Day of Dialogue

Yesterday, (1/19) UIS' Student Life office hosted an event called the "Day of Dialogue" which was described as: "an interactive dialogue session designed to discuss issues of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination among all members of the campus community. The purpose of a dialogue is to create productive communication on controversial topics, allow members of the community to share in a safe environment, and to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." (No, I won't comment on the fact that Dr. King Day was on Monday and the even was held on Friday. I won't comment at all.)

Upon arrival at the event, participants (who'd been asked to register for the event...*shrug*) picked up a folder that had guidelines for discussion (dialogue vs. debate and ground rules), a biography of Dr. King's life, and a copy of his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. We were also given assignments to different groups that were identified by different colors (I was in the brown group. teehee) Then we received a greeting from our chancellor, Richard Ringeisen, and several short introductions to the event by Cynthia Thompson (Director of Student Life), Beth Hoag (Assistant Director of Student Life), Ryan Prosser (Resident Director), and Terri Jackson (Coordinator of Student Affairs).

The program began with a viewing of a short documentary, which contained Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech in its entirety. (I've already commented on how overused I think that speech is and how I think it hardly encompassed Dr. King's real vision for America.) I was immediately irked by the documentary's insistence that the theme of the march was "integration." Hardly. The official title of the march was "The March on Washington for JOBS and FREEDOM." It really had nothing to do with integration because, as we can obviously see, integration is not synonymous with economic advancements or equality. The whole belief that the central point of the march, and of the Civil Rights Movement, was integration, only deepens the incorrect assumption that the only thing that African-Americans really long for is complete assimilation. This is not the truth. What we want is equality, and black and white kids don't have to hold hands and sing Negro spirituals for that to be realized.

Next up was an exercise in which all participants were asked to stand in a straight line (which all of us couldn't fit on to), and take steps forwards or backwards depending on whether they could agree or disagree with statements such as:

"Growing up, you had your own bedroom with a door."
"One or both of your parents have college degrees."
"You have been afraid to bring a date to a function because of fear of rejection."
"You have been afraid to walk home alone at night on this campus."
"You have been followed by a security guard or clerk in a store."

In the end, I suppose those that were furthest out front were the ones who'd been able to agree with the statements that caused the most disadvantages in their lives. I've done this exercise many times before and I have two comments to make about this specific instance. First, I think that the questions could've been bolder. Secondly, I think certain questions that implied that you'd had a certain advantage in your life aren't always situations in which you're at an advantage.

We were then instructed to go back to our groups and discuss the exercise. Now, here is where things get tricky. First of all, the only people who ever come to these sorts of things are those who are already considered "liberal" or "progressive." Therefore, when you get into a group to discuss issues of race, class, gender, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, you basically have a lot of people agreeing with each other and "amen"ing each other. It turns into more of a pep rally than an honest or productive dialogue. Of course, there's not much that the creators of the event can do about that since they can't exactly force certain people to come (or not come).

So, for an hour, my group basically sat around talking about the overt injustices in this country, and how we should "all just get along." That's not my bag. I tried to interject a little fire in the discussion with my insistence that "love," "acceptance," and "tolerance" were not the keys to people truly being able to get along. It is my belief that respect is the only necessary attribute. If you don't want to be around Black people, who am I to say that you should be forced to be around them? If you don't believe that "gay marriage" is a positive thing, why shouldn't you have every right to believe that? You don't have to accept, love, or even tolerate people with different views and hues. All you have to do is respect them for the simple fact that they're a human being. Because you respect them, you will not try to enact legislation that would seek to stifle their abilities to adequately take care of their families. Out of respect, you will understand that they should have proper healthcare, housing, and educations. That's it. You don't have to live next to them, go to school with them, go to church with them, or be their friends. You just have to respect them.

I also said that the real reasons for all types of discrimination in this country was the fact that certain people are scared that if other historically downtrodden groups receive the same resources that they receive, they will lose their power, prestige, and claim to the belief that they are superior. Now, a lot of people aren't exactly comfortable with that sort of talk because it asserts that racism is not just about individuals ignorantly not liking individuals because they're different or being afraid of what they don't know. It says that discrimination is a blatant attempt by those in power to stay in power. Period. This upsets people because they believe that discrimination in the forms of racism, sexism, and homophobia can be solved with the wave of a hand because its cause is simply ignorance. But, my belief says that discrimination can only be cured when those who actively seek to discriminate are put to a stop. This, of course, is highly unlikely.

