Mizzou Alternative Breaks Blog: Atlanta, GA 2 - Homelessness and Poverty (Post 1)

Our MAB trip, centered on the issue of 'homelessness,' has also served as an eye-opening journey into the heart of racial diversity. And we probably wouldn't have had so much discussion about that elephant in the room if we hadn't gone to Atlanta, Ga.

While in Atlanta, we've been serving at three different organizations that help the homeless: Open Hand, an organization that delivers meals —with a focus on extra healthy food— to people who can't afford it; Genesis, a shelter that provides a safe place to stay for families with newborn children, while simultaneously helping them find jobs to reintegrate into society; and Our House, a child care and support center for homeless families who need a place for their toddlers to be while they go job-hunting during the day.

The work itself has kept us on our toes, just based on the variety of the day-to-day tasks. Since Sunday, we've spent three hours driving around Atlanta address-hunting, with specified meals of 'no fish' or 'no pork' or 'two 1% milks' in hand. We've degreased ceiling tiles in the kitchen to prevent a fire hazard. We've played with kids, who by all means seem like normal ones, after straightening up classrooms full of toys and books that further indicate the universal needs all children have.

But where does the racial diversity, that dominated hours-long discussion last night, come in? It's the fact that we spent an afternoon off at The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Dr. King is a man that we probably all learned about at some point in AP US History, and we all admire him to various extents. But those extents may have caught up to each other, just a little bit more, as we read about the impact his words had, while in an actual town and community that was up to its ears in prejudice.

Atlanta was once a town brimming with segregation and violence, and Dr. King's presence in the community —to the point where a center erected in his name is here—is a reminder of that.

On that shaken up note, that afternoon also reminded us of what no one had really talked about yet: all the people we are serving are of color.

Homelessness is already a tense issue— to deal with it properly, we must first overcome socioeconomic stigmas as we serve people.

But on top of that, the homeless population here has a homogeny that may be a bit startling in of itself and reminds us that these aren't the same people sitting in front of the Blue Note wolf-whistling at girls and asking for a coin or two.

Thus our 'reflection time' last night delved into this universal but silent observation. Alex asked us what we'd been thinking while we stared at all the exhibits of Dr. King's speeches and marches, and a lot of us honestly did not know what to say, initially.

As far as race goes, we're a pretty interesting group of 11 people, not gonna lie. But even with our melting pot of Caucasian, Asian American, Asian, Hispanic American, and African American backgrounds, we've all kind of forgotten that outside the comfort of our CoMo college town, there may be stuff like this that brews beneath the uncomfortable surface.

But we got lucky — we're college kids. We can relate to each other purely based on age, and because we go to the same school. We are 20-somethings who sing 'Talk Dirty to Me" during car rides, tweet candid quotes about 2000's nostalgia, hog the hot showers and freak out over a well-lit Ferris Wheel conveniently located next to CNN.

So maybe that's why it was a little bit easier for us to have an open dialogue in a city none of us is really familiar with. What we could all agree on, ironically, was that not every setting encouraged such honest discussion.

We talked about bitterness and ill-intended preconceptions. We touched on white guilt. We decided that it was okay for anyone, of any race, to cry when pondering Dr. King's tragic but impactful legacy, because it was a part of human history, not just African-American history or even just American history.

As we bond over things such as eating in ordinate amounts of Chinese snacks, we also bond by being open. Each of us has voiced thoughts on the (emotional) baggage we bring on this trip, whether it be issues with trying to take charge, trying to take initiative, or trying to make the most out of this opportunity to serve in circumstances we don't always run into.