One-to-One with a Deaf Community Leader

Last week, at a local coffee shop, I did a one-to-one with a Deaf man named Rufus Blair. This conversation was conducted in American Sign Language (ASL).

Rufus has an informal leadership role within the Bay Area Deaf community, as a bilingual, bicultural, and educated member of the community. I began by briefly explaining my role to him, as well as the purpose of the conversation. We started the dialogue with me asking him which communities he identifies as belonging to. He confirmed that he is a member of the Deaf community. After that had been established, I opened up the discussion in asking him which issues he felt were relevant to Deaf people today; I asked him what things he would change if he could. In response to this prompt, Rufus stated that, in his opinion, Deaf Education is the most impactful issue that the Deaf community faces contemporarily; he expressed his overwhelming frustration with the educational choices that ignorant hearing parents of deaf children make. As a former teacher of Deaf children at a mainstream hearing high school, he feels jaded after countless interactions with parents who held the belief their children were disabled, and unable to become functional, successful adults. Much of Rufus’ experience in this regard has influenced his perspective on these issues.

At this point I decided to make an attempt at Socratic questioning. I asked Rufus why most hearing parents of Deaf children make the decisions that they do, and why they make those educational and language exposure choices from birth (such as emphasizing speech therapy, lip-reading training, and excluding the use of sign language). He replied that is was a lack of resources and options presented to parents of newborn deaf children. Typically, which a deaf child is born to hearing parents, the doctors, audiologists, and “professionals” step in to educate the parents on how to go forward. They present them with the pathological view of deafness, and paint the picture that their child is disabled, needing to be “fixed” with hearing aids, cochlear implants, and speech therapy in order for the child to have any semblance of a “normal life”. If they mention sign language at all, it is to emphasize that any use of sign language with the child will hinder their ability to learn English and will make it impossible for them to develop normally. This perspective is in stark contrast to the sociocultural view, which frames the Deaf community as a linguistic minority with a distinct culture. The cultural view is not presented to new parents at all and is actually discredited by medical professionals. One reason for this is the massive audiological industry that sees pathological deafness as their primary source of capital. If deaf people don’t need fixing, then there is no profit for these big corporations. When parents are indoctrinated with this pathological view, they have the misconception that this is the only approach, and they adopt the perspective that their child needs fixing and needs to become as much like a hearing person as possible. Raising and educating a deaf child in this way is neglecting to heed enormous amounts of research and generational Deaf knowledge which proves that early acquisition of sign language, complete access to communication with parents, and education tailored to the visual needs of deaf children is the tried and true way to avoid language delay, social isolation, depression, and low functional ability. After this topic was brought up, Rufus then began to shift his focus in agreement with this issue as one of the biggest sources of the lack of adequate education for deaf people.

Together, we brainstormed ways that this problem could be addressed, such as the need for a professional representative from the Deaf community to present these options to new parents. This professional would be knowledgeable about what contributes to a Deaf person’s success, such as early acquisition of sign language, to bilingual education, to Deaf role models, etc. They would also be skilled in reaching out to parents in an effective way, understanding they may be experiencing grief that their child is unlike them, presenting the resources in a helpful and supportive way, as well as being a living, breathing example of a successful and functional Deaf person. This would give parents the range of options, as well as a better understanding of how to help their child be successful in the world.

Rufus and I then went on to discuss how to make that happen. He suggested that advocacy organizations would be how he’d imagine this being implemented. I suggested that it seems attempts to implement this nation-wide seem to have been either non-existent or unsuccessful this far, and perhaps it was necessary to think about larger scale action, such as the need for policies to be in place to enforce that these steps are carried out. It was difficult for him to contemplate attempting to do something of that scale, especially because many contemporary social action attempts by Deaf grassroots groups have appeared unorganized and disastrous to him. At this, I explained contextually that organizing was the focus of my current graduate program, that professional organizers are people who build community base and power, develop leadership, and contribute to the success of social action (as opposed to indigenous leadership). I asked him to continue to ruminate on what ways he felt the Deaf community could best be organized for the future. On this note, we wrapped up the discussion.

It very successful initial one-on-one, as I was able to implement much of what I’ve learned from my courses at Prescott College in the conversation. We were able to touch on very important issues, as well as how they might be addressed through community organizing. Overall, I feel that it was a very beneficial conversation.

