Today I attended the west coast launch of "Teaching The Levees" curriculum, hosted by the UW Center for Multicultural Education and UW-Bothell Education program. The curriculum uses Spike Lee's documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a text to address social and racial issues and encourage "democratic dialogue and civic engagement." I have only seen an excerpt from the film, but the message is very powerful and speaks to the racial and social inequities that many have ignored.The launch was accompanied by a panel discussion including Walter C. Parker --UW-Seattle, Margaret Smith Crocco -- Teachers College, Columbia University (editor of the curriculum guide), Michael Honey --UW-Tacoma (author of Going Down Jericho Road about MLK, Jr.'s last campaign), and Joy Ann Williamson -- UW-Seattle. The most compelling thought, to me, came from Joy Ann Williamson when she shared an analogy from a book (if I remember correctly) she is reading entitled The Children Hurricane Katrin a Left Behind. The premise was that there is a difference between charity and justice.While the boy in the story was saving starfish that washed up on the beach by coming every day and throwing as many as he could back in, he was not addressing the real problem, which is why are the starfish washing up on the beach in the first place? Charity is helpful, but more importantly, to make lasting change one must find the root of the problem and fix it.
