There’s no doubt that the work that
UC Santa Cruz students accomplish during their time at the University can serve
as a training ground and experimental space for future work in communities
beyond Santa Cruz. The latest example of this in the bicycle and social justice
realm is the creation of a new bicycle cooperative over the hill by two UCSC bicycling
banana slugs, Adrian Baker-Kang and Cassidy Kakin, who are pedal driven to make
a difference for youth and bicycle riders in San Jose.
At a recent Bikes & Food Justice Festival at UCSC on May 3, I had the opportunity to hear Adrian, a UCSC senior and UCSCBike Coop co-owner, speak about his thesis work on the role bicycles can play
in supporting communities who don’t have access to healthy, fresh foods nearby.
In his words,
“I looked at the obstacles facing low-income individuals when it comes to accessing sustainable, low-cost, transportation. Due to a lack of infrastructure and education, bicycles are simply not a viable method of travel in many cities still, where car users are reluctant to share roads that were not designed with bicycles in mind. The option of public transportation in busy cities can be a massive time investment for many individuals, with short trips across town taking two to three times as long compared to cars or even bikes, as buses become stuck in traffic between picking up and dropping off passengers.”
Adrian’s solution is pro-bicycle, but with infrastructure
issues also comes the costly matter of purchasing a bicycle and then maintaining
it.
Adrian speaking at the Bikes & Food Justice Fest.
Both
Adrian and his best friend Cassidy studied Politics and “focused
[their] efforts and inquiries on the position of marginalized populations
in low income communities.” Cassidy Kakin, who graduated last year, explains that
“Adrian studied
public transportation and bike infrastructure, and I
worked on the intersectionality of poverty, race, and education
in modern urban society.” Their grassroots approach to these complex issues comes in
the form of a bicycle cooperative in East San Jose, called the East
San Jose Bicycle Cooperative.
Intrigued
by their vision and purpose, as well as their studies on social justice and accessibility
issues in communities like East San Jose, I asked them for an interview. Here’s
what they had to share:
Melissa Ott: How did this bike co-op idea
come about?
Cassidy Kakin: I’ve spent the past year
serving a Year of Service with City Year, an Americorps Partner, in a low
income school in the suburban ghetto of East San Jose, and I’ve seen the many
social pressures and economic struggles placed upon the massive population of
marginalized youth in the Alum Rock School District.
The East San Jose Bicycle Cooperative is the combination of
the two efforts, studies, and experiences of two best friends and UCSC alumni. Its exact origin is shrouded in cold IPA's
and hot Sunday afternoons spent together day dreaming about changing the world
and starting something big, and in some sense evolved organically from an idea I
had to come back to East Side San Jose in a different and more ambitious
capacity, and Adrian's divine inspiration to change the world and promote social
justice from the seat of a bike.
Adrian
Baker-Kang: As a community bike mechanic for two and a half years, I have worked
closely with low-income and poverty-level individuals who relied on their
bicycles as a critical method of transportation due to the low cost and ease of
owning and operating a bicycle. I never considered its potential for social
change until I spent a year working at the Bike Church in Santa Cruz. The Bike
Church is a non-profit community bike shop that promotes personal empowerment
through teaching individuals how to do basic mechanical work on their own
bikes. One thing that struck me while working there was how much worth these
individuals placed upon their bike, valuing them oftentimes more highly than
shelter or a hot meal due to the transportation needs they fulfilled.
Melissa: What is your vision for the East
San Jose Bicycle Coop?
Adrian: Our vision is to help make the city of San Jose one of the most bike
friendly cities in the nation, and a model for sustainable transportation
world-wide. Our model will be one of building strong relationships with the
community to foster lasting bonds in promoting bicycles as a viable method of
transportation. We will be working directly with San Jose’s youth and their
parents to address the safety and educational needs unique to this city, such
as how to effectively navigate between downtown and East San Jose.
See more photos and videos of youth supporting ESJBC here.
Cassidy: We’re still in the process of evolving
from an idea into a sustainable and successful project. All our goals now and
in the future involve means of promoting a positive bike culture in East San
Jose's youth community, in order to fight the injustices imposed upon young
people by restrictive socio-economic realities.
