Epistamology of Knowledge

The power of information and knowledge is something that really struck me while in Los Angeles. After coming back I had to go and get my documents renewed and I went through the hurdles, but it was much easier for me to complete the task because I was priviledged to have an education and can read and write in English. When I came to this country for the first time, myself an immigrant from India, it was to go to school in Minnesota for my undergraduate degree. I was blessed to be a green card holder so my immigration status was not particularly an issue, but acquiring a basic drivers license without an idea how the american system works, was a huge obstacle. I had so many troubles to deal with, and nobody would anser my questions and even worse having no transport in a cold state like Minnesota is no ride in the park. In Los Angeles the large section of the immigrant population do not have that same priviledge and to acquire anything from medical insuarance to a basic drivers license have to move mountains, and that is if they can acquire the documents needed in the end.

The education system for many immigrants who come into Los Angeles is a difficulty to deal with, the public school system is broken and not equipped to handle bilingual and multilingual students who do not speak english. The immigrant population which is concentrated in a few areas of Los Angeles, like Boyle Heights, Pico Union and East los Angeles have bigger and better funded police stations than schools, Boyle Heights being the best example. The thought that crossed my mind recently while thinking back about it makes me shudder, the idea that the government is sidelining certain populations just because of the colour of their skin and their Immigration status, legal or otherwise. The irony is that these are the men and women that keep Los Angeles running, but always the most ignored and sidelined, the Latin American and South American population being the majority. Many of these immigrants came over the border as refugees from violent wars and coups in their countries and America was their way out of a tortured existence or worse death. The system in place to receive refugees from countries so close is very badly managed. There are however NGO’s which deal with the problem of the uninformed immigrant in the United States.LIFT is one of those organizations, which do an amazing job with the education and providing of information and basic services to the legal and otherwise populations of Los Angeles’ immigrant family. What struck me most about this organization is not just the great work they do with providing of information to the immigrant populations but also the outreach work they do to influential and wealthy persons in the Los Angeles society to educate them on the importance and necessity of making policy towards bettering the cause of the immigrant and not 1% population of the L.A area. They conduct a role play exercise every year where they invite their influential and wealty contacts within the area and reverse role their situations where they have to play immigrants or just Americans who do not speak English, and come from a lower income background and have to acquire medical services or documentation to allow them to be a productive member of society.

Reversing the roles on these the 1% of the Los Angeles population to me is the most important task that is carried out by this organization because it creates empathy. When one goes through the true hardship that these populations of Los Angeles go through just because they do not speak the language or sometimes more insidiously are not the right skin tone, a certain understanding and a bond of sort is created. And that is but the first step in ensuring the betterment of this dire situation of ignored and abused human rights.