I’m gonna throw this out, trusting you to chew on it awhile and give me your thoughts. I am pondering making a significant part of my life writing for a popular audience, teaching writing, and starting newspapers in marginal communities.
This idea came to me the other day and I can’t get it out of my head. I think this is because:
(1) Reading Pedagogy of the Oppressed has affirmed for me the importance of mental liberation as a necessary element of social change, not just changes in material relations. I come from a generation of young, western, bleeding-heart types being sent into the world with development studies degrees and dreams of staffing world-saving NGOs. But I have already concluded that both government poverty programs and their “purer” NGO counterparts suffer from a deep fear of trusting poor people with resources or ever allowing their citizens/clients true autonomy- thereby negating their own reason for existence. The only way that the underclasses of the world will get this control is by demanding it on their own terms. A pre-requisite of this demand is a critical understanding of reality and why it exists as it does. A pre-requisite of this understanding is freeing the mind from the myths that locate the sources of oppressive situations in oppressed people themselves, writing counter narratives… basically people who aren’t encouraged to think thinking for themselves and forming their own ideas of “what is” and “what should be done.” Community written and controlled newspapers could provide a space for this to happen, as could writing classes.
(2) Developing an ever more complex, critical, and reflective understanding of the world (both its larger elements, and the parts that intimately affect my life) has been THE thing making my life worth living. To use Freire’s language, this is the project of becoming progressively more human. Having my understanding of a situation completely blow up in my face, letting the smoke clear to see it in an entirely new way, and discovering that I am capable of changing that reality now that I understand it – that’s where it is AT! If my life project isn’t helping other people have this experience then it’s a waste.
(3) I might be better suited writing for popular, rather than academic consumption. I like writing, people tell me I am goodish at it, and I want to write things that change the way people understand social realities. And not just 10 people with advanced degrees – a politically significant number of people capable of changing social realities as a result. I also struggle to raise the patience/time necessary to write a scientifically sound article on, say, “the enabling factors of neighborhood leadership in earning community legitimacy.” People listen to folks who live in their community, for chrissakes. I don’t need to do three months of data collection to tell you that.
(4) The sub-human ideas that people outside of a given underclass have about said class are really disgusting. These ideas are propagated through terrible representations in media and affect both how an underclass understands itself, and how others think underclasses deserve to be treated. This reality smacks you in the face in Brazil – I spend an afternoon in a favela and then come home to read all google news-hits where the word “favela” was used. It’s two different worlds. What if media was a humanizing force instead of de-humanizing? What if people were telling their own stories, and others were actually listening?
(5) I got a little miffed with my boyfriend when he wouldn’t apply for the new position as Homelessness Advocate for the city of Columbus. I wanted him to propose starting a newspaper written and sold by homeless citizens as the goal of his position (Cincinnati does this: see StreetVibes). Then I thought – why the hell am I not doing this? Well, because I had a ticket to São Paulo of course, but that was probably the only thing holding me back. And you know what, similar empowerment initiatives through visual and print media are being done in Brazil - see for example Viva Favela, Observatório das Favelas, Alfabetização Visual where my girl Gabriela O’Leary works, and the many examples of small community radio in peripheral neighborhoods all over the city.
If I run with this idea, it doesn’t mean I can’t go to grad school. It does mean I won’t be a prolific academic, probably not even a professor, and I will end up work primarily in English speaking countries because I don’t think my language abilities will ever be strong enough to teach writing in anything but English.
What else important might I be giving up taking a path like this? Are there other plusses? Think about it for a bit and give me your comments.
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9 comments:
Hi Laura,
Regarding (1) - I'd say another element of the conceit of bleeding-heart, public service types is a disdain for commerce. And by that I don't mean being against big corporations and investment bankers; I mean the notion that there's something less noble to earning a living than helping others through non-commercial means. This ties in to that lack of trust in poor people you describe. A healthy altruism must respect the natural human desire to improve oneself and express oneself.
I like your emerging plan for how you're going to improve the world, and I'd like to see what material you'll create. As for critical thinking, I admire your reflexive mind but I hope you don't confuse in your writing multiple understandings with complexity. You and I and a third-world laborer might see an event from different perspectives but that doesn't make it complicated.
I don't think you'd be sacrificing anything except what you'd rather be doing, if anything. You're a bright thinker, so spending your time writing is not a waste for society, either.
Laura,
1) Writing is a strong point for you.
2) I wondered why you didn't pursue the newspaper idea yourself.
3) You can combine your love of reading and writing and make connections for people by relating ideas in existing written thought to what is going on in their lives (like you did with Freire and your own life). Make ideas accessible and useful.
4) Leading others to write about what they think would be a worthwhile task.
Good luck! Mom
LT -
love the blog, keep it up! wrt writing, i am with you on that resistance to becoming an academic. i was just going to suggest naomi klein as a kind of model for you to look at. she writes for a mass audience as well and i can see you being a good person to interface between that is going on in brazil with issues that are relevant to english-speakers. i'm thinking also of a book about detroit that i love, called afterculture: detroit and the humiliation of history by jerry herron. i can imagine you writing your own version of that...
kisses!
Hey e,
Thanks for the book tip-off! Though who are you I wonder...
Laura
Klein may be a good writer, but she's a model for a lot of unsavory things like ideological libel and vindictiveness. Her scorched-earth prose gratifies the left but she alienates too many serious people, hence making her impact of questionable value.
