All "Angelic Troublemakers": Be Encouraged 

 

First, let me begin by saying welcome (or welcome back!) to GSEHD and I hope that everyone has an amazing start to the school year. Fall is coming! 

By now, I'm sure you have all been inundated with the outrage, commentary and news coverage over the events in Charlottesville that occurred a few weeks ago. As of this writing, people have banded together and cemented their commitment to community-building in spite of the hatred. But I must stress that we cannot take events like these as a new, one-off, phenomenon that will soon be forgotten in favor of whatever the 24 hour news cycle next deems important. We can't afford to sit idly and wait for someone else to do something, to say something, to stop it before irreparable damage is caused.  

It's on us.  

We're the one we're waiting for. 

To all allies, please understand that people of color are tired of having to compartmentalize their feelings in order to make the majority feel comfortable. They are tired and yet still go in every day, putting aside their pain to get the job done. They are also tired of still having to defend their right to exist, be treated with respect and listened to.  

Listen to us when we say that white nationalists deserve no parity. Listen when we tell you that we do not have the solution to racism and discrimination and honestly, should not be expected to. Listen to us when we share our experiences and put aside your feelings. De-center yourself and develop the empathy necessary to establish and maintain a bond that goes beyond social media "likes" and affirmations.   

My thoughts are with the higher ed professionals and faculty at the University of Virginia; the timing was terrible as they were preparing to move in students for the new school year, and rampant hate in addition to media scrutiny is the last thing they needed. I do hope that when the dust settles, UVA leadership does everything it can to support its POC staff and student body. I hope that the higher education community continues to support them as well, in addition to being more intentional in their quest to achieve inclusiveness. Events like Charlottesville show that more than ever, we can't merely accept lip service when it comes to inclusiveness. Hate is real, and sometimes it exists on the very campuses in which we work and study. We have to do the difficult labor that it requires to snuff out hate and support those who need it most.  
I want anyone reading this to ultimately be encouraged, remain hopeful and not be discouraged by hate. Love is amazing, but remember, it's also a verb - it needs work to keep it going and it is thought that work, our work, that will sustain more than any hateful persons or entities. In the field of education at any level,  

This school year, whether you are new or returning, I hope that you will take advantage of all the resources GWU has to offer, and I hope that The Arc can be a safe space for you to express yourself, learn something new and feel grounded within a community that will hopefully last after your time here as a student. I leave you with a few quotes from Bayard Rustin, an activist who, though long silenced, fought for economic and civil rights for all people, some of which is still trying to be fully achieved to this day.  

 

"Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it." 

 
"We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers."