College so i was able to talk to a group of kids in the program and i also interviewed students who were part of another Afterschool Program that i was a more traditional and i wanted to see what they thought about trying to achieve something more than just roaming the streets. I wanted to hear from their perspective what its like to be part of this movement going on to graduate from the program for their undergraduate work for the School Example and berkeley and columbia surveyed so they did quite well. How do they feel about this achievement at the same time is southcentral and they have a Bad Reputation as a place of gangs and drugs and other kinds of problems in the impoverished community. Theres all these problems and issues and so i set out to interview them and i realized it a certain age you wont get them him to say anything so how do you feel about what youre doing and do you like where youre going in the program that would be it. So there was a methodology that they used to call photos waste methodology and its voice methodology and its a Grassroots Organization that believes that everyone has the right to speak and have a voice. They let them grow out and document their lives so we gave them cameras and i didnt want to tell them what to see because i wanted it from their perspective so just take this camera and go out and tell me what you would like to show me about your life and that was an amazing experience and the most amazing thing for me is i learned from them. Its astonishing. What they did was they used a camera to tell about their experiences from their perspective so the solving of identity. They made a statement about photographs that i have no idea what was going on and i started with giving them a camera then they took the photo and i took the camera from them and i took it to costco and id be the first to see the photographs and im making a judgment for my now middleclass perspective on the adult stage. When youre looking at it and its not really clear i got this person is walking back and i didnt trust them to do it. One of the reasons is the director of the center told them it would be a good idea for you to do this. And i think because they made that statement but they will bring back their friends and family. I took it to the focus group on campus and as soon as i said it i thought okay the truth is they are going to walk by and pick a photograph and not at all. You could see them out. Then theres others that disagree. This is what we see every day in our lives but i made that mistake often because i couldnt believe some of the photos i see one girl came to my office for me to interview her and she was sitting in a large chair, shes 12 and she had taken a picture of a toilet in her school. The back of the wall was dirty and i said heres another one she probably thinks this is going to be funny. I said why did you take this and she said look what we have to put up with. Nobody cleans this and then they blame it on the. How interesting. So i learned a lot from them and what they were doing was challenging because no matter what they seem to do in this kind of community, people who do not know them seem to think that they are criminals or just kids doing awful things so i asked them what do you think people think and she said we are all ghetto thugs and i thought that was amazing. No matter how hard they work to do Something Like take part in this Program People still have these ideas into that name designates in the community and outside in terms of peoples general perspective so they had a chance to challenge that and turn it upside down. Whats interesting is many people in the surrounding area were frightened because they lived next to the gang members and everything and according to the program they cant associate where they would be exiled from the program so they liked it so much and got so much out of it they wouldnt want to be seen in that light. They are afraid, there were stories of being afraid. The gang members had stories about this kind of fear they have about the community and whats interesting is they didnt blame the parents like the usual story so they could take a photo in the back of the class and this was kids who were not involved in anything else but the workcenter program which wasnt quite in describing areas of day were picked out and had the same kind of problems because they seem to present a good picture of them for the students that there was no pressure in terms of how they were given this responsibility for setting up a good model of them and so the students have taken a picture of the classroom and my question is why did you take that picture into the student said look at this. This classroom is just easy to go to. He was upset about this. There is the story of kids who didnt want to become educated. They were disruptive in class and they were upset that he wasnt getting his education. Look at that. They said nobody cared for them. The School System doesnt care for them, the cops dont care for them and how they responded to the situation they said we dont see anybody coming in to clean. I thought that was astonishing. Where did you get the name of your book . As a kid that is explaining about the picture that was taken you know we live in the shadows but no one knows so for me it was the chance to make the invisible visible and say to the larger people that are in the subject look at the kids that are stereotypes and it could be harmful but in this case it was mostly because the Afterschool Program they were not feeling they were willing to challenge it. I come from a nice family maybe it doesnt look like that i can train a family that cares for me and we are able to speak in a different way than we used to suppose a great finding. Stick with the kids plucked, white, latino . Were the kids black white latino . I cant think of a number there were more latino. But they were coming from two indictments in the Initiative Program