Global to Local 2018 Fundraiser

Once a flourishing city on the Hudson River, Newburgh has been experiencing the decades-long effects of deindustrialization; the loss of industry has left our city with an increasing incarceration rate, entrenched drug and gang issues, and high poverty levels. However, local businesses, community leaders, and organizations have been working to better our city. While revitalization efforts are needed, our students and their families worry about gentrification pushing out those who might not be able to remain as rents increase and fear that city improvement efforts might overlook the interests and voices of the people who are already here. Additionally, newcomers might lack empathy for the challenges faced by residents who have lived here for generations. Global to Local is an award-winning global service-learning program in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District. It provides students with an opportunity to learn about a community need in a foreign country, then use the knowledge, skills and dispositions gained during travel to act as Project Managers for a community impact project in our city of Newburgh. The creativity of the 2018-19 Global to Local project lies in studying recovery and healing from trauma in two different but connected places: Cambodia, where survivors and victims’ families are struggling to heal from the Khmer Rouge-led genocide, and Newburgh, which is struggling to heal from the effects of multi-generational trauma created by cycles of poverty, systemic oppression and acts of violent crime. Students from our cohort have been first-hand witnesses to the violence in our community; this past October, several of our students were at a Halloween party where two young women were killed by stray bullets when a young man opened fire during a fight. These events are traumatizing. We need a way to expand the dialogue about these issues, honor those who have lost their lives and help those who are affected find hope. Next summer, in partnership with Peaceworks Travel, ten 11th grade students will travel to Cambodia, where most of the population descends from victims of the Khmer Rouge-led genocide. It is estimated that one-quarter of the Cambodian population was killed between 1975-79. While there, we will visit sites and meet with organizations that are memorializing the genocide, with the goal of helping students understand how public spaces can be used as shared community resources for healing. We see a connection between the way violence has shaped Cambodian society and history, and the ways in which violence and trauma shape our community in Newburgh on a regular basis. While the scope of these tragedies is certainly not equal, the trauma of losing friends, family and community members to violent acts leaves young people feeling hopeless and helpless and manifests in cycles of violence and disempowerment. Bringing these horrific acts to the surface can allow students to process the traumas in their lives. Past cohorts of Global to Local students have attended community meetings with stakeholders who recognize their expertise in leadership, advocacy and social justice; for this reason, the international travel portion of our program not only helps students become empowered, but also positions them as knowledgeable contributors to community initiatives. After travelling, students will partner with community organizations in Newburgh to create a public memorial to victims of trauma and violence in our city.

Our students will research historical oppression in Newburgh, beginning with the effects of multi-generational trauma experienced by enslaved Africans and their descendants in our area and moving through the Great Migration, deindustrialization, and urban renewal, to more current issues of poverty, oppression and rampant gun violence. Our students will conduct interviews with families of the young victims of gun violence, using the information collected to design the memorial in collaboration with MASS Design (a non-profit architecture firm focused on social justice that is currently designing the Memorial to Peace and Justice, in Alabama, which will honor the 4000 victims of racial terror lynchings throughout the American South). This project is about legacy and recognition --an acknowledgement of our community’s shared loss, an examination of the lasting impacts of trauma in our community, a testament to the resilience, hope and the capacity for change we see every day in our students and their families.

Creating this memorial will help newcomers to our city understand our history and view our struggles with empathy. The memorial will show families of victims that others have not forgotten their loved ones and serve as a reminder of the trauma often experienced by people who are victims of poverty and oppression. This work will make clear to all that our young people care deeply about Newburgh, and that they are actively seeking ways to impact its trajectory. Global to Local will allow our students to think deeply about the changes our city is experiencing, and how they want to shape the future.