I just listened to an episode of NPR’s This American Life, that told the story of Harlem’s Children Zone. Founded by Geoffrey Canada, HCZ has the stated goal to eliminate poverty in Harlem for all children. Not a reasonable percentage – but all of them.
He starts with “Baby College,” where he teaches parents of infants and toddlers to say encouraging things to their children, and to not hit them.
He has developed a system of charter schools taking children from pre-K to high school graduation.
Combine this with community programs, outreach, social activism, he does it all.
And it seems to be working.
(He even got the best of Stephen Colbert!)
Canada’s approach isn’t without controversy. Basically he has decided that he will help the children in Harlem but his programs will only indirectly help their parents. Contrary to many social programs, he is not assuming that he needs to raise families out of poverty before he can improve the children’s circumstances. Instead he assumes that giving the children a chance – even as they experience poverty now – will eliminate hardships for the generation that follows.
Part of me wonders if there isn’t a lesson in that. Does meaningful change require hard choices? If you are unwilling to take risks, even risks that might tear your heart out, are you also closing the door to the reward you’re hoping for?
Read up a little on Harlem Children’s Zone, then let us know what you think.
Jason
Hi Jason,
Interesting work that Geoffrey Canada is doing. Thanks for making me aware of it.
I’m not sure if I understand your questions exactly, but the quote that came to my mind was this one:
“The Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants tells us to be ‘anxiously engaged in good causes’. This suggests we can’t respond to all causes. We must be selective in the things we seek to do in terms of community and civic chores. But it also suggests we ought to devote a measure of our time and talent to do these things, for they do count on the scales of action as God sees it.
“The world is full of fads. The world is full of the marches of lemmings to the sea. The world is full of causes that lead into conceptual cul-de-sacs. Our task, therefore, is to be wise in the selection of good causes…
“Anne Morrow Lindbergh, in her book Gift from the Sea, says: ‘My life cannot implement in action all the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds.’ You will care for more things than you will be able to do things about. Wise selection of causes is one of the highest forms of the uses of free agency that there is, and, really, one of the ways God tests our basic wisdom and our capacity to love.”
(Neal A Maxwell, speech delivered at Catalina Young Adult Conference, 23 Oct 1972)
Part of life is making choices which causes, of all the ones you could engage in, are the ones that you will devote your time and heart to.
To not engage in any, because you can not engage in all, seems like a sad response. It seems like even though Geoffrey Canada recognizes he might not be able to solve all the problems fully, by focusing on specific ones he is clearly making an impact.
Guess what?
Of all the people I meet at an event I was at last night is someone working with the Harlem Children’s Zone. There is an event tonight (Wed) here in NYC at 6:30pm about it. If anyone is here and interested in attending, I can give more details.