Public
Pedagogy Assignment
Educ.
440
6/18/03
Sunny
Dawn
I
live in Sausalito. I know when I first started thinking about living in
Sausalito I had no clue the dynamics of the area. I just knew rich people lived
in “Yacht land” and that it had lots of trees and a beautiful view. I have now lived in this area for about
2 years and have found there are many cultures in the Marin County area. However there is one area never talked
about or that not too many people even know exist, Marin City. It has a
marginalized community that seems invisible to the tourists or residents of
pretty Sausalito. It is in this
place that I found a brilliant public Hip Hop space last month called, Hood
Games.
When
driving home one day I saw a large poster that said, “Marin City Skate Day” on the
outside of the tennis courts (which are never used in Marin City) and saw that
it was turned into a skate park with a bunch of ramps. I had seen a couple of functions there
in the last 2 years but never interested until the free skate park idea, see I
was a skater when I was a kid and have always hoped my daughter would be into
it. So she was game and I took her
over to the daylong event. When we
got there I realized it was so much more than just a free skate day. Yes there were tons of kids with
skateboards but it was so much more. There were people making food, making
healthy smoothies using a blender powered by a bicycle, art table for kids to
paint there skateboard helmet, the make shift ramps for a skate park, DJ
playing ‘old skool’ RB/Hip Hop jams and large vinyl poster in the center of it
all that said “Hood Games”. The
counter cultural capital was so obvious to me. It was by far the coolest event that has happened for youth
for the entire two years I have lived here.
The
dominant message was in my opinion was, “look we are here and loving our
version of life.” I was so proud
my daughter who was not intimidated being only 1 of 3 girls skateboarding that
day. The space created had a very
loving vibe and was not very competitive at all which I know can be at some of
the skate parks in the city. There
were people of all races there and you could tell parents involved were so
happy their child was having a good time.
The counter narrative was also clear because there were no booths trying
to sell anything, which can make a person feel poor if they don’t have any
money to participate (as so many fairs do in the area). In fact they were not charging at all
to use the ramps. The food was
very affordable and the smoothies were free.
The young men facilitation, who
were Caucasion and African American, were emphasizing that being engaged was
the most important part. For example, skater tricks that were performed
received prizes and somehow my daughter (who barely knows how to skate) got a
prize. Now usually prizes are a sticker or something but no she received some
really nice skater socks, which I know are not cheap. I saw a lot of kids received socks and I thought that was so
brilliant because all kids need socks from all economic ranges but especially
kids who are of low income which is a factor in Marin City. There were other posters represented CA
Healthy Kids and Tower Park, I’m not familiar with these organizations but the
fact they were part of the funding for this shows that other populations are aware
of the need to contribute to the communal wealth of these kids that live in
Marin City.
I also
appreciated that healthy food was being encouraged, art was a focus and that
there were skater mentors on the court making sure everything was flowing
smoothly. I know for a fact that
skating is sometimes considered a “white boy thing” only and that was definitely
not the message this particular day. I think some of the messages being
conveyed by having this space in Marin City was that look we are not just a
poor area of this Sausalito experience but, we are a living thriving culture
that has amazing things to offer this community. I felt it gave voice to the people in that area that seem
never seem to be a part of the corporate “yacht” culture of Sausalito. I appreciated that the 3 girls, my
daughter being one of them, were photographed numerous times together by lots
of people. I believe because the
girls were of different skin colors as well as their gender showed that this
space is positive for these young girls in a dominantly male sport and it said
a lot about the philosophy of the parents as well involving their daughters, if
I may say so. These counter
narratives to the locally dominant
narrative was great, I appreciated it because I often feel there is not enough
opportunities for the low income kids in the area or for kids to just get
together and have a good time.
Another obvious moment of all of us acknowledging our cultural capital,was
when the kids took a group picture of their skateboards and the young man who
took their photo climbed the fence and told the kids, “ Raise your skateboards!
And on the count of three shout,‘Marin City’!” I truly appreciated this because you don’t hear Marin City in
a positive tone too often if ever and the Hood Games organizers knew that. The day had a feeling of being alive
and free and had such an authentic beauty to it.
Later
my daughter and I reflected on the fact that as my daughter puts it, “all the
African American people live over there and all the old white people live in
Sausalito, well except for us mom.” (my daughter is unaware of her skin color
she says she feels Native American, Mexican and Irish). Just being able to have deeper
conversations like this with my daughter speaks to our understanding of race
dynamics in our community. I
believe that ‘Hood Games’ nonconfrontationally helps with these difficult conversations.
I
was able to interview the founder/coordinator of ‘Hood Games’ and he said he
has other spaces like that in West Oakland and he is trying to have that area
of Marin City (which is in the Section 8 housing) become a public space. I
found out that he is also a teacher at the local charter school, Willow Creek
Academy. I was able to give my
contact info to the founder and told him about this paper. He was really interested in this class
and I hope he and I can have a deeper dialogue about working together as soon
as he knows I am a teacher in the area now.
I
believe my positionality in regards to this space is a bit
multidimensional. I see it through
an educator’s lens and appreciate how important it is for not just the “low
income or marginalized” youth but for all kids in the area, which I know came
out that day. It is huge that events
like this continue to flourish in this area to avoid segregation of the have’s
and have not’s which is one of the reasons why I moved out of the city as well
as decided to take a break from Urban education in S.F. As a parent who doesn’t have a lot of
money being able to take my daughter to a safe space that has the type of
culture I relate was also important to me. Although I love the trees and birds in Sausalito/Marin City
the people are a bit challenging to get to know in both cultures. I know I never quite fit the mold for
either populations as an “middle class educator, who is a queer person of
color/single mom”, yet this Hip Hop space provided a place for my daughter and
I in which the labels were not really significant.
