we will not be silent

For Communities in Support of KGIA, and for the performers, speakers, volunteers, and guests, "Seeking Justice, Speaking Truth" was an evening of inspiration, hope, and movement building. It was educational as well as inspirational, as people heard for the first time about what's going on inside the school- a message that speakers repeatedly tied - - overtly and specifically - - to the cause of these problems: a lack of DOE support for the school, and, more specifically, the forced resignation of founding principal Debbie Almontaser, the school's visionary. As teachers spoke out, members of the audience literally slid to the edges of their seats, waiting in anticipation for the details about to be revealed. We listened to teachers speak about the DOE's refusal to provide needed resources to the school- everything from walls to special education services to adequate leadership- but even more powerfully, we listened to stories about fear. Anyone can be targetted, simply for speaking, defining, or explaining a word in Arabic. In the wide-open eyes of the audience, I watched a conflict of emotion: the reality was painful but the vision was beautiful. Finally, we were truly living up to the theme of the evening: "We will not be silent." And what is better for overcoming fear, than raising our voices and truly "speaking truth"? Together, through poetry, speeches, action, and simply being together, we were recalling the original vision of KGIA and manifesting that vision together. We were talking about how to move forward, we were building community, and we were celebrating culture. Ultimately, I watched the collective joy overpower the collective pain, the sparkle of tears turn to that of inspiration and hope. Pain, after all, cannot be overcome by turning away from the reality that needs to change. That reality needs to be faced, spoken, challenged, and, ultimately, transformed. Unfortunately, the media doesn't like complex or positive messages. The only piece of the evening that made it outside of the Park Slope United Methodist Church (the location of the event) was that about the negative realities inside KGIA - the lack of resources (illogically blamed by the media on the school's Arabic-language and culture focus, rather than on those who are supposed to be responsible for providing resources to new schools- New Visions and the Department of Education!), and the word "chaotic" (without context). Perhaps our next event should be one in which we attempt to manifest a media that tells the whole story; a media that sees the power of bringing together groups as diverse as El Puente, Desis Rising Up & Moving, Urban Word and all of the CISKGIA sponsoring organizations; and a media that understands that putting one word in quotation marks and then putting it in a context completely different from the one it was in originally is not honest journalism or accurate reporting. In spite of their efforts, however, I know we won't let the right-wing pundits take control of our message. Their voices may be amplified by the media, but ours are amplified louder, by our commitment to the cause, our dedication to the movement, and our drive to see our shared vision become a reality. We will not be silent. Apparently neither will they. So we're just going to have to speak louder, more powerfully, more beautifully, and drown their messages of racism, hate, and destruction in our own messages of hope, community, culture, and justice. Exactly like we did last night.