Hillary Smith

Popular Culture as Catalyst

There is a lot that can be said in both praise and critique of Marvel’s Black Panther. I am no place to have any formal opinions about what was–or was not–done in the movie. What I am more interested in is the conversations that are blossoming out of the presence of this movie in this current time and place in the socio-political sphere.

People are coming out in droves to see the movie, ranking it around fourth in box office success (Rolli, 2018). There are folks who have never seen another Marvel movie that are lining up to see Black Panther. The question is not “have you seen Black Panther?” it is “have you seen Black Panther, yet?” Implying you will at some point, and likely soon.

Again, critiques and nuances aside, I am interested in the ways this (pop) cultural phenomenon is catalyzing conversations. I saw the film two days ago, and the movie has come up at dinner table conversation the two nights since (not instigated by me). The conversations have opened discussions of race, class, systemic oppression, liberation, freedom, violence, frustration, and so much more than without it–and so quickly.

As I think about the powers behind the ebbing social change, this feels like a significant moment. Both for the fact that a movie as such was made–with wide reception–and the discussions that follow in its wake. Pop culture, movies, art, are all places to build bridges and see representation of life and people, on a massive scale. As our culture shifts in ways that support films, et cetera, centered on experiences outside of the hetero-white-cis-able bodied canon, we see more and can begin to place value on more than the stereotypical and (falsely) universalized experience of hetero-white-cis-able folks.

I’m interested, as organizers, how can these moments be utilized? There is energy in the air, there is energy in these conversations. How can we take the energy that has been created with this and harness it in ways to campaigns and efforts forward? Stop merely talking and then walking away from the dinner table, but start doing!*

*And here I am just talking, more.

[Image: Five characters in costume, text “Marvel Studios: Black Panther” in the lower right corner. All are actors of color. Image source unknown.]

 

-Anza Jarschke

 

Work Cited

Rolli, B. (2018, February 24). Why ‘Black Panther’ is a bigger box office success story than ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Jurassic World’. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2018/02/24/black-panther-box-office-star-wars-jurassic-world/#386cb3154e4a

I Am Perplexed But Heartened

I can think of no better way to express what I am feeling than to say that I am perplexed at the state of our country. But I am heartened by the youth of our country. We have had yet another school shooting and this one seems to have been the last straw for many people. It would have seemed like Sandy Hook would have been enough to get people out into the streets to protest. But those were elementary age children who were affected and they didn’t have the power to speak out that we have seen in the high school students in Florida. The parents of the children lost in Sandy Hook are still very active and I follow some of them on social media. I also follow Gabby Giffords in her fight for gun control. But they haven’t been able to rally the real support that they need.

I think a lot of people would like to work for gun control, but they feel like the NRA is just too powerful and there is nothing they can really do. Especially with the Republicans in control of our government right now. But we have seen the young people step up about this issue in the last few days and this is exactly what we need. If anyone can go up against the NRA it is the youth of our country. And we will be right there with them. I saw a snippet of The View this morning, and Joy Behar said that this reminds her of the protests during the Vietnam War. She is right when she says that people have to be personally threatened for them to take to the streets. During the Vietnam War, high school student’s lives were in jeopardy because of the mandatory draft. And now every student in our country feels like their own life is in jeopardy because of the gun laws in this country.

My children are grown, but my daughter works in an elementary school. She loves her job, and I wish that she didn’t always have that nagging fear in the back of her mind that something like this could happen at her school. They just had automatic inside locks put in all the classrooms, so that it is something. But it’s terrible that children have to be trained in anticipation of a shooting. What have we come to as a country when we can’t even protect our children?

I saw that the White House voiced support for a background check bill. But this isn’t enough. The NRA has too much power and they are buying our politicians. The NRA wasn’t formed so that private citizens could own assault weapons. But when money is involved it seems that anything goes. The gun lobby and the gun culture in our country is a travesty.  The protests during the Vietnam War succeeded in turning public opinion on the war and forced the end of the war. Now it is time to take to the streets again. It has been a long time coming, but it is happening. I believe that the power of our youth will bring about the radical change to the gun culture in this country that we have been longing for.

Policy & Change

I’m struggling. I think we all are. At least, I hope no one is thriving in the wake of this moment.

