As I was reading through Tactics of Hope, I began mulling over some thoughts about community literacy and service learning. The main idea/concern that kept running through my mind revolved around questioning why most of what we have read involving community literacy is situated as “us” going out to “them.” Or, as we discussed in class last week, rhetoric as academic discipline—where the scholar is the agent, but acting in a space in which he or she is not native. Then, I began questioning why the majority of scholarship I’ve read on the subject (both in class and on my own) situates community literacy in communities/publics of low socio-economic statuses.

This makes me wonder what community literacy looks like in a more upscale (and possibly) stable community. Like, I’m imagining community literacy enacted to help serve the Potter Park Zoo (where I currently volunteer). Perhaps that type of work simply doesn’t have the same hotness factor as does working with women’s shelters and soup kitchens? Or perhaps working with those we perceive as equals is such a totally different dynamic that it’s considered boring? Or maybe, just maybe, as selfish researchers, we have to do something, anything, that will allow us to perceive ourselves as giving something back?

I’m not being facetious here; this is an actual line of inquiry in my mind. Why is it that the bulk of what we see focuses on “bad” neighborhoods, “unfortunate” circumstances, and on those perceived as somehow “less than?” I suppose if I were to look at this in a less cynical way, I could imagine that, as privileged academics, we may feel the responsibility to use our powers for good and not for evil, and that, for some reason, we feel we can do the most good in areas populated by “underprivileged” people.

My fear, in writing this, is that Jeff will answer this question in, like, one sentence. Interesting, right? Seriously, at the beginning of the semester, I would have wanted Jeff to give a quick and definitive answer. But now? Since my goal in this class has shifted from “getting all the answers” to “generating good questions,” I’ll be seriously disappointed if this line of questioning sucks.

On a side note, I picked up Paul Loeb’s Soul of a Citizen at C’s this year (for only $2.00!!!), and I was thrilled to see Mathieu reference it on page 47. It’s on my summer reading list…

Lots more to say, but not enough time in which to say it…