COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

the various definitions of “community” held by residents. Eventually, I co-founded a
community group named the Oak Park Neighborhood Latinos, worked locally for the
CSUS Math Engineering and Student Achievement Program (MESA), became a
participant in a Women’s Needs-Assessment Study, became a regular attendant of
Neighborhood Association meetings, and became a labor organizer for three months at
the neighborhood Labor Association.
While living in Oak Park, I noticed there were a multitude of community groups
and non-profit organizations that focused their work on helping the poor in the
community in different ways. I performed volunteer work with the intention of learning
more about how social change was being accomplished for poor residents and I began to
attend local Neighborhood Association meetings once a month to learn of the
revitalization projects and community initiatives taking place. While attending the
Neighborhood Association meetings, I met a handful of residents who were very
enthusiastic about participating in community projects. Some residents who partook in
community groups in Oak Park cheerfully welcomed my presence, while other
residents—particularly lower-income residents—observed my presence with curiosity.
From the perspective of community activists, I was a resident of Oak Park and therefore
could easily “belong” to such community groups. But many lower-income residents
remained both curious and suspicious of me as I interacted with middle-class residents.
Over time I learned the perspectives that some residents had about poverty in Oak Park
and learned that middle-class perspectives about poverty fueled the creation of various
community groups.
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