It seems the country is in a perpetual recoil from mass shooting to mass shooting. As a country, we are making a habit of this, with little action making its way forward to begin mitigating the problem that has lead us to our umpteenth mass shooting of the year, in a school.

The only thing I take some heart from all this is the chorus of current students echoing one another with “we don’t need you” to the generations in power. [1] They are the ones who have had their friends killed, are fearful of their own safety and security, all while showing up to their own educations. Like all good organizing, the ones leading the movement need to be the people most affected, this just happens to be teens embarking on a fight again the domineering powers of the NRA. Perhaps where everyone else has failed, these youth can begin to succeed. This generation is waking up to the terrors of being complicit in moments as such, where mass shoot drills are the norm, and the reality of it could be me is looming closer than ever. I look forward to March 24 protests with baited breath at what a revolution this has the possibility of becoming.

Something I am trying to reckon with through all this is the Twitter-sphere. Twitter is something I wrestle with already, trying to understand its operation, strengths, weakness. In moments like this one, after tragedy has struck in irreconcilable ways, people of all kinds turn to Twitter. I am overwhelmingly sickened by the seemingly unending tweets of “thoughts and prayers” from big players in the issues; unrest stemming not merely because thoughts and prayers mean near-nothing in the world without action being taken in tandem them. More than that, a 140-character tweet feels like the most removed from of condolences I begin to imagine right now.

I understand that these folks must say something, and Twitter is a central channel for their voice, but the impersonality, fleeting quality of the social media platform, of it all makes me sick. I tried to turn to Twitter myself to follow the news, conversation, and unfolding of the events, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand to be on there, scrolling through this detritus of pixelated “thoughts and prayers.”

Oppositionally, I am cheering on the students who logged into Twitter and were directly tweeting these lawmakers yelling at the top of their social media lungs, “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.” [2] With those in power Twitter feels like a slap in the face, but to those directly affected, it seems like a powerfully direct line to those making many of the decisions.

Currently, I find myself at a loss for words, unsure of where to turn or what to think, how to act or react, how to be a valuable ally, how to stand in solidarity. I do know though that I cannot bring myself to post a single word of it on Twitter.

[Image: the words “thoughts & prayers” are handwritten with a line drawn through them. Below is written the words “policy & change.” Source unknown.]

 

-Anza Jarschke

[1] https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/us/florida-school-shooting-updates/index.html
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/columbine-mass-shootings.html

 

 

Black History Month

In light of Black History month, I wanted to share some of the thoughts that have been consuming me.  Every February, the United States celebrates Black History.  Schools up the ante when it comes to teaching about black historical figures.  Television programs air specials of African American activists such as Martin Luther King Jr.  Politicians preach solidarity and condemn racism. This is all great, but where does this drive for an all-encompassing education and life in general go when February is over.  Just as February diminishes, so does the flame for teaching a history that is truthful in nature.  The current and past education system provides a skewed, omitted version of history, in particular to Black History.  Black History, along with other history that is excluded, like Xicana/o History should be integral to the curriculum being used in our schools.  There should be ongoing dialogue and chances for critical thinking happening in the classroom.  Why is it that students are only learning about slavery during special times like Black History month?  Costello states that, “we celebrate the heroes who escaped slavery long before we explain to children what slavery was” (1).  It’s time for us to be honest with students about the past.  A survey was conducted that included 1,800 K-12 Social Studies teachers.  According to Turner, “90% of these teachers agreed that teaching and learning about slavery is essential to understanding American history, but that they felt uncomfortable teaching about it and got very little help from their textbooks or state standards” (1).

 

All students deserve to have an educational experience that is honest, that reflects their identity, and that provides discourse.  It’s time to get uncomfortable and get down to the nitty gritty.  Many students aren’t seeing current and past representations of themselves or their daily life reflected in the literature being used as a teaching tool.  They aren’t seeing these representations, in some cases, throughout their whole educational experience except for during Black History month.  These representations create a connectedness to student’s experiences both in and out of the classroom.  Black History month is to be praised, but the importance is taken away when it’s only confined to one month. History isn’t about picking and choosing the information that fits a certain narrative, but rather is truthful in nature.  In short, Black History should be taught and celebrated everyday.

