A Reflection of #NDRD @fairfieldu with @yohuruwilliams and @StagsMensBball

Last night, under the leadership of Dr. Yohuru Williams, I participated in the National Dialogue on Race Day at Fairfield University's Kelly Center. It was a rare opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students, community activists, educators, academics, athletes, and coaches (great to see Sydney Johnson and members of his team there) to discuss the complexities of race in the United States. It is difficult to articulate precisely the power of the conversations that ensued in that room.

There were many. The dialogue was rich. Thoughts were provoked. That was the point.

I was proud to bring student representatives from Bassick High School so they, too, could have an opportunity to participate in conversations important to them. The young people, all seniors at Bassick, represented Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Pakistan, and the Congo. They are intelligent and college-bound students from Bridgeport City Schools and, I felt, deserving to take part in the intellectual, political, and engaging dialogue. They live race, class, gender, and regional-ism every single day. Their perspectives were greatly needed.

Last night was easily the most important, thought-proving, and engaging event I've attended since I became the Connecticut Writing Project-Director at Fairfield. I was sad, though, that many of my colleagues, students, and friends were not in attendance. It was standing room only, sure, but we always could have made room for more. My wish is that they also will have opportunities in their lifetime to take part in similar dialogue (and not only within those social groups they typically surround themselves with).

It might be easy for me to bullet point the many epiphanies I made while listening to break-out groups, but those insights are at the risk of being pre-mature. I know from experience that I may need to marinate my thinking some more; even so, I wish to highlight the tremendous metaphor that presented itself during the event. I love symbolism. When it happens in real life, I am even more enthralled.

A thunderstorm began as soon as Dr. Yohuru Williams went to the mic to begin his emcee duties. Within seconds, the Kelly Center lost electricity and the lights went out. We sat in darkness.

Yet, the conversation continued...

the conversation CONTINUED...

the conversation must continue....

Mother nature may have tried to stall the dialogue, but human nature didn't let it. A few cell phones came out in an effort to provide  minimal lighting, but that was unnecessary. The room began to light up with dialogue. Although our political, religious, familial, and educational systems keep us in the dark about complex histories, we worked together as a community. With one another, we shed the light that was needed.

Dialogue counts. Discussion matters.

Diversity is truth. It should be embraced.

The Bassick students felt they were a part of something larger than themselves and fortunate to have had a chance to share their lived experiences with others. They wished, however, for similar opportunities at their schools, especially with people from backgrounds different from those they see every day.

Any one who knows me personally or professionally has heard about my teaching experiences at the J. Graham Brown School in Louisville, Kentucky. The opportunity to teach at this particular school was miraculous. It was designed so that, K-12, students represented the diversity of the county. We were not an east end, affluent White school. We were not a south end working class school. We were not a west end school for African Americans alone or a school designed for Louisville's newcomers and immigrants. Instead, by the nature of the school's design, we were the pastiche of it all and represented every zip code of our city. And it is important to point out that we were a public school, funded with public funds, and achieving excellence with public school kids. At the time, we didn't track students or discriminate instruction based on dis/abilities or academic records. We maintained high standards for all and encouraged each and every child to be the best human being they possibly could be.  For these reasons, dialogue in my classrooms were richer BECAUSE the voices of many communities were heard on a daily basis. It was the mission of the school.

Sadly, the educational facilities I've experienced in southern Connecticut are not like this. They've created schools that exhibit horrendous achievement and opportunity gaps.

I've always felt that democracy is the blending of voices and perspectives from multiple communities; it is not the subversive silence that occurs along the Long Island Sound through Connecticut's zip-code apartheid. Connecticut schools should encourage dialogue similar to that modeled last night by Dr. Williams during the NDRD celebration. A history of the people, ALL PEOPLE, should be a primary curriculum in schools and much more representative of the voices that represent 'we the people.'

Last night, in a room of blended cultures, ages, and backgrounds, I felt at home. Individuals from a wide-variety of ideologies felt safe to voice their thinking. Histories and institutions that traditionally 'race' to keep each other alienated from one another were blended. It was powerful and we at Fairfield University should strive to make such dialogue a part of who we are, every day, by assuring that a diverse student body is represented in every classroom and not JUST at a community event.

Ubuntu trumps hierarchies. We can be us because of who we are together.