bayview hunters point community fund capacity building and reflection retreat

Bayview Hunters Point

Community Fund Bayview Hunters Point Community FundCapacity Building and Reflection

Retreat

October 26-27 2007


Community Fund

What is a Theory of Change?

A theory of change is an approach to program development and evaluation assumes that underlying any social intervention is an explicit or latent "theory" about how the intervention is meant to change outcomes (Weiss, 1995; Schorr, 1995).

In the most basic form, a TOC is a set of if then propositions that articulate how to achieve desired outcomes.


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Why do we need a Theory of Change?

Allows for the you to better understand if what you do produces what you want.

Is a way to develop program strategies that meet the unique needs of the population you serve.

Provides a way to look beyond the day to day and see the issues in a broader perspective.


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Why do we need a Theory of Change?

.


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Developing Nia Statements?

Before we can develop organizational TOC we have to understand what constitutes our own TOC for our lives.

On the sheet of paper or card, respond to the following questions.

Who are you?

Where are you going?

What will it take to get you there?


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Conceptualizing Black Youth in Urban America

I

Structural Factors

II

Transformation

III

Perpetuation

IV

Dislocation

Historic Discrimination

Age Structure (Youth)

Changing Econ. Structure

Labor Surplus

Exodus Middle Class

Residential Segregation

Racism

Transformation of Urban Class Structure

(Social buffer effects)

Disappearance of work

American Belief in rugged individualism

Statistical Discrimination

Crime

Concentrated poverty

Joblessness

Shortage of marriageable men

Female household

Out of wedlock briths

Social Disorganization Thesis


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How are black youth conceptualized in research?

Portrayals of Black Youth Thesis Critique

Inferior, dysfunctional Jensen: Biological determinism

O. Lewis: Culture of poverty

Void of social, economic, politically factors

Victims W.J Wilson: Poverty is a function of econ shifts & behavior

Lacks notions of agency

Mainstream & decent Anderson: Decent families Static & dichotomized

Virtuous & central Asante: Afrocentric Static and often lacks analysis of wider social forces

Oppositional & antagonistic Ogbu: Blacks dev. Oppositional values to white America

Blames the victim, no analysis of pro-social behavior


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Research on African American youth is dominated by three prevailing themes

Problems

Focus is on descriptions of various problems of black youth. These problems range from violence, substance abuse, school failure.

Prevention

Focus is on strategies to prevent particular problems.

Pathology

Focus is on ways to understand various problems facing youth. For example, the term “at risk” focuses on factors the contribute to pathological life threatening behaviors


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Reframing Research on African American Youth

Social Ecological Model Ecological model

What are the factors in a young person’s environment that promote or inhibit healthy development?

Family LevelNeighborhood Level

Societal Level


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Toward a Radical Pedagogy for Building Emancipatory Knowledge

Pedagogical strategies

Critical Self-Consciousness

Critical Community Consciousness

Socio-political consciousness

Analysis•Researching•Planning•Debating

•Critical thinking•Relationship building•Strategic planning•Oral & written comm.

•Build issues that cross ethnic boundaries•Youth involve in community change

•Understanding root causes of community & social problems

Action•Coalition building•Direct action•Political education

•Develops problem solving•Builds leadership skills

•Critical thinking•Relationship building•Strategic planning•Oral & written comm.

•System change to meet youth needs•Youth share power

Reflection•Journaling•Debriefing•Group discussion

•Sense of purpose•Sense of accomplishment

•Innovation ideas about community improvement

•Political awareness and clear socio-political vision.


Community Fund

“

Building Emancipatory Knowledge

Critical Self Consciousness

Before, I came here [LE] I didn't know what the term nigga meant and I didn't really care. I would say ‘what’s up, nigga’! ‘What you doin’ nigga’? I had no idea of what the term meant or where it came from. I didn’t know how our ancestors felt when the white man called us nigger. I thought about it differently after this activity – how it must have felt to be treated like we were dogs, like we were animals, to be tied up and pulled around in the dark. It hurts to know that our people have experienced this. But you don’t realize this until you experience something like this activity, even for just an hour. I learned that we call each other that word without knowing the price black folks paid.


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“


Critical Community Consciousness

I realized that we are dealing with some of the same stuff. Not having our fathers around, seeing our mothers work three and four jobs, and having seen your best friend get smoked. I never knew that we were all dealing with some of the same stuff. We are from different turfs in here [LE youth center] and out on the streets we would never even speak to each other because I’m from West Oakland, and he might be from the East (East Oakland) and that’s enough to keep us from connecting because the East and West are enemies. We might even be shooting at each other if we were in the streets. But here we get to see a different side of each other. We get to see the deeper stuff that’s goin’ with all of us.


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“


Socio-political Consciousness

At first I did sell weed, but then it was like, it was like, it’s like I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with it. Then I came around all these folks talking about political stuff. When I started, it was almost like a training ground, like boot camp in the sense that you come from the community that has all these problems and you are impacted by these conditions that we did not create. Then we look at what we can do to change this stuff—we don’t have the resources. Just because we live here doesn’t mean that we don’t have the same rights as the people in the hills.


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“ •Foster clear socio-political vision.•Develop a Nia (purpose) statement.•Connect all lessons to quality of life issues.•Build and support “critical” caring relationships.•Encourage and support youth in; self, community and global change activities.

Building Emancipatory Knowledge in five steps


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“

•Knowledge is not a goal in and of itself so much as it is a path to wisdom. It bestows not so much as privilege as duty.

•And it requires that we teach even as we learn and we learn even as we teach in order to achieve a not so much a higher standard of life for oneself, but rather to create a higher quality of life for us all.

•A. Sivanidan “A Different Kind of Hunger”

Conclusions


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bayview hunters point community fund capacity building and reflection retreat

Documents