By Vivian Nguyen
Sunday May 12, 2013
Sunday May 12, 2013
Last Wednesday, I took a study break and attended a free screening of "The Revolutionary Optimists," at Rialto Cinemas' Community Theater. A panel discussion took place after the documentary with one of the filmmakers, Nicole Newnham, and two other individuals including our very own 105 GSI, Hannah Sholder!
The film follows the story of Amlan Ganguly, an ex-lawyer turned activist and the children he empowers to become agents of change in the informal settlements of Kolkata, India. From the quietly determined 12-year old Kajal to the quick-witted 11-year old Salim, we get an intimate portrait of their daily lives as they educate themselves and work to put their community on the map in order to pressure policy-makers into providing their neighborhood with clean tap water.
What stood out to me about this documentary was its focus on youth as agents of social change. For my PE at the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) in Oakland, I work with youth empowerment, particularly the empowerment of at-risk Cambodian teen girls. I found a lot of similarities between the thoughts that the children in the documentary had and the conversations that I regularly have with the young women at my PE. Both groups see the issues in their community and they can imagine real solutions. The problem comes with the pragmatics of implementing such solutions feasibly.
Many of the barriers that youth encounter include being written off as "too young" or being seen as too immature to overcome the hardships of enacting change. What a lot of institutional leaders and people at the top don't recognize is the value of youth insight and opinions. The young men and women of all communities often have very comprehensive perspectives on the issues of their community because they are, arguably, the most affected by societal burdens and gains. And while this sensitivity places them in an extremely vulnerable state, it also places them in a unique position to become agents of real change. As we've learned in 105, "good" and "effective" development projects integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches in a participatory manner. Youth are an untapped resource and incorporating them into development strategies can result in more effective solutions.
Both my personal experiences at CERI and this documentary are a testament to the fact that youth can be a valuable asset to any development and poverty-alleviation strategy. Moreover, the value of youth and mentorship programs needs to be recognized because it is through these very programs - such as Ganguly's work with Prayasam - that the talents and leadership of these young individuals can be developed.
Ultimately, youth don't need to be saved - they need to be empowered.
More on "The Revolutionary Optimist" can be found at the film's office website HERE.
The film follows the story of Amlan Ganguly, an ex-lawyer turned activist and the children he empowers to become agents of change in the informal settlements of Kolkata, India. From the quietly determined 12-year old Kajal to the quick-witted 11-year old Salim, we get an intimate portrait of their daily lives as they educate themselves and work to put their community on the map in order to pressure policy-makers into providing their neighborhood with clean tap water.
What stood out to me about this documentary was its focus on youth as agents of social change. For my PE at the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) in Oakland, I work with youth empowerment, particularly the empowerment of at-risk Cambodian teen girls. I found a lot of similarities between the thoughts that the children in the documentary had and the conversations that I regularly have with the young women at my PE. Both groups see the issues in their community and they can imagine real solutions. The problem comes with the pragmatics of implementing such solutions feasibly.
Many of the barriers that youth encounter include being written off as "too young" or being seen as too immature to overcome the hardships of enacting change. What a lot of institutional leaders and people at the top don't recognize is the value of youth insight and opinions. The young men and women of all communities often have very comprehensive perspectives on the issues of their community because they are, arguably, the most affected by societal burdens and gains. And while this sensitivity places them in an extremely vulnerable state, it also places them in a unique position to become agents of real change. As we've learned in 105, "good" and "effective" development projects integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches in a participatory manner. Youth are an untapped resource and incorporating them into development strategies can result in more effective solutions.
Both my personal experiences at CERI and this documentary are a testament to the fact that youth can be a valuable asset to any development and poverty-alleviation strategy. Moreover, the value of youth and mentorship programs needs to be recognized because it is through these very programs - such as Ganguly's work with Prayasam - that the talents and leadership of these young individuals can be developed.
Ultimately, youth don't need to be saved - they need to be empowered.
More on "The Revolutionary Optimist" can be found at the film's office website HERE.
Thanks for your post, Vivian!
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about the film is that it highlights that some changes can only happen over a long period of time and there might not be a quick fix.
My main critique of the film is that it is so focused on it's goal of showing how great Amlan is for dedicating his life, it leaves out the story of the relationship between the community and organization to the government-- wish the film took more of a story like like Julia Paley's article we read for class.
Also, I wish we would have been able to engage more critically during the Q&A about the influence of the film makers on what those children were able to do / not do. Seeing a 11year old yelling at mature women about how they should take their children for polio vaccine would not fly, I think, if the 2 foreign women were not there filming him and giving him that sense of legitimacy and authority.
Hannah