COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

graduate student identification was welcomed by both middle-class and working-class
residents in the neighborhood. My identification as a student, which was made known to
people who asked about my background, and my status as a third-generation Mexican-
American allowed me to maneuver myself comfortably through various groups of people
from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. In most cases I gained trust from
residents in the community.
Eventually, I visited people in their homes who greeted me with green tea and
bread, homemade dip and chopped vegetables, lentil soup and crackers, or fruit pie.
Next, I gathered community data by visiting neighborhood laundromats, hanging out in
coffee shops, visiting the neighborhood bookstore and art gallery, shopping at local liquor
stores and grocery markets, volunteering at the multi-service center, and speaking to
many residents. Before moving in December 2005 into a small one-bedroom apartment
in a reconstructed Victorian house where I lived for nine months, I spent two years
learning about and exploring the neighborhood at all times of day or night. I stopped at
neighborhood liquor stores to grab beer, soda, or chips (a frequent purchase in liquor
stores), attended Neighborhood Association meetings, volunteered my spare time with
different community groups, and eventually gained enough of an understanding of the
social make-up of the neighborhood to more confidently position myself and settle into
the neighborhood. Performing volunteer work in the neighborhood seemed like a
reasonable way to participate and gain trust from people in the neighborhood and it
allowed me to observe how residents participating in community groups and non-profit
organizations improve the quality of life for people in Oak Park. In addition, I learned
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