What Social Justice Means to Me OR The Myth of Choosing a Career

My mother recently asked me what I would like to do with my life. What my plans are for the future, so to speak. My mother’s question is not a new one. It is a question that has been repeated over and over again with varying answers for years. This is a difficult question for me on one had because there are many things I see myself doing happily. I am still young and inexperienced and these ‘careers’ that appeal to me in theory might wind up being a whole different story in reality. From my experiences so far, this is how everything turns out. You’re attracted to something (in my case many, many somethings), you build them up in your mind, place it at the center of a fantasy, and if you’re lucky, you get a taste of that fantasy. And because the mind is such a powerful force of nature, holiness, and wonder, the reality never lives up to the fantasy. And that’s OK. Maybe it’s even a good thing. I thought nothing in the world could touch public radio until I spent a summer interning at a local station and realized that many of my hours were spent on a phone or in front of a computer screen, not at all concerned about who was listening to our program. So much for my dream of working at a ‘community’ radio station.
On the other hand, this is a very easy question to answer. The question is only difficult based on how we are expected to respond. As an educated, privileged child of a 2nd/3rd wave feminist, I’m expected to channel all of my hopes, desires, goals, dreams of greatness into a ‘career,’ to be a ‘career woman.’ But this too is its own fantasy or myth. It falls into the wife, mother, daughter, sister, lover, friend, ‘career professional’ myth of American femininity. That women can be all of these things happily, with an exceptional sense of poise and balance, all while parading down the street in 6-inch heels, not a trace of B.O., flawless skin, and not a gray hair in sight.
I tell my mom that I ultimately want to work towards my life’s passion of social justice. This passion truly began as a high school students thanks to some exceptional teachers and continued through college, and beyond to Baltimore, where I see my job as a political act, almost. My aim is to confront the forces that work to segregate, separate, and maintain inequalities based on differences such as race, class, gender, religion, sexuality, age, etc. Many people have blindfolds over their eyes based on ignorance, or the discomfort associated with confronting the realities of our unequal society. I have seen firsthand the differences that power and privilege make in education, and since education forms the basis of our civilization, inequalities in education lead to disparities elsewhere.
So when I am asked what I want to do with my life, and I say that I want to work to eliminate inequalities based on differences and the response is, ‘well, how does that fit into a career?’ it seems to be a fitting evidence in support of the myth of the career. We should be guided in our lives by principals and values, not by a cookie-cutter idea of a ‘career.’ My values and beliefs are above a job description. I do not work for an individual. I work for my students, and the higher purpose of social justice. Like anything meaningful, being good at this will take years of practice, but the ultimate goal is to confront people with the reality that many choose to ignore or feel that they cannot change. We all have an obligation to challenge, discuss, debate, question, remedy, and transcend the status quo.

So that is my plan. I think it will keep me busy for some time.