"We Live in the Shadow": Inner-City Kids Tell Their Stories through Photographs

Acknowledgements

acknowledgments i owe a debt of gratitude to the brilliant kids who trusted me with their photos and stories and whose inner-city experiences challenge popular assumptions and theoretical perspectives about inner-city kids’ lives. i give special thanks to the directors of the after-school centers who took time out of their busy schedules to talk with me and introduced me to the kids at the centers, especially Kim Thomas-Barrios, the director of the University of Southern California neighborhood academic initiative (nai), who granted me full access to the kids, their parents, and the extraordinary nai staff, including Danielle Chavez and angela reyes. i owe a debt of gratitude to isabel Duenes and michelle Zavella, former nai and USC graduates, who assisted in the early stages of this project with setting up interviews, typing transcripts, and sharing their views on the nai program. This research could not have gotten off the ground as well as it did without their support and guidance. Gloria Sohacki introduced me to directors of several after-school progams. Her commitment to supporting the eduation and well-being of children serves as a model for me. i was fortunate to have the support and many contributions of Karen Sternheimer, who had to sign off as coauthor because of her own writing commitments . She co-organized a workshop based on an earlier version of this book for the 2007 american Sociological association annual meeting in new york City. and despite a busy schedule, she was always willing to lend me an ear when i rambled on about the kids in early-morning hallway meetings and x | acknowledgments to let her students attend a special class meeting to discuss an earlier version of this project. i offer a special thanks to Linda Fuller for her support and to arlie Hochschild for offering critical analysis, insight, and encouragement in the early stages of this project and for her support throughout the years. many drafts later, i remember having an “aha” moment when i discovered how much the theoretical perspective of the sociology of emotion added to my own take on the kids. mitchell Duneier’s powerful study of Greenwich village street vendors, which included their interviews and photos, greatly aided my understanding of how to use the kids’ photos and stories in a sociologically meaningful way. i thank my colleagues mike messner and pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo for reading the first draft of half-baked ideas. i was sure they would throw the draft back at me. instead, they took it seriously enough to critique my ideas and encourage me to move on. Other colleagues in my department offered me tremendous support, especially veronica Terriquez and the former chair, Tim Biblarz, who suggested that i develop a visual sociology course based on the photovoice methodology used in this book. The sociology department provided funding for some expenses, and the current department chair, rhacel parrenas, was very supportive. Sharon Hays and Ed ransford took time out of their busy schedules to read an early draft and told me to move ahead. Emir Loy, a former graduate student and my associate researcher, spent a great deal of time working with me at the nai students’ group meetings. Emir also created the certificate of participation given to the participants. Oscar verdugo, a former undergraduate student, shared his experiences as a Latino teenager. Jeb middlebrook was very supportive of this project, as were the students in my classes, who peppered me with comments and questions that contributed to my thinking about these issues. i also thank Stan Huey, whose knowledge of kids in gangs also added to my understanding of these kids. The great women of the sociology department’s office staff, especially Lisa rayburn, Stachelle Overland, amber Thomas, and melissa Hernandez, have all supported me in one way or another. Special thanks go to Cynthia Hudley for reading a draft and for her keen analysis of the material and all her support throughout this long process, and to manuel pastor for taking time out of his busy day to talk with me. That talk led to another “aha” moment. i also learned much from the many conversations with the fantastic women in my Curves group, including Gloria Sohacki, Linda poverny, and Kathy yoshimi. i cannot say enough about Christine Cardone for the many insightful and stimulating conversations i acknowledgments | xi had with her that greatly influenced my ideas about...