CHIMA's Project

What I understand my project to be about is how biking relates to social justice, and possibly helping teach and empower the youth with Tawn Kennedy. I remember when Tawn Kennedy, the director of Greenways to School, the local youth advocacy group for bicycling, visited our class to talk on Friday the 24th. He talked about what he does in the local community in regards to People Power, bicycling, and youth empowerment. . I can relate this to last spring when I took Environmental Justice which had to do with focusing on marginalized communities such as poor communities, people of color, and recent immigrant populations. Environmental justice and the importance of bicycling for a marginalized group of people tie in with each other and are very similar, due to the similar circumstances in which the people are dealing with. I feel that I could do more research about the topic of bicycling, especially with how urban places can become more bicycle friendly, and follow cities such as Richmond and Long Beach, California, especially. I would like to look into the reasons that keep urbanites from biking in urban cities. I already know that issues such as violence and dilapidated infrastructure, such as roads, keep urbanites from pursuing transportation via bicycles. I may also go back to talk to Tawn Kennedy about how I can collaborate/teach the youths the importance of bicycling, and the reduction of the carbon footprint. Also, with the obesity epidemic going on in our country, bicycling is a very effective form of exercise. I understand that teaching and empowering the youths is very important, because they are the next generation, and are our future teachers, politicians, lawmakers, parents, lawyers, etc. The initial first steps for me to take is for me to be able to set aside some time in order for me to be able to do the necessary research. I must do that because, my schedule for this quarter is very crowded.