The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

YES Prep Teacher: Fighting for the Forgotten Population

March 08, 2011 by Jeremy Jones

Standing atop the hill that Frederick Douglas once called home in Southeast Washington DC one misty Sunday morning, everything I had read about the inequality in America became real. Anacostia, a once thriving community home to one of the most prominent figures in American history, was dying. Meanwhile, just across the river in one of the wealthiest cities in the world the policies that permitted this disparity were being made by men and women who seemed to turn their backs on the horrendous living conditions of the forgotten people of Anacostia. How could such extreme poverty exist in the capital of the wealthiest nation in the world? I felt a sense of responsibility as I looked out over our nation’s capital. I didn’t think that this realization would change the trajectory of my life forever. But I had been awakened to the reality of poverty in our country and I would never be able to forget it.

Searching for motivation for a paper on race and class issues in the United States, I decided to stroll through the streets of Anacostia that morning with a notebook in my hand. I was immediately struck by the sense of lifelessness that permeated the community. Wandering amidst the poverty, I saw signs pointing visitors toward the home of Frederick Douglas. Frederick Douglas was the first African-American to move into the neighborhood that is now 99.5% black. Climbing to the top of the hill I began to think about the suffering he endured before finally “making it” – realizing the American Dream for himself, but never content to stop working before it was attainable by all.

Some things are only apparent when you are actually looking for them, and others become apparent only when you are not. At the top of the hill, the human element of the statistics I had read about poverty and inequality in the United States became all too real. My previous experiences in DC had mostly been limited to Georgetown, an affluent community that features brightly painted houses and successful businesses. Flowering plants and trees line its bustling crowded streets as families and businesspeople in suits eat scones and sip on $4.00 café lattes. Four miles away in Anacostia, boarded up houses, carry-out restaurants, and places of worship protected by bars on all windows and doors line the trash-covered streets. People scrounge for enough change to purchase their next 40 ounces in the corner market. It is hard to find joy and motivation in situations where all you see is poverty, depression, and alcohol. Perhaps that is why there are so many places of worship in Anacostia; if people cannot find hope in the world below, maybe they have to look for it in another. I felt a sense of responsibility and I couldn’t stand idly by and allow this social injustice to be. I knew I needed to make myself a part of the solution.

The first steps down from the Frederick Douglas house marked the first steps on my journey toward working for social justice. I did not yet know how I was going to make a difference, but I knew I had to. I began to research the history of racial and class-based disparity in Washington DC. Through my research I concluded the biggest gap in attaining the American Dream for those born into poverty was the lack of available opportunities. The call to change the education system in our country, a country that espouses equal opportunity for all but gives far from it, screamed my name. After nearly two years of serious research and reflection I concluded that the only way to make a difference in reducing the inequalities people face in their adult lives is to start working towards equality for children. That fight begins with education. Education is not just a necessity but a right. Education is the fulcrum of opportunity in this country, and only by giving a child the education they deserve can we affect change long term.

Six years after standing above the poverty of Anacostia I am still fighting for educational opportunity for the forgotten population of our country. Although my journey has taken me far from where it first began, the heart of my mission remains grounded in that moment of realization that came over me on a misty Sunday morning standing above Washington DC.

Brian Jaffe grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.He attended school at the University of Maryland, College Park. Jaffe currently teach 6th grade Social Studies and Robotics as YES Prep Gulfton.
 

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