Other Voices

I found it quite humbling today to sit in a classroom where the faculty spoke to the students both in English and Spanish, interchangably as if everyone could understand perfectly. I thought it was great because I think those of us who only know English tend to forget just how unsettling it is to others when "we" expect that "they" speak to us a certain way.

Ealier in the semeter, I found myself wincing in a class where the discussion turned to the infamous candy vagina incident that apparently put BSU in the news for something other than football (that in itself should be cause for celebration). Actually I am happy to be a student here, I would just prefer that this University was better known for its academic endeavors and committment to excellence in education rather than sports. Back to candy vaginas...the discussion brought up very interesting points, namely should a woman be reduced to a body part even if the idea is to promote respect for a woman's body? What if a group on campus were to try selling candy penises? I ended up in a history class with many of the tiny group of men in the gender studies class and they were already quickly labeling the professor (that horrid word) "a feminazi" but added that they'd keep the class because they heard she's an easy instructor.

Sometimes I want to bury my head and ignore everything. Then that image from "The Shadow of No Towers" comes back to haunt me: "The Ostrich Party" and words find their way into class readings again...words such as Adrienne Rich's "Claiming an Education" or Audre Lorde's poetry or bell hooks and I am happily reminded that this rather expensive endeavor of trying to grow into something other than a human cog is more about humanity than those in power like to admit. I really do believe that education is critical for an evolution of consciousness and don't we need that? Don't we need that more than anything right now?

The news scares me. I read more and more and I find myself withdrawing more from the lovely debates on right and wrong because these only seem to cloud the issues. I really do think too the day that the press focused more on what the presidential candidate's WIVES were going to wear and how fashionable they were, the notion of critical thinking in relation to politics and certainly the media hit an all time low. I wanted to hide in the corner with the newest book by Seymour Hersh until I was sure that the illusion of dialogue hadn't really fooled anyone. I am interested more now than ever before in creating communities that work to maintain real conversations with those who are more interested in investing in social/global change beyond thinking of it as an idealistic/abstract concept. Sounds nice, but you know, we live in the "real world." It's so ironic how the reality of the "real world" doesn't necessarily connect with many U.S. citizens beyond the borders of their television screens and yet those two words embody a concept that is consistently used to shut people up. To silence. To disillusion. To breed a very convenient apathy.

I would like to hear other people speak for a change. SPEAK for change.
Speak to one another and to truly listen. That's the insight I had from class today. I walked out of there quite happy to have not known the language I was listening to because it made me think of how wonderful it is to be in a space where power and privilege do not go unchallenged, even if they aren't being questioned outright. I can't think of a better place to first challenge power and privilege than in oneself and in one's own thinking.

~peace~