Simon & Garfunkel, 1964               Sounds of Silence

Hello, Darkness, my old friend,

I’ve come to talk with you again,

Because a vision softly creeping,

Left its seeds while I was sleeping. …

I still recall writing that first dreaded college term paper about the role of imagery in this song as it related to The Graduate. It took forever with numerous false starts and many teacher conferences as I had ZERO clue about what the instructor wanted.  At that stage, writing was all about meeting the perceived needs of the instructor.

Silence at church was a requirement or knuckles were rapped by a ruler-wielding nun who was confident of her identification of the chattering troublemaker (s).

More recently discussions among friends have focused on Catholic guilt and silence. The expectations. The dynamics. Problems that were not aired publicly. Often not even aired privately.  Suffering in silence was a reality.

Growing up and silence was a tool of punishment.  “Be quiet” often buzzed in my ear as I opted to study in “my room” (a room always shared with either a sister or multiple sisters).

Silence.  Friend or Foe? Maybe I should have questioned the evidence and the “cause of death” . Mistakes happen. I do wish I had queried the ever-changing stories. Hindsight is often noisy.

Today,

Now,

I know.

#BlackLivesMatter

I must use my White privilege to listen.

I have much to learn. Two books that I am studying in book clubs this summer are:

I need to understand my biases.

I can rely on friends, family and teammates to support me and call me out on this learning journey.

I have to raise my voice to question and call out White privilege where I see it/hear it.

I will amplify IBPOC voices and support their work.

I must speak up in order to see justice. To remain silent is to be complicit.

I must do this work myself and commit to a lifetime of  anti-racist work even though I don’t know exactly where that journey will take me.

Silent, no more!

Envisioning 2020:  A Year of Action

How will you avoid “silence” in your future?

What actions will you commit to undertaking?

Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this weekly forum. Check out the writers and readers here.

31 Days of IBPOC posts – Link

https://www.leadingequitycenter.com/

Sheldon Eakins – “Framing Brave Conversations about Race and Ethnicity” – Link