Your goal,then,would be to teach others to observe clearly, think clearly, and communicate clearly, right?
Laura,
i was just having a conversation with some friends today about the way YouTube is potentially softening the influence (and dehumanizing force?) of media as people are more empowered to tell their own true stories. I love the idea of a favela newspaper.
I came to check the blog because I thought of you today when I jogged past your house. I just flew home from D.C. tonight with a lot on my mind and so I went running- it was dusk and lightly raining, so forgive my nostalgia- but I was thinking about the small-town girls we were growing up and where we are in life now. I surprised some deer up on the Wallace hill. That's a far cry from your world right now, and mine most of the time.
Anyway, people are always more powerful than theories. And giving them hope is better than giving them money... I think you're thinking along good lines.
love
Martha
Hey Laura,
I can't speak to newspapers in other countries (in India they are apparently doing well), but coming from 15 years of journalism experience in the U.S., I can tell you that newspapers here are NOT doing well. Most of them have cut down on size, laid off staff, even closed. Large chains like Knight Ridder have been bought out. They are driven by the need to please Wall Street investors, so the first priority has been making money, not serving society through solid journalism. Even The New York Times, which is family owned and supposedly immune to Wall Street forces, is under attack by a conservative group of investors which is trying to take it over by force.
That being said -- my years in journalism were among the best, most productive of my life. I learned so much, and any experience in journalism will lay a great foundation for anything else you might want to do with your life. BUT the hours are bad, the work is hard, the pay is low, and you aren't often appreciated by your co-workers, much less the general public which sees you as biased at best and a slimeball at worst. This is why I am no longer in the field. I got tired of working weekends, evenings, and holidays. It was OK when I was on my own, but once I got married I decided that I wanted a life.
As for doing a newspaper for the homeless -- it's a great idea and may cities have this. I would go talk to the people who actually produce the paper in these cities and ask them where they got the start-up cash, who publishes it, how much it costs, etc. Large for-profit papers these days are having a hard time. Subscription costs don't begin to pay for production -- most of this is paid for by ads, and with the Internet these funds are drying up because everyone wants to get the content online for free. However, some papers are starting to make money with advertising online. It would be interesting to see how the homeless people's newspapers are responding to the whole online trend.
Of course everything I just said applies mainly to the United States, and I have no idea how these forces play out in Brazil and other places.
I guess my best advice is to find people in the place where you want to work doing what you are thinking about doing, and sit down with them for a good old-fashioned informational interview. Find out why they went into this line of work, what their biggest challenges are, what their biggest successes are, and if they would do it all over again.
Grad school will always be there, but depending on the field, you might want to consider timing. Many of the more traditional fields like Political Science want to hire new PhDs who are in their 30s -- once you get into your 40s you might be facing age discrimination. But other fields want you to have lots of practical experience. Journalism is one of those fields. Many people getting PhDs are in their 50s.
As for becoming a general non-fiction writer like Naomi Klein or Barbara Ehrenreich – I sure wish I knew how to crack that nut! It’s so extremely competitive, and you have no salary guarantees or benefits while you are trying to break in. There are so many good writers out there – its seems like whether or not you make it depends as much on who you know as how good you are. But this is not to discourage you. Maybe you can find someone who is doing this successfully and ask them what the secret is!
Good luck with whatever you decide -- and keep in touch. Mershon still misses you!
Cathy
Hey Laura,
I had a couple of follow-up thoughts to this. Maybe you could look into becoming a foreign correspondent. However, there would be some challenges. As noted previously, newspapers in this country are not doing well, and what is the first thing to go? Expensive foreign bureaus. So you might not be able to make a living writing for just one publication. You might need to start off freelancing for several publications, and even radio and TV. Maybe in this way you could put together enough to make a living and eventually get picked up by one employer. But steady salary and benefits (especially health care) might be a problem.
If you are interested in this, I would talk to someone who is doing it, especially if you can find someone currently working in the area where you'd like to work. For Brazil, find who is working there now, or Warren Hoge comes to mind. I know he'd remember you and be willing to help out. He also used to manage hiring for the Times. It's very hard to get a job there now -- even our embedded journalist in Iraq couldn't get on because they had a hiring freeze. But maybe he'd have some advice on how to start out.
Also, Mershon had the NPR bureau chief for Afghanistan in to speak this spring. She's been a foreign reporter for a long time, mostly from war zones, so she might have some advice. And there’s Darrin Mortenson, the former journalist in residence, who was embedded with Marines in Iraq three times. He might be willing to help if I could find his contact information. Also, it just so happens that Ohio University in Athens has a great journalism program (unlike Ohio State), and one of its strengths is in international journalism. I bet when you get back to the states, they would talk to you.
Also keep in mind that journalism is very deadline driven, and you have to get information from a lot of people, some of whom might not want to give it to you. Is it in your nature to go after this type of thing? Because bottom line is you are expected to go and get it and have it in time for deadline. Some people have a hard time doing this, but some people thrive on it. Are you one of those people? Or you can take the route that I did which was editing, but those jobs are also few and far between.
For general information about journalism, look up Editor and Publisher and the Poynter Institute. Also try just googling "foreign correspondents" and read some of the blogs and articles that come up. Good luck with everything!
Cathy
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