ROUNDTABLE| The State of DIVERSITY on Campus

Regarding Diversity Affairs at WashU

Important proposal for addressing student diversity affairs upcoming on campus. Please read and pass along to your peers and constituents. 

For years and semesters, members of our student community have have voiced a desire and need for an official and legitimate student-led entity that can provide:

• centralization of student-led communication, resources, and support for multicultural and diversity-related affairs,
• a rapid- action based source to aid in the address of bias-based incidents as they occur (think: ethnic profiling, Right Side of History, etc),
• a legitimized and collective voice for the student body when advocating greater desires of "diversity" to SU and the appropriate members of the University administration,
• more direct facilitation and accountability for collaboration and co-programming between cultural groups,
• increased provision and centralization of diversity training and workshops for student groups and individuals,
• and more.

Since returning this semester, many of us have worked with various members of the community to conceive a proposal to Student Union for the legislation of a Diversity Affairs Council (DAC) that will strive to address these and other interests. With a defined structure and much closer ties to SU, the DAC would represent the creation of an explicit diversity element within Student Union oriented towards helping a wide array of groups and individuals— including cultural, religious, LGBTQIA and social justice—reach common goals.


It would hope to provide policy recommendations to the Student Union Senate and support them into action as incidents occur on campus.  It would help coordinate diversity training on campus, connect new groups and initiatives (like WU/FUSED or Culture Shock) with campus leaders, and host a monthly Roundtable as meeting grounds for its constituents. The Chair of the DAC would be appointed by the SU President, and then would appoint a Cabinet to provide direction for the council, and it is with great hopes that with your support, members of the student body will have thorough representation within the DAC and unite towards enhancing and activating what the term "diversity" means on our campus. 


WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

SU Senate recently set the legislative consideration and voting for this initiative for February 10. As work on this legislation proposal is relatively new, communication of it to the wider student body has been limited. But we want you to join us in showing Student Union student support for the DAC

INPUT is needed.
On Monday and/or Tuesday of this upcoming week, we will be launching a "State of Diversity" campaign to garner a vast array of student perspectives on what is perceived to have become just a "buzz word" on campus.  We will be videotaping random and self-selected students in the DUC Commons sharing how they regard the current state of the term "diversity" on our campus. These will be shared all week in prep for the Senate legislation. 

DIALOGUE is needed.
With the new developments of the DAC concept, we will be hosting a Roundtable on Thursday February 4 at 7:30pm in DUC 234 about the "State of 'Diversity'" on campus whereby we will analyze and discuss the issues that have been prevalent over the past year and pitch why the DAC could serve as a foundational solution for such issues. We need honest and raw dialogue about this, so please bring diverse and strong opinions. 

SUPPORT is needed.
The DAC legislation is currently set for February 10 in SU Senate. Please support this effort by attending this meeting, bringing your peers, and voicing your opinions about the DAC legislation.

For any questions, concerns, or suggestions, or to get involved, please contact Connect 4 at connect4.wustl@gmail.com. 

C4 Execs

Leave your comments below:

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: WU'S ETHIC OF SERVICE AWARD

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: WU'S ETHIC OF SERVICE AWARD 

Do you know someone who inspires compassion and action in others? 
Someone who is selfless and dedicated to serving the community? 
Someone who exudes passion for a social, cultural, or economic issue in St. Louis? 

Or perhaps someone who aspires to all these things? 

Honor this person by submitting a nomination for 
WU's Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award. 

Any member of the WU community, past or current, 
who resides in and serves the St. Louis community is eligible to receive the award. 

Learn more and submit nominations at: 
www.ethicofservice.wustl.edu 
Deadline: February 5, 2010 at 5:00pm

Coprogramming with the Committee on Women and Art— Are We Interested?

Received this from CWA. Will bring it up at a meeting.

