So I haven’t posted in ages but I thought I would put up the abstract that I have constructed so far for the thesis project I am working on with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign so that my friends can know what I’ve been up to and what’s to come in the fall.
A Participatory Action Research Project Examining Structural Poverty With The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign
With a current national unemployment rate of 9.4% and nearly 350,000 homes lost to foreclosure in the month of April 2009 alone, the harsh impacts of a failing economy are being experienced by a tremendous number of Americans. The myth of upward mobility helps to maintain the American capitalist economic system. The idea that we are capable of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps to achieve the American Dream obscures the reality that the majority of working class individuals are structurally entrapped into poverty for their entire lifetime. However, it is critical to recognize that some groups are disproportionately affected by poverty because of interlocking systems of power, privilege, and oppression that American society operates within. The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) is the largest multiracial movement of poor people in the United States working to abolish poverty through the guarantee of basic human rights to health care, housing, living wage jobs, and access to quality primary, secondary, and higher education. This research project seeks to explore possible linkages between PPEHRC and other poor people’s movements throughout the world using standpoint epistemology as well as intersectional feminism as tools of analysis. Participatory action research and in-depth interviews will be conducted in cooperation with the PPEHRC, which will allow me to engage closely with strategies of resistance employed by the movement. Because this project is grounded in practices of horizontal knowledge creation, it is important that research foci are determined in direct consultation with the needs of the PPEHRC. These foci will become more apparent upon my attendance of the movement’s national conference in July. I will continue participating in grounded research in the fall of 2009 with the organization’s Minneapolis chapter. Research implications will be used to organize a chapter of the PPEHRC in Humboldt County along with local community members using the skills I acquire working in Minneapolis. I intend to also produce a formal thesis paper that could be utilized for consciousness-raising purposes within the local community as well as in the University.
Keywords: Participatory Action Research, Poverty, Intersectional Feminism, Social Movements, Social Justice, Horizontal Research, Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign
I’m back home from my Spring Break trip to SoCal. I’ve spent the day recovering from the lack of sleep and enjoying the quiet of my apartment. Sunday we drove down to SF and had dinner at a Tapas restaurant where I actually ate some shrimp. Then we went to Meghan Lake’s and watched trash TV and drank some beers. I forgot the Aerobed so we had to sleep on the floor which made me >o/
Monday we got to LA and checked into the London West Hollywood which gave us the nicest room I’d ever stayed in. So sexy. They were filming Hell’s Kitchen at the hotel so we went up the rooftop pool and checked out the filming and had a cocktail. It was beautiful. Then we met Andy, Steph, Ginny, Nick, and Sam downstairs for Dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant which was so incredible. Becky came for dessert and afterwards we all went upstairs to our room to have some champagne.
Tuesday my parents came up and we went to lunch at Prizzi’s Piazza and then we tried to find Superman from Confessions of a Superhero on the walk of fame. After we dropped them back off at their car, we headed to Long Beach but on the way there I rear ended the car in front of me. SO BUNK. Luckily my parents were still in town so I took their car when we got it to the body shop and they took the rental. We got to Long Beach and ate at Bouchees Bistro and then hung out at Chris’ house before going to Alex’s Bar for karaoke. We had a blast that night. Celebrated Prisky and Laura Leigh’s bday and just had a great time. I was so happy to see my BFF and celebrate with her on her bday.
Wednesday me, Deric, and Prisky met Ashley at Enrique’s for lunch and it was so good to see her. After lunch Deric let us have girl time which was much needed and we enjoyed the afternoon. I found out that my car was totaled so I spent much of the day stressed out trying to figure out how the hell we were getting back and what I was gonna do about a car. Then we went over to Frank and Sons and walked around and got our pictures taken in the Japanese photo booths. Came back to Long Beach and had dinner at the Indian food restaurant which I had been craving BIG TIME. Finished off the night with a beer at The Pike and had come good convo with my friends.
Thursday Deric and I drove down to San Diego, had lunch at CPK and went to the Bodyworlds exhibit at the Natural History Museum. I saw it in Vegas a while back but Deric hadn’t seen it so it was good that we got to go. We were both pretty exhausted so we came back to my parents’ house and napped and then picked up Sunny and brought Rodrigo’s back for dinner. After dinner we headed back up to LA and culminated the trip with cocktails at Andy and Steph’s and then went to Crazy Girls. Most of the girls were kinda bunk since it was a Thursday night but some of them were totally awesome and everyone had a great time. I bought Deric and I a lapdance together which was hot.
Friday we both woke up pretty hungover and had to drive 14 hours to get back home which was brutal but we made it. We stopped a couple times along the way including Petaluma for Chicago style pizza at a place Deric had been to before. We were both SO exhausted when we got home but so thankful for such a great trip. I’m taking over the responsibility of the mom van and my mom is gonna get herself a new car with the insurance money so it works out alright. All in all, one of the best trips I’ve been on and it made me fall much more in love with him……I know its daterish :P
“American households with incomes of less than $10,000 give an average of 5.5 percent of their earning to charity or to a religious organization, while those making more than $100,000 a year give only 2.9 percent. After changes in the 1986 tax code reduced the benefits of charitable giving, taxpayers earning $500,000 or more slashed their average donation by nearly one-third. Futhermore, many of these acts of benevolence do not help the needy. Rather than provide funding to social service agencies that aid the poor, the voluntary contributions of the wealthy go to places and institutions that entertain, inspire, cure, or educate wealthy Americans - art museums, opera houses, theaters, orchestras, ballet companies, private hospitals, and elite universities.”
From a study published in the New Yorker in 1991.
The wind has been howling so loudly in the last few days. Stacy Michelle came up this weekend and we had a very enjoyable time. We went to dinner at Hurricane Kate’s and then to the Shanty and met up with some of my friends for drinks on Friday. Yesterday we got a bagel and hiked Trinidad Head then went down to the Loleta Cheese Factory and tasted all sorts of yummy cheeses. We came back to my place and relaxed until the evening when we went over to Deric’s and he cooked us the most amazing meal of cheese puffs, marinated tofu for me and halibut for them with this asparagus and spinach sauce that was soooo good, peas with fennel and tarragon, and for dessert homemade truffles and dulce de leche ice cream with white chocolate and toffee. He is insane in the kitchen and so amazing. Then we tried to do a 750 piece CSI puzzle and after 2 hours gave up cuz it was too hard. Stace and I had breakfast at the Alibi this morning before she headed back to Santa Cruz. All in all a very enjoyable weekend. And tonight is trash tv night! YAY!