All in all, I can say that I definitely believe that the intentions of the program were very nice. But sometimes dialogue isn't really enough, especially when those dialoguing are most likely going to agree with each other. Another thing is that a lot of the actions that people seem to want to stop with programs such as these are actions that people have the right to perform.

Last year, the Society of Conservative Students put up fliers in support of their "Pie the Conservative" campaign. In my opinion, the fliers had blatantly racist and sexist statements on them. Then, the SCS put on a rally in "defense of marriage," where they had a leading anti-gay marriage speaker give a bit of a lecture. Of course, the lecture sound awfully homophobic.

Here's the thing; they only did what they were well within their rights to do. They weren't bringing any physical harm to anyone (although they did bring mental stress to many, but bigotry does that), and they have every right to express their opinions on matters no matter how closed-minded and discriminatory those opinions may sound to others. This is what happens in the real world. You don't get special treatment because people talk about you. You don't get people to sob for you or feel sorry for you. You react in whatever way you deem necessary (in this case, we reacted with the "I Believe Campaign) and you move on. Harping on it only gives these people more publicity and that's the last thing we'd like them to have.

That's UIS. That's life.

Now that he is safely dead, let us build monuments......

Now that he is safely dead, let us build monuments to his greatness.

Tomorrow, we have been told, is the day that we celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his life, contributions, and dream. We reflect upon the dream itself, it’s progress, and hopefully, its fulfillment. We are to try out hardest to make sure that Dr. King did not die in vain. We are to try our hardest to make sure that his dream stays alive.

While all of this is all well and good, perhaps we should more closely examine who Dr. King truly was and how we can best honor him. Let me clarify. Dr. King was a man of greatness. He was kind, courageous, just and determined. He continually put his own life at risk for the sake of causes he believed in with all of his might. He wrote great books, gave great lectures, and delivered great speeches. He was, in my opinion, the epitome of manhood. He was able to stand up when other sat down. Able to motivate millions of people when he was in need of encouragement. Able to be himself without justification, pause, or apologies. He was a man of righteous indignation and justified anger. However, it has only been of late that I met this Dr. King that I speak of.

Growing up, Dr. King was the man with the "dream,” who was shot and killed because he wanted Black folks to be able to sit at counters with white folks and eat burgers together. He was the man who wanted little white kids and Black kids (always the white kids first) to be able to join hands and sing Negro spirituals. He was the man that all my white teachers suggested I study when I wanted to study Josephine Baker (whom, they informed me, was a whore). He was the man who McDonalds aired commercials about on that day that we got off from school. He was a handsome, brown, cuddly man who always wore a smile and a dapper suit and hat. He was the man whom everyone loved.

It wasn’t until later that I found out that everyone loved him because he was dead. All of those people who had hated during his lifetime because he called for equality of all kinds like him now because he can't speak up any longer. I know that, in a country, so obsessed with trying to portray equality out of inequality, those words can be hard to stomach. King is probably the safest of all American heroes, but he wasn't always that way.

Now that King was safely buried in the ground, those who sought to destroy him while he walked on this earth could begin to drill one speech into our brains with the intensity of a child coloring with a dried up marker. They could press and press and press this one color, this one speech, into our collective memories and act as if this one speech represented all that King was, all that King wanted us to be, and all that we should be.

The march at which Dr. King delivered the speech was called the “March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom.” It was not called the "March For Blacks and Whites To Go To School With Each Other," or the "March For Pictures of A Black Hand Shaking A White Hand To Be Put Up On School Websites." It was not a march of facades and feel-good pictures. It was a march about goals of economic and racial equality. It was a march that shocked our then president, John F. Kennedy, because he had no idea that the Negroe citizens of his country were so unhappy. It was a march about the radicalism of everyone being able to have equal access to what this country has. It was a march about eradicating poverty, treating humans like humans, and not just acting as if things were changing, but actually changing things. But even with all of that, it was just one march. It was one day out of millions of days. It was one event out of thousands of events. It was one speech out of hundreds of speeches. It was not the beginning and it wasn’t the end.

Dr. King gave other speeches. Speeches about how evil war was. Speeches about evil poverty was. Speeches about how ridiculous the lack of good healthcare was. He said, “the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around.” But yet, all we’re bombarded with is, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word." But what about, “there is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it?”

