LBE Segments
Our Learning by Engaging (LBE) Segments empower the Southside community through hands-on participation in cultural preservation, education, and neighborhood development. These interactive programs bring residents together to collaborate on initiatives that celebrate history, foster resilience, and create lasting positive change.
Join us in shaping a stronger, more connected Southside!
RACE, SPACE & SEGREGATION
FLAGSTAFF HAS a documented history of redlining and other socioeconomic practices and policies which have created a trend of physical separation (segregation) of communities of color and marginalized representation within the City’s structure and development. Racial exclusion and segregation are contributing factors to the erasure and lack of representation of Black community structures within the City.
Race, Space & Segregation Resources
“New Southside mural inspirational, educational -- and colorful, too.” Arizona Daily Sun, August 2011: A-5.
“The Days of ‘Haze’: A Personal Journey Down the Back Road to Brown v. Board of Education.” Linda C. Boone, Arizona Attorney, March 2000: 38-40.
“Commentary: Arts, Neighborhoods, and Social Practices: Towards an Integrated Epistemology of Community Arts.” Karen Chapple and Shannon Jackson, Journal of Planning Education and Research 29
“The African American Murals of Los Angeles.” Robin Dunitz, American Visions 9 (Dec./Jan. 1994/1995): 14.
“Rio De Flag – Flood Control.” Bill Gaud, Northern Arizona University.
“Rio de Flag Faces Reengineering.” Lucas Holub, The Lumberjack (October 2002).
“The Community Mural and Democratic Art Processes.” Michael R. Mosher, Review of Radical Political Economics 36 (Fall 2004): 528-537.
“The Murdoch Center is Producing Solar Energy!” Solar Mosaic, 2012.
“The Art of Swinging Left in the 1930s: Modernism, Realism, and the Politics of the Left in the Murals of Stuart Davis.” Jody Patterson, Art History 33 (Feb 2010): 98-123.
“Hey! Are There Any Murals Around Here?” Jon Pounds, Public Art Review 17 (Fall/Winter 2005): 16-19.
“Art as Civic Biography: Philadelphia Murals Project.” Robin Rice, New Art Examiner 26 (April 1999): 18-23.
Wilson Riles: “‘No Adversary Situation,’ Public School Education in California and Wilson C. Riles,” recorded by Sarah Sharp, Regional Oral History Office. The University of California Bancroft Library, 1984.
“Can the Arts Change the World? The Transformative Power of Community Arts.” Abby Scher, New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education 116 (Winter 2007): 3-11.
“Public Art at the Global Crossroads: The Politics of Place in 1930s Los Angeles.” Sarah Schrank, Journal of Social History 44 (Winter 2010): 435-457.
“The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies: A Research Review.” Christine E. Sleeter/National Education Association, 2011.
“Conflict and Consensus: New Deal Mural Post Office Art.” Robert L. Stevens and Jared A. Fogel, National Social Science Journal 33 (Jan 2010): 160-165.
“A Methodological Model for Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation: The RARE Program and Public Health.” Robert Trotter and Richard Needle, et al, Field Methods 13 (May 2001): 137-259.
“Community, Consensus & the Protest Mural.” Jane Weissman and Janet Braun-Reinitz, Public Art Review 17 (Fall/Winter 2005): 20-23.
“The Rise of Black Phoenix: African-American Migration, Settlement and Community Development in Maricopa County, Arizona 1868-1930.” Matthew Whitaker, The Journal of Negro History 85 (Summer 2000): 197.
Mountain Town: Flagstaff's First Century. Platt Cline/Northland Publications, 1994.
Theatre of the Oppressed. Augusto Boal/Theatre Communications Group, 1985.
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Patricia Hill Collins/Routledge, 2000.
Rouch in Reverse. Manthia Diawara/California Newsreel.
The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Paulo Freire/Continuum.
What Has Passed and What Remains: Oral Histories of Northern Arizona’s Changing Landscapes. Peter Friederici, ed./ The Univ. of Arizona Press, 2010.
How Racism Takes Place. George Lipsitz/Temple Univ. Press, 2011.
American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton/Harvard University Press, 1993.
The Great Depression, America, 1929-1941. Robert McElvaine/Times Books, 1984.
All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education. Charles Ogletree/W. W. Norton & Co, 2004.
Theme Town: A Geography of Landscape and Community in Flagstaff, Arizona. Tom Paradis/iUniverse, Inc, 2003.
