Civic Identity

Bianca Robles-Muñoz & Michael Borro

What is Civic Identity?

How one's personal skills, abilities, and interests may aide community development and leadership.

While in St. Louis, we had the opportunity to speak to a number of individuals and organizations about how their personal skills impacted the community around them. In turn, they also reflected on how the community responded to their efforts and how students reacted to their leadership to develop their own civic identities.

Ms. Blackmon Davis

As a proud alumni from Sumner High School, Ms. Blackmon Davis is the poster child for embracing her civic identity. She gave us a tour of Sumner High School and told us all of the rich black history it holds, gesturing to all the images, newspaper clippings and artwork displayed in the halls. Her pride was clear in her passion, as she shared not only the things that made Sumner great but was candid about its struggles and where she thinks it could improve. She was so involved at the school as a parent, she was eventually offered a position as the head of the Alumni Association followed by a full-time administrative position. She now uses her involvement with the Alumni Association and the St. Louis Public School District to get influential alumni to come back and support and push for change. In the face of a possible school closure, she fiercely and unapologetically continues her work to make the school great.

Joe Edwards

When we stopped at the iconic Blueberry Hill in St. Louis on the Delmar Loop for lunch, we did not expect to meet this character. Covering most of the restaurant's walls from ceiling to floor, Mr. Joe Edward's face is familiar amongst hundreds of the most well known names in music, Hollywood, and more household names - like Neil Armstrong! Knows at the "Duke of Delmar", Mr. Edward is the owner of Blueberry Hill, along with multiple businesses and music venues on the Delmar Loop - named one of the top 10 streets in America. He displays his civic identity by investing in the community and making it a place for people from all over to want to come and visit, while also working to take care of the local community. He helped revitalize the Delmar Loop Area by renovating numerous historical buildings, and even starting the non-profit St. Louis Walk of Fame, which stretches across the Delmar loop with stars which display the names of great St. Louisans. He has used his influence to share St. Louis' history and make it a place people are proud of.

Henry Shaw and the Missouri Botanical Garden

At the beautiful Missouri Botanical Garden, some of the volunteers we met included these two women, Veniecy (left) and Linda (right). We asked them about the legacy of civil identity surrounding the garden, and they told us about Henry Shaw. Shaw had owned thousands of acres of the St. Louis area when the city was in its infancy, and donated it all to the city when he died. Linda noted that the garden was an important part of civic identity and pride for the city, as Shaw's legacy allowed residents to realize the potential of themselves and of their town.

Kingdom House

At Kingdom House, a place for after-school activities and summer programs for underprivileged students, we met with Scott, a University of Iowa alumni. He said that for over a hundred and twenty years, Kingdom House had helped children in the area. As part of their civic identity, employees try to stabilize the community and provide a pathway out of poverty. Their identity is built around providing long-term programming for children who most need it.

Bianca's Civic Identity

I am pursuing a major in Speech and Hearing Sciences with minors in Latino/a/x Studies and American Sign Language. While I am not pursuing a career in education, I will be working with children in the future as a Speech Pathologist. I found myself thinking back to some of the things I learn about language acquisition in children, and how important it is that they have adequate exposure to language early in life, or it can set them behind later in reading and writing skills. From this we know that parents of low socio-economic status spend less time at home because they spend more time working, and their children get less language exposure before they enter school. This can already set children behind their peers of high SES, and for many of the kids in the St. Louis education system, predominantly children of color, this is a systemic issue which isn't being accounted for in the education they do receive. They are being left behind and I know as a future speech pathologist, this is something I must recognize - they're not any less capable, they just need more support. But it's not enough just to help them in the clinic, I must be an active citizen and advocate and support for education reform, and volunteer within my community.

Michael's Civic Identity

As a future teacher, our ASB trip to St. Louis challenged my conception of what it means to be an educator. I, like all teachers, want to be considered 'good'; I want to care for my students, and challenge them, and inspire them to think critically and creatively. While at both Sumner and Kipp, however, I witnessed none of those elements from the current crop of civic leaders in the school district. I witnessed disrespectful school board leaders, principals who could not relate to their students, and teachers who insulted and ignored the children they were supposed to be helping. My personal civic identity was altered somewhat from witnessing these events. It is no longer enough for me to teach students about grammar, or Shakespeare, or To Kill a Mockingbird; I must be actively involved in every part of my students' lives so that they can thrive. Before school, after school outside of school... it doesn't matter. I need to be there for them, and I need to inspire them to have just as much passion for volunteering and helping others as I do.

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