here on campus coming from the afterschool Homework Center and thats in hollywood so it is a different environment so maybe they will have something to say thats different. Maybe theyve been able to intrude upon the thinking of the community because there is a program that has Something Different to say about their environment but that isnt true. What is the significance of the university of Southern California where we are today being here in this neighborhood that it is . A sociologist once said this is a haven from the heartless land and that is how i felt. A lot look at the pictures were from the universities. They loved coming into the campus. They took pictures of the buildings come pictures of the bookstore they get through those of the classroom everything covered. They were so thrilled to be here biggest outpost in the and represent and a little kid wanted her picture taken and they worked with my associates were the students have graduated and were now in the undergraduate program and one of the people that was helpful graduated from here and she said i want to go back to my community and help so it was quiet and safe and beautiful and they were also well respected by people that talked. You use the used the term in your book hyper ghettoization. Guest i used to live in the black ghetto of harlem. Guest is that very tour from . Guest thats where guest thats where im from originally. And though it didnt seem to be that way it was an awful place. They didnt have games at the time but there were problems and it was considered and he is arguing that its gotten worse that in these communities they are more alive than ever so its easy to get caught up. Theres a lot there is a lot of violence. I think its changed a bit but there is a lot of poverty and the kids see that and they lived nextdoor. Next were this man came over to talk to me and my father was so angry he went over there and told them you cant do this to me and the next time they had to do with this constantly so this is much more blatant you could see it more than when i was in the ghetto. It was much more of a problem. To the kids have to apply to be in these programs . Stick the teachers recommend them and evaluate her table to do this kind of work and what is interesting about this is they are not taking these students. People are often not giving them something and it seems they have to do extra come and i have to go to regular school at this school and one of the kids said i dont think my teacher likes me, i have to go to this program and do more work and she finally got the idea maybe this is better for you and we laughed a lot and she was just so upset. I have to go to regular school and then do work after school. We did convince her you are going to have a great experience. This is a special. Youre going to like this and they will care for you. She was astonished. As a sociologist would have you learned about the Public Education system that these kids are coming out of . In this particular community most of the kids are failing and the students pointed out teachers in the picture i talked about earlier there are other pictures of teachers who they thought the name them and one of the pictures this is interesting i thought this was probably a favorite teacher. Then i said and i said what did you want to tell me about that and the student said and i dont use their their Name Services and the teachers name. He said that mr. Black and i dont like him. When i asked if i could take his photograph he said no you cant take my picture right now and he said but i want to take a picture of you with every doing her hand a burrito in your hand so he was writing on the board looking like the perfect teacher and i heard many things. There was a group of students on campus that worked for the joint Educational Program and maybe a few schools outside of the community but they came back telling me these children are great than they then they go on to tell their stories can you take over the class because this person had bills to pay. Do you know the answer to that question . I cant do the class at this moment. What i think though as i sat back and i thought about that School System it is such a failure they are not getting funded. The teachers are in a bind they are teaching classes at least some of them are and the 40 or 50 kids may be having problems at home where they demonstrated in the classroom. The kids dont know that so it wouldnt make sense to tell them there is another story so they are not funded well and they are feeling out of place and blaming it on the teacher. Its against the teacher that it has to be about the environment that they are living and they really dont want to teach in this community and one person told me i get teachers in this school and as i said we step back and its not the teachers either. They are just overwhelmed. The school was called on to do a lot. They become the Day Care Centers at night, just everything happens to impact the school and they are not allowed, they cant teach. Let me back up on that. Many of them talk about having substitutes teachers and thats one of the things in terms of the student said i was in this class edifices just this year we have three substitutes teachers coming in without much background knowledge and then they leave and there is no background. And i cant come thats not good for the teachers having to be in that situation or for the student. Guest so guest so if its not the students fault or the schools fault, why is the system not working in your view . Guest if you read the newspapers and do that. The one reason that some of the others have a Public School should be getting the same funding. Its to hold fundraising. One of them they were able to raise 240,000 so that they can have extras. I am not sure what happens. In the Public School where the students are welltodo were the parents can do things for them thats not happening in these schools. So then i think