After watching the video I believe that we do, indeed, learn from our mistakes. We all need to make decisions about the present about understanding what happened in the past. Critical thinking skills help us think about what happened and to sharpen awareness on what happened to what could happen, or what we want to not see happen again. Hearing the narratives from family members who have lived through the experiences of a change community and city can send a more realistic and personal view of what make people come to a place, stay in a place or leave that same place. My father in law was born and raised in Buffalo. His parents came from "the old country" of Poland. The family settled in Black Rock and eventually, after two generations, moved to the suburbs of Tonawanda. He used to say the old neighborhood has undergone many changes. Before he passed we would take rides to the old neighborhood and he would tell stories about what local stores, doctor offices, churches, and even pubs that were once thriving ethnic places that have since gone out of business or simply moved. He was a living walking testimonial of the history of that part of the city. My favorite story was when he explained that there used to be so many churches in the city. In fact, there was a place of worship every few blocks. One for the Italians. One for the Polish,\. One for the Greek. It wasn't until the Italian boys married the Polish girls and the Greek boys married Italian girls (etc) that the churches became less about nationality and more about faith. It helped me to understand why there once was so many churches and how the cultures merged and are celebrated. Hearing his narratives helped me understand where our city's ethnicity and religious practices have changes over the course of 80+ years and where it is headed now.
