mixed-understandings, mixed-responses
i’ve been reflecting on our experiences here in santa fe at the legistlative session, from speaking directly with senators and hearing their rhetoric aimed at children, to la raza fighting for the rights of our brown sisters and brothers, both a collective experience as well as each individual different experience, from how brown one really is, through acceptance or not, to our white allies and what all of this means. yes, confusing as it sounds…
after touring the capitol building and learning about how bills become laws (i had flashbacks to that 70’s schoolhouse rock How a Bill Becomes a Law - hence the youtube video). senators like cynthia nava invited the youth groups into her committee chambers and spoke directly to each one, asking what they would like to see in their respective communities. the youth had really great responses as they emerged from their communities into the ‘world,’ some for the first time ever, and starting unpacking what environmental racism and environmental justice really means.
we were up against some pretty politically savvy youth from urban centers who led the inter-group youth exchanges with their systems of ‘one mic’ and ‘oops, ouch, snap.’ where did we fit in? were we accepted? allowed to speak? inclined to speak? i still have much processing to do as I understand the kids’ concerns that they weren’t ‘inteligente’ enough to talk like those other kids. they didn’t know the words. and not very many people understand what it’s like to grow up under so many borders, so many borders, crossing us…
i lay in my lonely hotel room where we’ve moved beyond simply using the staff to embracing the staff and inviting them to partake in the events, poetry readings from the veteranas, young people of color journaling in their Zapatista power journals, music, and still so many assumptions. two of the kids took my video camera and filmed themselves climbing the steep ladders at bandelier national monument up to the ceremonial cave. some kids would only eat at mcdonalds while the rest of us tried something new. i am exhausted and proud and worn out and ready to go at it again. fulfillment.
how does one encourage voice when that voice is attacked if it’s not saying the ‘right’ things? how does one encourage a kid to speak again when they tried once and felt like they failed? how do you remind one group of oppressed that not all groups are the same oppressed? i’ll keep asking questions.