(1) Turner, C. (2018, February). Why Schools Fail to Teach Slavery’s Hard History.      nprED. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org

-Erika Huffer

Lessons from 1:1 meetings

One to one meetings as a tool for organizing is in many ways is intuitive for grassroots leaders and organizers.  As individuals working in our community to make things better, we know we are but one person with limited time and resources.  We know we need to convince others to join us, and in that process we come to experience the power of our relationships.  It is an organic process of building and nurturing accountable and trustworthy relationships.  Because it feels so natural to talk to others, grassroots leaders can often approach one to one meetings informally and too often spend more time talking than taking action.

The key lesson I have learned about one to one meetings is how important it is that we take the time to think prepare for these meetings.  I have found it useful must think through what I hope to achieve by speaking with this person.  The goal of any one to one is to determine whether this person can support your work in some way, essentially to identify where the intersection between what matter most to you and what matters most to them lies.  Additionally, it should be a explicit conversation about resources.  Ask what knowledge, talents, skills, relationships, interests, and assets do they have that can help you achieve your goals.

Be ready to offer this information to them as well, but be realistic.  Do not promise something you cannot deliver.  There have been times as we are getting to know each other that I learn about a need they have that I can fill.  Perhaps, it is an interest in a particular issue or subject unrelated to the purpose of my meeting, but I know of someone or a resource that could be helpful.  I offer it during the conversation or follow-up later.  I see my role as an organizer to connect people and resources even if it doesn’t directly benefit me or my particular campaign.  The power of our movements lies in our ability to weave together people and resources in a way that strengthens our power.

Whether you have a specific ask or not, you should both know what comes next.  It is important to establish a process for what the person can expect from you and what you can expect from them in the near future.  Scheduling periodic check-ins, for example might be appropriate.  Find out when and how best to contact them again.

This brings me to another lesson I learned.  Follow-up is key.  Even if I came to the meeting a little unprepared, following up with an email or phone call can help bring focus to any next steps that come out of the meeting and create opportunities for additional questions and dialogue.

Before you send the follow-up, however, take the time to reflect on the conversation.  Think through what came up during the conversation. Make a note of the person’s self-interests and of the stories they told about themselves and their work.  Think about what was not said and what questions still need to be answered.  Lastly, think about next steps and any commitments you both made during the meeting.

Follow-ups should happen right away otherwise it is likely you will forget or if you wait too long the energy and excitement from that encounter will be lost.  The commitment that person had during the meeting will begin to fade as they return to their busy lives.

Finally, the most important thing I learned is to let the conversation flow naturally while still getting through the agenda.  The most important thing especially for a first meeting is to connect.  Listen for shared interests, values, and experiences.  Be interested in the other person.  If we both walk away feeling good about having met with each other, not getting through the agenda will not matter.

People will naturally gravitate toward those they connect with.  I have found that the volunteers I work with that are the most dedicated are the ones that I have had an opportunity to sit down with individually for an hour or longer and connect on a personal level.  The ones that are most committed are those that also build relationships with each other as well.

In my many years working with organizations and volunteers, I have learned that people may get involved because they care about the issue, but they stay involved because they connect personally with the people they are working with.  They are part of a community, and they feel supported, valued, and useful.  It is important as we strive to build relationships and invite others to join us that we establish these feelings early on and sustain them throughout our partnership.

Two weeks at the Mississippi state capital…

I am embarrassed to say that I grew up in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast about three hours from the state capital, received a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, and have never been inside the state capital until about a week ago.  I recently started a new position with Planned Parenthood Southeast.  Though it is outside the scope of my work as an organizer, given our staffing shortages, I was able to spent two weeks at the capital attending committee meetings and monitoring legislation, particularly harmful legislation.  This session our organization was monitoring 16 anti-abortion bills, one of which made it out of the House and is now on its way to the Senate.  I am optimistic that we will be able to stop this bill, but given the current political climate, it is tough to say.  We will be working diligently over the course of the session to encourage our supporters to let their Senators know that we will not stand for this unconstitutional abortion ban.

The bill is a 15 week ban that we know will be challenged in court if the law passes and has been challenged in other states.  The courts ruled the laws in other states unconstitutional.  But it’s Mississippi, so the conservative elite are going to try to get it passed anyway.  The Mississippi Speaker of the House, Phillip Gunn, is a board member of ALEC after all.  Both the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House have a lot of power within the state legislature.

