Yesterday 7th & 8th graders at Paul Revere Dream School Elementary School grappled with the question Why Is There Injustice? in light of recent events, and these were some of their responses (in green). They will be taking their thoughts in class and writing an original rap in the upcoming weeks. Coincidentally, I received this in my email last night. Its a letter from the Executive Director at one of the organizations I work for, Performing Arts Workshop, doubly confirming the importance of the work I and so many others have chosen to do. I want to thank you Jessica Mele for your honesty, leadership and encouragement for those of us struggling to do what we can to make a difference, I hope you dont mind me sharing your words, as they really hit home for me: Dear Workshop Artists, Board and Staff, It’s Thanksgiving, and I am angry. I’ve tried to write something about the events in Ferguson, MO, the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson for Michael Brown’s murder, and I keep failing. I’ve been reading a lot of messages from friends today and yesterday - some angry, some sad, some defiant. All of them expressing deep pain, all of them doing much more justice to this urgent moment than I can. I’m not sure what to say, but I think that saying nothing is worse, given our shared commitment to values of equity and social justice. So, here it goes. I am angry that we live in a country that allows fear to grow and thrive in communities of color. Where an unarmed boy can be shot in the street and left there for almost 4 hours. Where the police, sworn to protect the community, too often choose to use violence against members of that community. The fact that the hashtag #blacklivesmatter is trending both gives me hope and makes me sick to my stomach. We live in a place where black boys are disciplined disproportionately in school and sent disproportionately to jail. On Nov 1, board, staff and artists met to begin to articulate our founding values of equity and social justice, and how those values permeate our work at every level. Performing Arts Workshop occupies a strange place - the place of artists in institutions. We are intruders into bureaucracies that embody some of our best ideals and some of our worst, most entrenched injustices. I truly believe that artists are the best antidote we have for injustice. The work that our artists do, and will do in the coming weeks is essential. They will hear some hard things in their classrooms (they always do). They will bear witness to true beauty (they always do). They & their students will use art to process, peel apart, and learn about racism, violence, and injustice (always, always, always). And that work - that art-work - will help young people navigate hostile, alienating institutions to chart their own path. It’s Thanksgiving, and I am angry. A lot of people are angry. Gloria’s first students at TelHi were angry. They stayed angry; that wasn’t the point. The point is, they used their anger to create art that meant something. It’s Thanksgiving, and I am grateful. I’m grateful for all of you who, with courage and commitment, work every day to combat injustice by creating art that means something. Art is the best kind of work. And we have a lot of work to do. Karena Salmond Matthew Clark Davison Annie Trickey Salê Ramos Mei-Ling Murray Annie McGeady Jesse Bliss Nicole Klaymoon Raphael Cohen Lorena Landeros Shamako Noble DLabrie Eog Ydmc D Man Son Ajayi Jackson Gary Riekes Diane Tavenner Milton Reynolds Nate Nevado Mycenay Plyler Shelby Stockton Carmen Milagro Ellanora DellErba Elaine Cordero Natalia MyVerse Pitti Jorge Fabel Pabon
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 23:14:11 +0000
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