-By Zoey
This Monday I did an interview with an ex-member in CEF. It all started off with a simple idea of wanting to do an ethnography project. To be honest, prior to the interview, none of us had any idea of what kind of story we would get.
It was absolutely amazing. Our interviewee expressed himself so well that I can only get that kind of complexity and intricacy from books. We haven't done with the editing yet. But I just want to share a small part of his story (from the interview transcript):
“ I might be ten years old. My family was living in xxx Queens NY, a prominent black, white, Italian neighborhood. They didn't want us to live there. They burned a cross in front of our house and told my mom that she didn't belong here. My parents both have government jobs. They belong just where they belong. To see their pain and to see the society not doing anything about it. It made me not trust police officer, not trust society. Even at that young age, I know there is a difference, between me and somebody who are already established to be there. That makes me fight for some stuff. That made me say: I’m not settling for you telling me I don’t belong here, you have to show me why I don’t belong here. I am a strong-minded person. I am not going to suffer for my own lack of something. I am not going to suffer don’t having a job while I know I can get one. I am going to seek out and find the way to get these jobs."
" I lost faith in the school system; I lost faith in the so called system of society. I lost faith in the police officers. There is one place I didn't lost faith—the fire department. I used to walk down to the fire house. People let me sit in there and talk, like counselors. They gave me a different outlook on social officers. They let me know that not everybody is against you. They let me know that life doesn't just depend on you waiting for someone giving you something. I got a lot of mentor from this guy named John. He is not even a counselor, he is a fireman. He was like a big brother. He was like a father figure almost. Although my father was in and out of my life, I trust this guy like I trust my father almost. He always has something good to tell us. Its wasn't just me, there were other teenagers too. He would talk to us. He played ball with us. He got me into what I like to do now: to mentor teenagers, to give back. I think he has a lot to do with that. From time to time, he comes back to mind, and I start to think about him and so many good things he did with us."
"I grew up in the situation where I always wanted to be equal and people around me have to be equal too. CEF gives me the opportunity to do that. To give my brothers and sisters an equal opportunities to step up, to have the opportunity to get a job, to go to school, to get the resources. To me that’s very important."
"I want to start my own organization. I would really like to have a house like the XXX house. Because now I know how to run it. I've stayed that so long and I know how to do it a little better than it would be done.”
“If you don’t make room to give back, you’ll never (find time). I’m not financially wealthy, but spiritually I am a rich man. I am a billionaire. I am full of whatever god gives me. It’s a blessing just to wake up in the morning. So we can be alright. I’m okay with that. I know eventually it will work out really good.”
I guess it's this kind of things that makes me really enjoy my work. It gives me with a completely different perspective from the daily number-crunching, future-doubting mode and take a step back. Every single person has his own story to tell. Sometimes, all we need to do is to sit down, and listen.
It was absolutely amazing. Our interviewee expressed himself so well that I can only get that kind of complexity and intricacy from books. We haven't done with the editing yet. But I just want to share a small part of his story (from the interview transcript):
“ I might be ten years old. My family was living in xxx Queens NY, a prominent black, white, Italian neighborhood. They didn't want us to live there. They burned a cross in front of our house and told my mom that she didn't belong here. My parents both have government jobs. They belong just where they belong. To see their pain and to see the society not doing anything about it. It made me not trust police officer, not trust society. Even at that young age, I know there is a difference, between me and somebody who are already established to be there. That makes me fight for some stuff. That made me say: I’m not settling for you telling me I don’t belong here, you have to show me why I don’t belong here. I am a strong-minded person. I am not going to suffer for my own lack of something. I am not going to suffer don’t having a job while I know I can get one. I am going to seek out and find the way to get these jobs."
" I lost faith in the school system; I lost faith in the so called system of society. I lost faith in the police officers. There is one place I didn't lost faith—the fire department. I used to walk down to the fire house. People let me sit in there and talk, like counselors. They gave me a different outlook on social officers. They let me know that not everybody is against you. They let me know that life doesn't just depend on you waiting for someone giving you something. I got a lot of mentor from this guy named John. He is not even a counselor, he is a fireman. He was like a big brother. He was like a father figure almost. Although my father was in and out of my life, I trust this guy like I trust my father almost. He always has something good to tell us. Its wasn't just me, there were other teenagers too. He would talk to us. He played ball with us. He got me into what I like to do now: to mentor teenagers, to give back. I think he has a lot to do with that. From time to time, he comes back to mind, and I start to think about him and so many good things he did with us."
"I grew up in the situation where I always wanted to be equal and people around me have to be equal too. CEF gives me the opportunity to do that. To give my brothers and sisters an equal opportunities to step up, to have the opportunity to get a job, to go to school, to get the resources. To me that’s very important."
"I want to start my own organization. I would really like to have a house like the XXX house. Because now I know how to run it. I've stayed that so long and I know how to do it a little better than it would be done.”
“If you don’t make room to give back, you’ll never (find time). I’m not financially wealthy, but spiritually I am a rich man. I am a billionaire. I am full of whatever god gives me. It’s a blessing just to wake up in the morning. So we can be alright. I’m okay with that. I know eventually it will work out really good.”
I guess it's this kind of things that makes me really enjoy my work. It gives me with a completely different perspective from the daily number-crunching, future-doubting mode and take a step back. Every single person has his own story to tell. Sometimes, all we need to do is to sit down, and listen.