Each are responsible for assigning bills to a committee and appointing committee chairs for their respective chambers.  I learned it is commonly known that if a bill is placed in two different committees, it will not pass.  This is a tactic used by those in power to signal to everyone that they do not want this bill to pass.  Additionally, committee chairs decide which bills are discussed.  The legislative process in Mississippi is very deadline driven, and thus, each committee has a limited amount of time to bring a bill up for a vote.  If a bill is never brought up for a vote, it will not move through the process.  The committee chairs pick which bills will be on the agenda.  The chairperson can also move the agenda around and add additional items as they see fit.  I had to sit through committee meetings even if the anti-abortion bills were not on the agenda just in case they decided to take them up anyway.

Though the Speaker and Lt. Governor do not select which bills are added to the agenda, through the appointment process, they have a lot of influence.  It is well known that a bill not supported by them will likely not go through.  I actually heard on the House floor, a legislator ask if the Speaker and Lt. Governor supported the bill because he wouldn’t support something that they didn’t or he would face the consequences in the primaries.  I was surprised by his candid public statement.  Apparently, falling in line is enforced by those in power threatening to run candidates against them.  With ties to well funded donors through organizations such as ALEC, Speaker Gunn and the Lt. Governor have the ability to enforce compliance.

Of the bills that were taken up in the committee meetings, most were voted on, and most of those passed.  Some bills were tabled because there was either significant disagreement or too many unanswerable questions.  I learned two things about the legislative process while watching committee meetings.  The first, asking several challenging questions during a committee could be a good strategy for a legislator to stop a bill.  However, any member could call for a vote, and thus, if the majority is against you and want to see the bill pass, asking questions will not matter.

Secondly, I learned that legislators that champion our causes need our support.  I was shocked by the lack of intelligent conversations happening in the committee rooms.  Not in all cases, but more often than I am comfortable with, the arguments and justifications in support of or against bills was laughable.  I actually did laugh quietly and roll my eyes a few times.  I, of course, was not permitted to participate in the discussions.  Only the legislators can speak unless they have called someone to discuss the issue.  Many of the statements made were not supported by evidence, and in some cases, personal antidotal stories were used as justification for their arguments in support of or against a bill.  I am sure it is no surprise to you that most people spoke out and voted along party lines despite what arguments were being made.

Legislators are generally making decisions about things they know very little about.  The level of ignorance and bias I witnessed during their conversations explains a few things about our political system.  Additionally, legislators do not have any staff to support them and because of the deadline driven process have very little time to read through the 2,000 bills that are dropped at the beginning of the session, much less craft a well informed argument.  Thus, those that are on our side of things would benefit from citizen and advocacy organizations providing them with key arguments, talking points, and stories on any given issue.

I left the state capital thinking that more people should be afforded the opportunity to watch the legislative process.  The process needs to be demystified for folks.  Though the legislators may wear fancy suits and have real power over our lives, they are just regular folks whose sole job is to serve our interests.  I suspect people may feel a little better about engaging with their legislators, including calling them out when necessary, and more confident in their ability to speak to them as an expert on the issues they care about if they were able to spend a little more time at the capital.

State of Despair

Last week I attended Oklahoma’s State of the State address. I was particularly interested in attending this year as it is Gov. Mary Fallin’s final year in office. I, as many other Oklahoman’s are thankful that her term is finally coming to a close. The budget cuts to education, healthcare, mental health, and many other vital programs so desperately needed in a state that ranks at the bottom of lists in many categories.

I sat there pretty bored. She begged legislators to fix the mess our state is in. The mess she created. She spouted off some typical political bull that nobody seemed particularly impressed by. Towards the middle of her speech, there was some commotion in the section of the gallery I was sitting in. A lady was standing and holding her child in a section where you couldn’t stand. Just as I was ready to give up on this address as even remotely entertaining, Gov. Fallin wrapped up her speech. I looked to my left and saw some Native sisters quickly untying something. They then hung a banner down from the gallery with Fallin’s picture and a message painted over it that read “State of Despair.” While everyone’s attention was focused on them, to the right, the mother holding her child begins yelling. She mentions health care cuts, she calls Mary Fallin a liar and a murderer. People are trying to get her quiet and out of the gallery.

For the rest of the day my adrenaline was ridiculously high. The address was lacking but the protesters…they get two thumbs up.

