Forwarding the Conversation

Please note that the videos below are not for the faint of heart as some may find many of the images and languages disturbing; I did. 

Adding to this thread of rethinking the way that we see poverty in America I’ve included the trailer to a documentary entitled Gangsta City. This documentary captures daily life at what was the Cabrini Green Housing Projects in Chicago.  The video was produced by Cabrini Mob Entertainment. Both of these videos are trailers to Gangsta City.

After watching these videos think about what you saw. How do those who lived at Cabrini Green impact you? If they do impact you then how? If they do not impact you then why not?

I have posted a number of videos that focus on what is commonly termed “foreign aid” or “foreign relief” specifically in Africa. In this Rethinking Poverty thread I am going to begin to move into poverty as it relates to the United States. Much of what I will be focusing on are the every day realities of our own country.

I chose the following video to open the first post because it paints a lyrical picture of a person’s journey out of poverty and into the American spotlight. I will seek to use a variety of different mediums to form a holisitc view of the many complex facets of poverty that exist in our country. After watching the video read the questions. The questions are designed to stimulate a deeper level of thinking about some of these issues.

How can America fix poverty in other countries when we can’t even figure it out in our own?

What role does poverty play in your everyday life?

What does poverty look like to you?

How do you define poverty?

Imagine if we could scale the world down, proportionally, to a population of 100 people. What would it look like? How many people would be living in poverty? What would the wealth distribution look like?

This video shows us what the world would be like if we could scale it down to 100 people. It really brings things into perspective. Below are some questions to stir some deeper reflection once you’ve finished watching.

What role can each of us play in forwarding the world’s conversation?

What conversations are currently missing that would allow the entire world to organize around the idea that we all deserve and equal playing field?

If things don’t change what will the world that we leave our children look like?

Check out the Miniature Earth Project Website for more info.

Leadership – In order to create leaders we must empower people. People must have a vision and then act in fulfillment of that vision. This gives the leader the ability to create rather than innovate. Outcomes and deliverables give you innovation. Vision and commitments give you creation. We need leaders who have the ability to create.

This TED Talk is by a man named Patrick Awuah who started a school to train leaders in Africa.

Educating Leaders in Africa