As of now, we are hoping to promote a positive bicycle
culture as an alternative to the often illegal and illicit or gang related
activities that some of East San Jose's most vulnerable youth fall victim to. We
hope to work during existing afterschool programs in middle schools and
elementary spaces in Alum Rock schools, which have successfully situated
themselves to address the issues facing San Jose's youth.
Melissa: What might your work in these
schools look like?
Cassidy: With elementary school students,
we hope to fan the flames of the developing hobby of young riders in a safe
way. We have seen students with bright
futures riding dangerously and recklessly and want to provide education so that
their increased access to bicycle infrastructure will not come with negative
side effects. In addition, the multifaceted benefits and goals of the bicycle
world like environmentalism, social justice, and invigorated cities will be
promoted.
In middle schools, we hope to take a long term and holistic
approach in the after school space, giving us the ability to form and develop
meaningful relationships with students. We intend to have fully functional,
mobile bicycle repair clinics to teach students how to maintain and service
their bikes, while continuing bicycle safety education.
Image from the ESJBC website.
Melissa: Why are bicycle co-ops
important and valuable to communities? Why does East San Jose need one?
Adrian: Bicycle co-ops are an
invaluable community resource socially, economically, and environmentally.
Socially, they bring communities together in an engaging environment in a way
that automobiles cannot. Individuals have the opportunity to slow their life
down for a moment and learn new mechanical skills and make new friends without
spending any money. Economically, bicycles are a cost effective method of
travel that vastly expands the distance individuals can travel who do not use a
car. The lack of gas, parking fees, and maintenance costs provides a valuable
resource for making fun and healthy trips around town to the grocery store,
school, or meeting up with friends.
Cassidy: As I’ve described, we do not
intend on having a stationary “shop” space as many bike co-ops have; we instead
intend to be fully mobile, giving us the ability to work in schools directly
and develop meaningful relationships with students. So why brand ourselves as a
“co-op” rather than an educational after school program component? There is a certain power in the word
“cooperative,” both in the bike community and more generally. We are a co-op
because we intend to base all of our programming on the needs of the community
we serve, evolving with and promoting the growth of the students and community
members we work with, hearing their voices and responding to their ambitions
and goals for our project. We hope to bring the ideology of a co-op model
without replicating the typical cooperative structure. In this way, we hope to
empower the voice of East Side San Jose's youth while promoting bicycle culture
in a safe and productive manner.
Melissa: How are you spreading the word
about this, and how can the community support your work?
Adrian: We are promoting our
cooperative through a grassroots campaign, working from the ground up to
directly interact with the communities we will be serving. This includes
hosting free drop-in bicycle clinics, writing city council members, and
promoting our organization through the parents and teachers of the students we
will be assisting. We are currently seeking help in terms of volunteers for
assisting with our bike clinics, a graphic designer to create a logo, and
financial support from potential investors.
Gathering community support for the co-op, Cassidy (right) stands with Justin of Autonomous San Jose and RideESSJ.
Cassidy: At the same time, we are
expanding our efforts, learning, and promotion beyond the East San Jose
foothills and have begun the important and extensive process of reaching out to
networks and people in bike enclaves around the world—from Santa Cruz, Santa
Clara and the rest of the Silicon Valley, Marin County, Oregon and beyond, to online
networks and social spheres. We also hope to reach out with and sit down with
some big movers and shakers in the Silicon Valley bicycling community, like San
Jose Bike Party and the Silicon Valley Bicycling Coalition. Hopefully, we will
be able to learn from and work alongside the giants who have been working on
bikes for years in San Jose and the surrounding areas.
Adrian: With the support of others in our
community, we hope to further the ideals of sustainability, safety, and financial
viability by promoting bicycles to a younger generation, to help promote a
greener and healthier future. We are seeking support from anyone who is interested in supporting
our goals, so please visit our website, blog, and social media sites and send
us your ideas!
To support Cassidy
and Adrian in making their vision a reality for the youth of East San Jose,
please visit their Indiegogo
campaign site, blog, Facebook, and Twitter to
learn more. You can contribute money, ideas, resources, and volunteer support
in numerous ways!
