very unique with different personalities for most of my time is spent talking to the student as we complete homework or other tasks. Participants in this discussion had an opportunity to talk about how they live the mission and the majority of them had very unique and colorful histories. They spoke about their struggles and how they led to them to start living the mission, serve but most importantly make a difference. I was inspired on hearing how some came to be students at De Paul.

Restorative Practices are used in Chicago Public Schools and focus on preventing and addressing harm (Rich, Mader & Pacheco-Applegate 2017). The main principle of these practices is that, in case of harm caused to another person, the response should be repairing the harm done rather than retaliating against the wrongdoer. It emphasizes more on the offender making amends for their wrongs and puts a focus on assisting the victims. The hosts explained that when this idea of restorative practice was first introduced in the Chicago Public School System they didn’t believe it would work. The hosts advised that restorative practices are now widely accepted in the Chicago Public School System for they saw a decrease in behavioral issues, suspensions, and other student problems. The hosts also noted that their programs have expanded and often requested by schools.

 During the Virtual Reimagining and Black and Brown Solidarity in Chicago, they talked about the systemic racism seen in many institutions including academia. During one of the sessions, I attended a De Paul instructor spoke about how hard it is for someone to get tenure and how academia lacks diversity including De Paul. When the hosts spoke about solidarity between the Blacks and Browns they were saying that oftentimes the Latino community feels that their issues are different from African-Americans (Márquez 2014). The hosts stated that the issues, missions, and goals of both people are the same and systemic racism will only be changed if people come together. In North Chicago, poverty is evident and when interacting with the student, the stories you hear are those of basic survival. The children often talk about relatives or parents in prison, jail, or dead as a result of gun-related violence. My CBSL site is predominately Latino and African American and the students all have similar stories. I believe if the Latinos and African Americans in this community came together it would improve the CBSL site for the school was taken over by the state several years ago. The people in the community have no control over who runs their schools hence underperformance. I believe that if my CBSL and the community of North Chicago incorporated restorative practices it would foster an environment of healing for this community.

  The meeting on Mental Health within a Global Pandemic and Civil Uprising shed light on the fact that minorities particularly Latinos couldn’t obtain mental health services due to a lack of available resources. The host talked about the defunding of mental health clinics in the Chicagoland area and how it has led to an increase of suicide particularly among African Americans. The solution to this problem according to the host is that people must all come together with one voice and demand that resources be allotted to impoverished neighborhoods (Taylor & Stanton 2007). All these events demonstrated how marginalized and impoverished communities suffer the most from a lack of resources. I learned that we all must do our part in ensuring that funds and resources are allotted to communities in need.

Conclusion

The four presentations demonstrate the issues that we are facing today. I believe the practices of restorative practices would benefit the children at my CBSL site because they encourage students to talk and have peace circles. People living a mission to promote a better life make an impact because it would take solidarity and cooperation from all parties involved for it to be successful. Resources and funds must be allocated to the communities in need.

 

 

 

 

References

Márquez, J. D. (2014). Black-Brown Solidarity: Racial Politics in the New Gulf South.

University of Texas Press.

 

Rich, L., Mader, N., & Pacheco-Applegate, A. (2017). Restorative justice programming and

student behavioral and disciplinary outcomes. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

Taylor, S. E., & Stanton, A. L. (2007). Coping resources, coping processes, and mental health.

Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol., 3, 377-401.

 

Worrall, L. (2007). Asking the community: A case study of community partner perspectives.

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 14(1), 5-17.