Youth Participatory Action Research and Poetry Julio Cammarota

PAR as Critical Literacy A PAR curriculum embraces Freire's concept of “critical literacy,” which encourages students to adopt an “attitude of creation and re- creation, a self- transformation producing a stance of intervention in one's context”.

Starting Point of PAR -- The People ”The starting point for a political-pedagogical project must be precisely at the level of the people's aspirations and dreams, their understanding of reality and their forms of action and struggle." Freire The PAR dialogue begins with the people’s concerns and needs.

Poetry as Entry Point of PAR Dialogue I /They in Place Poem (Create Title of Poem) I see (special features of the place you are in) They look (special characteristics of the people you are looking at and interacting with in this place) I watch (the things that the people are doing in this place) They seem (the mood -- sad, happy, angry, upset -- of the people you are looking at and interacting with in this place) I notice (the way they are behaving in this place) They appear (the way they are treating you in this place) I hear (unusual sounds of the place your are in) They talk about (words of people in this place that stand out) I listen (statements or words of people in this place that concern you). They express (words of people in this place that either make sense or don't make sense to you) I think (the qualities of the place that you like or dislike) They imagine (something the people in this place may imagine about you but they are wrong) I believe (the things you would change about the situation to make it better) We know (something about yourself and the people that will be different than the way things are now in this place)

Poetics of Ethnography Zulem Sonoqui Big Colorful Place I can't help but watch all these people interacting with each other. Some just talk, other people fight with an anger so deep that it fills their heads with rage. They seem unhappy. The people living unhappy lives know what's going on, they know how it is to live in an unjust place. But I also notice one thing. I notice how some human beings seem to think in their pinche cabezas that they are higher than another human being, that they are of big value and I notice how they spit in the face of these people whose skin is red and burnt from the flames of the sun and step on the hands that don't stop working, the ones that have blisters and their skin so rough and peely.

Poetics of Ethnography I hear the yells, I hear the altercations and the sayings. They talk about society and illegal aliens coming in left and right to a whites only place. We all know who they call illegal aliens, but would they call a person from Europe an alien? I listen to all this bullshit and I just think to myself, “Why?” They express it in the way of whoever doesn't have their color, falls beneath their shoes. I think of just knocking the s*** out of them with the power that has been building up more and more and asking how does it feel to be down there. They imagine that people like me are trouble and we evolved just to serve them. But I try to believe and think positive. We know there’s a lot of people out there, with this attitude, so what do I do? There’s only the way to think outside the premises and say something!

Poetics of Ethnography

Your Turn. !Sigue! I Am 1.I am (two special characteristics) I wonder (something you are actually curious about) I hear (an imaginary sound) I see (an imaginary sight) I want (an actual desire) I am (the first line of the poem restated) 2.I pretend (something you actually pretend to do) I feel (a feeling about something imaginary) I touch (an imaginary touch) I worry (something that really bothers you) I cry (something that makes you very sad) I am (the first line of the poem repeated) 3. I understand (something you know is true) I say (something you believe in) I dream (something you actually dream about) I try (something you really make an effort about) I hope (something you actually hope for) I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

Generative Themes Themes that bear relevance to your life Themes that indicate some issue or problem Themes that have impact on human existence What are the generative themes in the poetry?

Dialogic/Dialectic Reflection Generative Theme - experiences, events, or actions that are in conversation/relation with other forces (political, economic, social, cultural) Contradiction- responses that increase tensions to problem Genesis – not symptom but origin or root source of problem Resolution -- dialogue with origin or root source

Dialogical Processing of Generative Themes Theme (problem) Contradiction (tension) Genesis (origin) Resolution (dialogue) Stereoty pes Self- identity Social equality Discrimi nation Media Arizona Laws Media Education Stereotyp es Class society Peer pressure Assimilate deportatio n Fear of change Discomfort Unknown Culture prevent Internalized oppression Generation al clash Capitalism History of colonizatio n Insecurity Film studies course Create own media Internet Create your own art Use globalizatio n Cultural event Food experience