Why is it that I hear more about Dr. King wanting Blacks and whites to like each other than I hear about statements such as, “we must never be ashamed of our heritage…or the color of our skin. Black is as beautiful as any color….I am black and beautiful.” Why is it that we hear more about Dr. King wanting unity amongst Blacks and whites than we do about Dr. King wanting us to treat those who do not reside in America with the same dignity? What about when Dr. King said, “God didn’t call America to do what she’s doing in the world now….God didn’t call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war…and we are criminals in that war. We have committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world and I’m going to continue to say it. And we won’t stop it because of our pride, and our arrogance as a nation.”

Why haven’t we talked more about Dr. King; the realist? Why are we so stuck on Martin; the Dreamer? What good is a dream without actions? What good are quotable quotes without a complete picture?

I’ll tell you what good they are. They’re good for those who hated Dr. King when he was alive and now build monuments to him in his death because they know he's not alive to protect his own legacy and too many people are dense enough to let them create one for him. They’re good because they safely put blinders on our eyes. They raise up a man that we love and mutilate him into a man that they can love. They tell us just enough about him so that we can walk hand in hand one Monday out of the year. They tell us just enough so that we can keep on hanging onto that one “dream” that has long since turned into a nightmare of gargantuan proportions (especially for African-Americans).

Dr. King wasn’t a harmless caricature of a man who thought the solution to all injustice was integration. No, that's what they would have you to believe. Dr. King wasn’t like the Jesus in the pictures who went around carrying lambs. Dr. King was more like the Jesus who went into the temple and overturned tables. He was a man who said things like, “But God has a way of putting nations in their place……He has a way of saying ‘if you don’t stop your reckless course, I’ll rise up and break the backbone of your power.’ And that can happen to America.”

And yet, a man who lost his life while fighting for the rights of sanitation workers is now celebrated by Fortune 500 companies and we sit idly by as if that makes an ounce of sense. We sit around and listen to people twist his words for their own twisted gain while they support a war that Dr. King would’ve been just as sickened by as he was by the Vietnam War.

What we need to do is stop dreaming and WAKE UP and smell the coffee. We better take back Martin. We better let him have his own dream and think of some ways to get ourselves out of this terrible situation. We better remember who he was. We better be willing to give our lives just like he gave his.

It's been a loooong, a long time coming, but I knooow a change gon come!

That's a lil Sam Cooke for ya. If you don't know Sam Cooke's name but know Justin Timberlake's name, remove yourself from my blog immediately! LOL. Just kidding. Or am I?

Anyway, it's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you without a dope blog to step to! (That's a lil Aaliyah.) I know I've been terrible about updating my blog, and I know that every time I do update I say, "I won't ever leave your side this long again." But this time, I mean it! I'm going to take the time out, every Friday morning to write a blog because you deserve to hear the voice of the angry Black girl who sits in the back of the class steaming over the latest pseudo-racist comment that the teacher or student has made. You need this voice!

What's new with me? Glad you asked. In my very first appearance as a graduate student at UIS, I received two As and one B on my report card (doesn't "report card" sound so very grammar schoolish?)! And so that leaves me with a 3.75 (or thereabouts). Not bad for the girl who really didn't want to get a Masters but felt it would be incredibly dumb to not get one seeing as someone else was going to pay for it.

For the last past month, I've been at home in Chicago (my hometown), chilling and taking in all the polluted air. Feels so fresh! I'll admit that, at times, I do enjoy the slower pace of Springfield, but nothing beats home! I mean, our news is always so exciting! Somebody got shot! Somebody smuggled money! Someone's corrupt! Somebody burned down somebody else's house! That's quality stuff right there! Where else in Illinois can you go and see Dreamgirls on Christmas Day and walk out into a parking lot full of cops inspecting every car as it leaves the parking lot? Nowhere!

And let's not talk about the food. I've tried to have every Chicago staple food in the book since I've been here. Giordano's and Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza. Maxwell Street Polish sausages. Joy Yee's pan-Asian cuisine (sorry, but the Asian cuisine in Springfield is sub par, at best). The Greek Islands lamb. And today, I'm going to Maggiano's Little Italy to eat Italian food until I blow up!

I also got a tattoo (an equal sign) and a haircut (take it all off, taper the sides!).

I'll be returning to school in time for MLK Day and I'll be hitting you with a blog to talk about what I think about the holy grail of America's obsession with trying to seem as if it isn't a racist country. (And if you don't believe we live in a racist country, well, then, I don't know what to tell ya!)

Until then, love, peace, and SSSSSSOOOOOOOUUUUULLLLL!