LACS students listen to Pastor Bruce from New Orleans 7th Ward

by Elizabeth Field

Students at the Lehman Alternative Community School took a day off from regular classes on Monday to attend workshops and presentations focused on social change, youth activism and sustainability.

Called 'Infusion Day' and organized by the school committee 'Ending the Cycles of Oppression,' students engaged in workshops such as "reverse racism and other myths" and "living with disabilities." There were also presentations on youth issues in the criminal justice system, homophobia, youth rights, eco-activism, hip-hop culture, and immigration rights.

Ana Goldsmith, the staff person who heads the "Ending Cycles of Oppression" committee, explained why it' so important to have the event, "I feel there is a sense of urgency around all these issues," she says. "It's not being taught to young people, so I think we can take one day to explore these issues." 

Patrice Lockert-Anthony, a local woman who works with the Village at Ithaca and is an advocate for social change, presented a film to middle and high school students called "This Black Soil," a documentary about an impoverished, rural, primarily African-American neighborhood in Virginia who successfully fought off having a maximum-security prison built literally in their backyards.

Lockert-Anthony says the film is not just about any one issue like racism or classism, though it embodies those issues; it's about how people can succeed when they come together to work for change.

After the film, Lockert-Anthony led the students in a critical analysis of the film by dividing them into four groups and asking them open-ended questions about how education can play a role in overcoming adversity. "The students couldn't take their eyes off the film," Lockert-Anthony says. "I found them to offer thoughtful and engaging responses to the questions."

Pastor Bruce Davenport, from the 7^th Ward in New Orleans, also spoke to the entire middle school population at the event about his church, the situation now in New Orleans, and how politics often "fail people at the bottom." He said that his neighborhood in New Orleans still looks like Katrina just happened yesterday, and how people in his neighborhood often turn to desperate measures to survive.

After the workshops and presentations, the students were treated to live music by local band Thousands of One, with Elliot Martin from John Brown's Body, and a hip-hop group from Albany called Broadcast Live.

In past years, LACS has held Infusion Day with the themes of ending racism and family planning issues.