Everyone on the SRRT AC wants civil rights and human rights. Everyone believes in freedom of speech. If this is a childish dream, please let me know. Our internal issues are about being heard-and being heard in a timely manner. I think we can agree on everything else.
How do we temper feelings so that we can hear everyone and do this in a timely manner? We create a space, and we create a time for that space. There are essential tasks our organization must carry out so that the work we want to do can support the many topics of justice we hope to pursue. The most democratic way of creating space to be heard is to schedule a time for particular topics. It appears we need to talk about elections, and we also need to talk about the resolutions. We need to make sure there is enough time to have a full conversation about both. It doesn't matter if they share the same space; however, we do need to have both conversations. We need to look at deadlines and how quickly we need to move on both topics. Both are important-but which one needs to happen first?
I have worked with civil rights fighters for many years, and the current discourse can be turned into a gift. The gift of awareness can only make a team stronger as it moves forward. Acting on that gift of awareness can only make relationships stronger, which in turn makes our fights for justice stronger.
I will end my post by recalling an 'instinct experiment' that involved a coconut shell, a piece of banana, and a chimpanzee. Full disclosure: I am not calling anyone any of these things. In the experiment, the chimpanzee watched a lab assistant place a piece of banana inside the coconut shell. The shell was given to the chimp, and he reached in to grab the banana chunk. The hole in the shell was only big enough for the chimp's hand. However, it was not big enough for him to pull both the gripped banana and his hand out of the shell. As you may guess, the chimp tried to break the shell to get the banana, and he became frustrated because he did not understand that letting go would have released the banana.
Nature sometimes needs to be nurtured. Instinct needs inspection. So, before we start down a road of categorizing team members, let's just let go and make space to be heard. Let's have the patience to allow leadership to create those spaces. If we focus on that, I think we can get back on track.
Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts on the matters at hand.
Everyone, just do the right thing.
Respectfully submitted,
Don
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Donald Michael
Digital Literacy Specialist
Central Piedmont Community College
He/Him/His
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