Vie Miller CO #3

My final class observation took place on the last day of our CIES class. The students were grouped into pairs and asked to use the photographic evidence in front of them--as well as their own background knowledge-- --to answer a list of questions about the Civil Rights Movement here in the United States. I work as an organizer and am deeply interested in the history of social change, so I was very excited to speak with them about a movement that (I think) represents the best of what America can be; at the same time, I tried to temper my expectations--the students might be interested in business, policing, or any number of fields besides human rights, and I shouldn’t expect them to be as excited about the history of social change--particularly the history of social change in America--as I am.  However, the student that I sat down we was neither enthusiastic or nonplussed; instead, he was jaded. I didn’t really understand until we got to the last question (“talk about someone from your country who has tried to change things”), and he told me that many activists in his home country had been killed. I wasn’t surprised to hear this, but his response did leave me with the following thought: I need to be very intentional about how politics and social change are experienced in my host country before I bring up any issues.