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Critical Reflection Paper: ClassismMapping American Poverty

Caressa Nguyen

Loyola University Chicago

By attending Geography of Poverty, a showcase by Loyola University Chicago

displaying the work of a photojournalist named Matt Black, I was able to recognize the power of

storytelling and how it social class and economic status conjures a unique story for various

groups and individuals. As a photojournalist, Black began his project in his own hometown in

central California where many families and migrant workers live in extreme poverty. Pushed to

explore the depths of American poverty, he decided to take a three-month trip to various corners

of America to gain a wider perspective on poverty in our nation.

People in our country avoid talking about class (Adams et al., 2010). I found this so

prevalent to myself as I never understood to what extent people in California lived in povertya

stark contrast to myself, hailing from over-privileged Orange County, California. I had always
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known that my family had financial difficulties, especially in comparison to the affluent people

who lived in luxury homes surrounding my community. However, I never truly comprehended

the harsh realities that other families could face in such close proximity to where I grew up.

Black called central California the unknown California (2015). These words resonated deeply

in me because it defined a life and community completely unlike my own. All of the pride and

love I had for the California I lived in clashed with the barren life of the central valley.

Adams et al. (2010) points out that the United States is filled with myths pertaining to

class. Myths that people continue to hear within and outside of our country. Ideas that all

individuals have a fair, equal chance at success or that everyone in America has the opportunity

to become richer (Adams et al., 2010). As a result of these mythsthe idea that everyone has an

equitable chance of a prosperous lifeimmigrants for Latin America journeyed to the States in

hopes that this is true for their well being and their families. Adams et al. (2010) also mentions

the much-diminished American Dream in which migrant workers believe. Matt Black spoke

on his experiences of not only engaging communities of poverty within the U.S., but also his

experiences at villages in Latin America, where migrant workers left behind their families to

provide financial for them and to bring them to the States. However, this illusion of the

American Dream affects the families left in Latin America because those who immigrated can

barely make enough for themselves to live on.

There are said to be a growing number of temporary jobs in the United States (Adams et

al., 2010). Directly correlating to the experience of the stories Matt Black shares, migrant

workers often live in places temporarily and follow a trail of crop picking (2015). As a result,

debt continues to rise as a vast majority of borrowers are poorindividuals with incomes

between $9,000 and $17,000 a year (Adams et al., 2010). The entire presentation made me think
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about the experiences that workers in central California today were so similar to the Dust Bowl

era when thousands of families migrated to California to work. It was completely nave of me to

think that such situation could still be true until I learned about the oppression these workers

faced who were a part of Blacks photo-journal project.

Matt Black created the work he did to alter perceptions and to give the space for these

stories to be heard. It dawned on me to think of the way in which he, as a photographer, must to

show up to these experiences in comparison to other professions such as journalists, writers

and bloggers. Black said, If youre not there, you cant even begin (2015). In order to take

pictures, you must be completely present and even then only a snapshot of what is learned there

is all that is taken from it. It was also interesting because Black used Instagram to garner

popularity and reach the masses in a way that was intentionally intertwined with technological

advancement and trends. However, by using such an avenue of social media, it made me wonder

how critically society would view Blacks work. Being at the presentation and listening to

stories straight from the sources was different that scrolling through my phone aimlessly.

Especially for millennials and the youth of today, often seen as click activists, mere snapshots

create a desensitized norm in receiving information about poverty. It is interesting to try to

understand how younger generations understand what they see in front of them in comparison to

the magnitude of what they learn and experience from others.

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Resources

Adams, M. J., Blumenfeld, W., Castaneda, C., Hackman, H., Peters, M. L., & X. Zuniga. (2013).

Teaching for diversity and social justice (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Black, Matt. (2015 October 19). Lecture presented at Geography of Poverty: Matt Black maps

Americas poverty in Lewis Tower, Beane Hall, Chicago.