The topic for this week's discussion was Cultural Humility, which is defined by the National Institute of Health, as "A lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another’s culture, but one starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities." We emphasized the importance of acting with cultural humility as we serve and interact with the multidimensional and diverse members of the South Berkeley community. To be culturally humble means that you are willing to learn about others, and is a way to fully connect and inspire togetherness, community, and ultimately well-being for ALL. Cultural Humility begins with a reflection and appreciation of your own culture. So, we asked our students to prepare a dish they feel represents their own unique culture. Here is what they created... Afro-Mex Greens This dish is called "Afro-Mex Greens" as coined by Daniel's mom. Daniel comes from a multicultural background, and this dish represents both his African American and Mexican heritage. It is a take on traditional collard greens, consisting of collards, kale, bell pepper, diced green chiles, onions, garlic, and *as a Mexican twist* chile verde salsa. Arroz con LecheThis beautiful dish was created by our newest project member, Sol to represent her Mexican culture. This is a dish she eats around the holidays and the aroma of the sweet cooking milk always reminds her of home. Arroz con leche can be eaten either warm or cold, though Sol prefers to eat it while it's hot. This dish can also be altered to various dietary preferences, using non-dairy milk and adjusting the amount of sugar added to change the sweetness level, although Sol says that the most important ingredient is the traditional Mexican canela sticks, which are softer and flakier than other cinnamon sticks. Sweet Potato PieThese delicious pies were made by Za'Nedra, with the help of her mom. This is a dish that her mom always makes around the holidays and the steps are fairly simple. First you roast a couple sweet potatoes, peel off the skins, and mix the potatoes with eggs, butter, sugar, nutmeg, lemon, and vanilla extract. Then you pour into a pie crust and bake! Though Za'Nedra is not a fan of the pies, this is a staple in her home no doubt and we can see why, just look at that color! LentilsAngel's cultural recipe is a yummy veggie-stocked lentil soup. His recipe uses kale, onions, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, chayote, lentils, and a little bacon for extra flavor (the bacon can be left out for a vegan dish). Another tip is to save your veggie scraps for homemade stock or be sure to throw them in the compost!
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At our first meeting back for this project year, we discussed the ever important topic of Environmental Justice. Our Moving South Berkeley Forward project is an environmental, social justice project aiming to provide the South Berkeley community with equitable access to a green space and community garden. We asked our students to reflect and define what environmental justice means to them, as well in the context of our project. Environmental Justice by Daniel Finis-Perez
According to the EPA, Environmental Justice can be defined as the treatment of all people that is fair and meaningful regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It is the belief that asserts access to clean healthy resources like air, water, soil, and a safe, livable community are essential human rights that everyone should have. Despite this belief of equal access to a healthy environment, not everyone is able to experience that right. In fact, most communities that experience the unequal access to sanitation, clean water, air, and food are people of color, particularly Black communities. This unequal access to environmental amenities is called Environmental Injustice. One must take into account that environmental justice is not solely about equity of environmental resources, but it also interconnects with racial justice, economic justice, segregation, etc. In the 1930’s, the federal government in the new deal of the Roosevelt administration pursued policies in which they would segregate metropolitan areas. The first civilian housing program was the United States Housing Authority (USHA), which would frequently demolish integrated neighborhoods in order to create segregated public housing. They would close schools, libraries, and other public facilities to force people of color, mainly African Americans, to move to an area where the city designated it as a ghetto. Another program that the federal government persuaded to enforce segregation was the work of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). They subsidized a development of suburbs on the condition that they only be sold to White families and that the homes in those suburbs had deeds that prohibited resale to African Americans. The FHA’s underwriting manual stated that “Inharmonious racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities,” meaning that they made it almost impossible for African Americans to live in White neighborhoods. As the federal government concentrated low income African Americans in single neighborhoods, cities frequently withdrew public services from the communities. They collected garbage less frequently, they didn’t provide water and sewer services, and polluting industries and toxic waste plants would be placed in African American communities in order to protect White neighborhoods from deterioration. The end result was that African American neighborhoods would turn into "slums" where African Americans experienced a disproportionate level of exposure to toxins, pesticides, and air pollution, which lead to an increased rate of health problems like cancer, heart disease, and asthma. This environmental gap between different ethnic communities caused by the actions of the federal, state, and local governments creation of residential segregation should’ve never happened, as there are three provisions in the federal constitution that prohibit it. One is the 5th amendment which requires the federal government to treat all citizens fairly. Another is the 14th amendment that requires state and local governments not only to treat citizens fairly but to also treat them equally. And then the 13th amendment which abolished slavery, also requires that we banish the effects of slavery which congress long ago determined was any form of second class citizenship. So in fact, the prohibition of African Americans to purchase homes in federally subsidized white communities with the segregation of public housing created a form of second class citizenship which was in violation of the 13th amendment. Nevertheless, segregation still happened, and it is still happening today. It causes communities like ours to suffer from unequal environmental amenities, one of which that is principal to our community is the access to green spaces. At Moving South Berkeley Forward, we are making an effort to close the environmental gap we see in Berkeley by providing more green spaces to the community of South Berkeley. Green spaces will provide access to healthy sustainable foods, and with a variety of different trees and plants, the quality of the air we breathe will improve. -Daniel Finis Perez, 11th grade |