 

Shalondra

Building Power with Youth in the Community

 

Building Power with Youth in the Community: a One-to-One

For my first one-to-one, I conducted a conversation with an 18-year-old high-school student of color who has experience with being “in and out” of the system.  He is no stranger to encounters with law enforcement.  Sometimes, he says, these encounters have been fair and warranted.  Others, as he stated, have been excessive and based out of racial profiling and fear.  

 

The purpose of our conversation was to hear a youth’s perspective on police-relations within the Denver community, as this has been a space of adversary and contention, and find out what a person who has been heavily impacted by these interactions would like to see by way of social movement in police tactics.

 

The student, AV, described his view of the police.  He sees them as “untrustworthy and corrupt.  ”He stated that he has feelings of mistrust mostly because of the damage police interactions has caused his family.  

 

He stated that he believes that some interactions he has witnessed or been involved in have been racially-charged, while others were not.  He went on to describe how many police interactions seem to be charged by what colors the youth are wearing, and assumptions the Denver Police Department officers make about gang-affiliation and, thus, assumptions about the type of crime the young person must be involved in.  The student claimed he has seen members of his family unfairly targeted and physically abused based upon the color of hoodie or bandada they wore that day.

 

He also discussed how broken-window policing tactics and strategies emulating stop-and-frisk have been pushing more and more youth into smaller spaces, which has the effect of violence between gangs and “territory wars”.  

 

AV stated that he hopes the community will come together to address these police tactics.  He hopes to continue to be part of the conversation and aiding in organizations that facilitate bias-breakdowns between DPD and youth “in the system”.  He believes that organizations need to be creating educational platforms that humanize youth and help officers understand the circumstances that lead them to exhibit behaviors or wear certain clothing.  He hopes to empower other people his age and spread awareness about the necessity for code-switching when speaking to officers, so that they can be heard in their message of change.  

 

This qualitative information from the source of youth aids in my understanding of community and organizational needs, goals, and foundations.

 

Mackenzie Packard

Dance as a Social Movement

Last night in Denver, I attended a dance production entitled “Breaking Barriers”.  The performance was grant-funded at the McNichols Building, a new downtown hub for intercultural arts.  Prior to the culminating performance, eight dancers were flown to the city from five different countries: two formally-trained ballerinas, two theatrical dancers, one professional contemporary dancers, and three hip-hop/break-dancing street performers.  They were each paired off with a dancer who was considered, by dance-trade and by nationality, the most “different” from themselves.  As pairs, they were given 4 days together to create a choreographed dance with the theme of Breaking Barriers.  

Breaking barriers in the United States feels like an urgent task in today’s political climate.  It seems that everywhere one looks there is division: class division, race division, cultural division, and fiery political division.  These dancers had the daunting task of taking each of these divisions and partnering with someone who stood from a different perspective in all of these realms of identity.  

Through dance, these human got in the middle of a circle of Denver residents of all races, cultural-backgrounds, ages, creeds, and gender-expressions.  Truly, it is rare to see such a vast mixture of human difference packed together in one room.  They performed with a virtual stranger (both with body movements and with interactive audience discussion) about experiences with toxic masculinity, about their experiences living in a capitalist society, about their experiences with class limitations, about their experiences with women’s inequalities, about their experiences as human beings.  

The connections between the dancers on stage was visceral as they vulnerably reenacted some of the most traumatic and troublesome pieces of society’s systems.  After they danced, they sat on the floor in the middle of the audience circle, and a room full of strangers got the opportunity to ask them questions.  This became a platform for conversation about social change and the needs of the Denver community surrounding the topics brought up by the dancers.  Suddenly, a room full of people who, on any other day, would be divided by the “barriers” imposed by concepts of race, class, gender, etc. in this society, became a community.  We joined forces in a room.  And, informally, we began to organize.  We began to communally dissect these issues and discuss a vision for change.

Unknowingly, we had all participated in community organizing.  We were all called to action to participate in breaking barriers to change the systems of our city.  

This was a reminder that social movement can take the form of any medium.  Sometimes, people need to be reminded of their humanity in order to work as a community towards a united cause.  What reminds folks of the heart buried beneath the stress of surviving within these broken systems?  

Dance.

 

 

Mackenzie Packard