Social Justice in Action Class Visits Neighborhood Residents

In Mrs. Katie Murphy’s Social Justice in Action class, students have been discussing the issue of affordable housing. On Friday, September 29, the class—which is open only to seniors—took a walking tour of Gonzaga’s neighborhood. Led by Father Bava of Holy Redeemer Church, the tour gave the boys the chance to visit the homes of local residents, speak at length with some of our neighbors, and visit both S.O.M.E. and a nearby mosque. After the field trip, Mrs. Murphy asked her students to write a reflection. Here are some excerpts from those essays:

“Today I feel like I made progress in understanding how important the concept of ‘home’ is. Hearing Nathan tell vivid accounts of his past at Temple Courts, whether it was playing basketball and football every day, having many inter-community rivalries, or big cookouts. You could tell with the passion he described those activities meant the world to him. In my many respects, his home was who he was as a person.”

“The walking tour of our area has taken away my ability to look at Washington D.C. the same way. Every time I look at the K street parking lot I think of Mr. Nathan and all of the people who lost their homes in Temple Courts. I feel so much discomfort.”

“Today helped me cement my belief that the best way to learn things is true experience. The articles we have been reading in class have been quite informative and quite interesting but I learned the most by meeting and talking to people who were affected by the housing crisis.”

“One major key point I took from those interactions was that the only way to make noise with the government is through unity. The government has structural power, but in order to overcome that power, we need the unity of the residents who have been wronged.”

“This is real life for these people and when the city government decides to come over and take down someone's house without their permission they feel like they are literally homeless and without a home. Never in a million years could I have imagined my own house being knocked down.”

“Ms. Alberta fought tirelessly for justice. As we left I heard her tell Father Bava that the recreational center was destroyed for the teenagers and she wanted to know what she could do to help give the boys a place to play. After forty years of dedication and now on an oxygen tank, she uses all she has to work for her community and improve it.”

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