For our fieldwork at Harlem First we learned about East Harlem and looked at many valuable maps on East Harlem. The two maps that stood out to me most significantly was a map that showed the audience the amount of colored skinned people living in East Harlem versus the rest of Manhattan. Another map that stood out to me was a map that had a key of fast food restaurants, security cameras, green spaces, etc.. and on each of these things a thumbtack would represent it. For example a red thumbtack would represent security cameras and a blue thumbtack would represent fast food restaurants in East Harlem. After we had a meeting with a bunch of other experts on the topic we split up into groups and asked each other some questions on the maps impact on us. I was in a group of eight people and I only knew one other person and the other people were adult experts on the poverty. It was very fascinating hearing other experts ideas on how we can reduce the amount of people living in poverty so that some day we can abolish it. Another question that one person in my group asked me was my thoughts on the maps and how they have affected me. Many others also answered these questions and I heard a different response to every question. Some people wanted more community centers in East Harlem and some others wanted more diversity in the area. Overall, I took away a lot of valuable information from the experts and the maps which I can now use to help make my groups teach-in.