Southside Community Assessment. 2009. Flagstaff, AZ: Southside Community Association, Civic Service Institute at NAU, and the Arizona Community Foundation.
YOUTH ISSUES & CONCERNS
AS WE ENGAGE in historical conversations about the Black community presence in Flagstaff, we also understand the important futureforward engagement of young voices, issues, and concerns for continued progress. Recognizing the significance of the critical life stage of youth, particularly for young Black members of the Flagstaff community, and the unique perspective they offer to local issues and development, we also recognize the importance of continuously engaging young people and their perspectives on the development of the Black community in Flagstaff.
Youth Issues & Concerns Resources
“Structural Racism and Youth Development: Issues, Challenges, and Implications” – The Aspen Institute/Racial Equity Tools
“The Face of the Future: Risk and Resilience in Minority Youth” – Ana Mari Cauce, Rick Cruz, Marissa Corona, and Rand Conger, National Center for Biotechnology Information/NIH
“Fewer Black Teens Seek Treatment for Depression, Mental Health Issues than White Counterparts” – Rebecca Klisz-Hulbert, The Washington Post
The Mis-Education of the Negro – Carter G. Woodson
Black Youth Rising: Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America – Shawn R. Ginwright
MENTAL & BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
THE HISTORICAL Black experience in America continues to reflect a disparate degree of trauma, violence, and mental and physical health concerns when compared to European-Americans. We recognize the parallel between the historic dehumanization, oppression, and violence against the Black community and ongoing structural and institutional racism, as well and the connection between these factors and the apparent lack of resources specifically aiding in the treatment of Black mental, behavioral, and physical health concerns.
Mental & Behavioral Health Resources
“Mental and Behavioral Health – African Americans.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
“Identity and Cultural Dimensions: Black/African American.” National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
“Black and African American Communities and Mental Health.” Mental Health America.
“African Americans Have Limited Access to Mental and Behavioral Health Care.” American Psychological Association, 2017.
“Stigma Regarding Mental Illness Among People of Color.” Victor Armstrong, MSW. The National Council for Behavioral Health, 2019.
REPRESENTATION & PRESERVATION
DESPITE THE documented historical impact of Black communities on the cultural, economic and broader community development of Flagstaff, there are few to no statements, placards, or other displays recognizing these contributions. We recognize the importance of representation and preservation of Black culture and Black communal wisdom in both recognizing the fully contextualized history of Flagstaff and pursuing an ongoing diversity in the development of the Flagstaff community at large.
Representation & Preservation Resources
“Protecting America’s Treasures: Black History in the Vault” – US National Archives
“Preserve Black Culture: Built Structures Keep Memory” – Dr. Toni Shorter Smith (TEDx Talks)
ECONOMIC
INCLUSION & IMPACT
WE RECOGNIZE the historic and ongoing contributions of Black entrepreneurs, business owners, and other economic drivers to the development and continued advancement of Flagstaff; yet we also recognize that the voices of Black leaders are underrepresented in the local business sector, employment advancement opportunities, and economic development discourse. We believe in the need for sustainable initiatives focused on both historic and current African American service providers and leadership development in order to ensure Black economic and employment parity and sustain the continuous economic growth of Flagstaff with equity.
Social & Criminal Justice Resources
“Criminal Justice as Social Justice” – Bruce Western (American Academy of Arts & Sciences)
“A Prosecutor’s Vision for a Better Justice System” – Adam Foss (TED.com)
WE UNDERSTAND that the broader social and criminal justice concerns of police brutality are not the central issues facing Black Flagstaff community members; however, statistical data bears out a clear discrepancy in Black representation within the Flagstaff criminal justice system. A lack of diversity and representation within the local criminal justice system reflects a disparity in how both Black and other community members of color both view and anticipate likely outcomes of interactions with this system.
Social & Criminal Justice Resources
“Criminal Justice as Social Justice” – Bruce Western (American Academy of Arts & Sciences)
“A Prosecutor’s Vision for a Better Justice System” – Adam Foss (TED.com)
Now that you have had a chance to review the video from this LBE topic, review the corresponding policy brief, and check out the additional resources provided on topic please tell us what you think (in general, things we might have missed, additions to the information provided, or what you think should be done to address the challenges discussed) by sending us an email to flagstafflivedblack@gmail.com