Please install Flash® and turn on Javascript.
In a speech on education, Barack Obama stated, "These children are our children. Their future is our future. And it's time we understood that their education is our responsibility. All of us." He was responding to a comment made by a teacher in Chicago who explained to him the biggest challenge facing her students - "These Kids Syndrome". "These kids don't want to learn", "these kids can't learn", or "these kids are too far behind" are just excuses fabricated to explain away a failing educational system. After awhile "these kids" become someone else's problem.
Amandla Charter School is located in Englewood, a neighborhood in the south side of Chicago. Englewood leads Chicago in violent crime and the statistics don't favor the children of this community. For example, the leading cause of death among black Americans ages 10-29 is homicide - a rate more than six times that of their peers. Thomas Mortenson, an education policy analyst, suggests that there is no more important determinant of human welfare today than education attainment. "In almost every way, people with more education enjoy a higher standard of living. They live longer, have better health, and are happier and more productive than those with less education."
I hope to document over an extended period of time the administrators, teachers and children of Amandla Charter School as they challenge the belief that schools can't make a difference in educational inequity, that children of color cannot meet high expectations and that it is not worthwhile to invest in communities entrenched in poverty.
Through my photography, I would like to tell the story of a team of educators who have embraced "these kids" and this community and who have endeavored to give them the vision and skills to graduate, attend college and live enriched lives. I would like to follow the first class of students (now fifth graders) as they progress through the years. They will be the students who get to choose the school colors, the school mascot and hopefully, one day, will graduate from its halls.
In the coming year I would like to expand the project and involve the children to create a joint photography exhibit that will be shown in strategic community venues. The goal of this effort will be twofold: encourage the children to explore their community through photography and to stimulate community involvement in the education process and specifically at Amandla Charter School.
A photographer since 1981, Mike Fioritto works on his own, long-term projects focused on themes of education, race and immigration. Fioritto’s background includes more than 20 years of experience in a variety of management roles within the media industry. He is married to Lisa and has three children, Sean, Mia and Aaron and resides in Chicago.