Dear Connect 4,

 

I am writing on behalf of The Committe on Women and Art, a student group on campus.  We are hosting our annual symposium next month (February) in which we bring female artists and performers to campus to celebrate their accomplishments.  I just got off the phone with local blues singer Kim Massie (http://www.myspace.com/kimmassie1), who has agreed to perform in Umrath Lounge on Wednesday, February 17th. (date may change depending on space availability).  Here is the issue:  she is asking for $600 to perform, but we only have $100 in our account to offer.  We wonder if Connect 4 would be interested in co-sponsoring her performance with us.  We will accept any money you'd be willing or able to contribute; we are approaching several other student groups/academic departments with this same request, in hopes of raising enough funds.  If you would like to contribute, your name will of course be attached to the event (unless you would prefer otherwise).  This is obviously a last-minute, semi-desperate request, and we would hope to get the ball rolling as soon as possible, if possible.  That being said, feel free to contact me by email or phone (260-316-6833) and let me know if you are interested, then we can meet to discuss details.

Thanks for your time!
  

Pre-Semester Meeting, January 21, 2010

Big props to Betel for such succinct notes. Awesome. Also, great thanks to Aiko and Salma for joining us!

Connect4 1/21/10

·  Grace is still doing PR with Brittany

·  One of the main goals of this year is to make sure we hold ourselves and others accountable for our initiatives.

·  Activities Fair is on Wednesday from 4:30-6:40

·  Legislation: there will be a new draft sent out by next week

o   Main goal is to keep communication open

o   Meeting with non-C4 Ehi and Nate Ferguson to discuss the legislation

·  Ezell is in process of getting things in order to get the Diversity pre-o started

o   Sign up sheet passed around for those who want more info

·  Camille and Lexi will be starting “Operation Understanding WashU

o   Discussions and programming to discuss various issues

o   Info session on February 8^th and 9^th

·  Andreas: Need More Players

o   Get a group of people to crash a spot on campus to allow people to meet each other

o   First event will be at Activities Fair. Meet there and discuss what they’re going to do.

o   Only issue is with the tshirts. Probs do a community

·  Need a Roundtable Committee/ someone to actually head it also

o   Even if you don’t have experience, its ok.

·  Culture Shock

o   Brought up by Hana Schuster

o   First event is LNYF brought by AAA.

o   Next event is Black Anthology.

·  Brown Bag Lunches

o   A way to strengthen our relationships with our faculty and how we support each other

·  Brown Star

o   Sathya will be coming to WUSTL

·  We hope to have more bonding events and start it off with a retreat on the 31^st.

·  Hope to have C4 work with the new Dean Mcleod’s Scholarship

·  Thurtene: it’s still tentative if we want to do it or not. It is a busy month though as far as transitions go.

·  Leadershape: during spring break.

Give David Equality

Join the Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Give-David-Equality/445362585528?v=wall

This morning, I was invited to join a Facebook page called "Give David Equality" that pertains to the injustice that leaders like David, leader in SigEg and campus leader of "The Right Side of History" face because he is gay. 


I read the following note on the Facebook page and immediately joined it and his site in support, offering Connect 4 as a group with whom he can possibly connect to help spread awareness on campus if he desires. In addition, I will be sharing the idea with Connect 4 of partnering with David to have a Straight Talk for Equality on campus and lending our faces and voices as straight talkers on the site. 


Please join the Facebook Page for this at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Give-David-Equality/445362585528?v=wall and support David and million of others in the LGBT community by learning more about The Right Side of History.

David is a good friend of mine, a normal guy who likes to hang out. He's in SigEp a fraternity at WashU and knows how to have a good time. However because David is gay he is not treated like me under the law.  

You may not know this, but David is not a full citizen of this country--nor are the millions of other gay Americans like him. David can be legally fired in 29 states for being gay, legally evicted from his house in over 30 states, barred access to the military and its government benefits, and restricted from getting access to the 1,100+ federal privileges that our government gives married couples. It's hard to believe that in our country, we all don't have the same legal rights and protections. 

David wants to have a family someday unless we change these laws, David's family won't have the same rights as the family that raised me, or as many other American families. How is this possible? How much longer will David have to wait? 

We can and must change these laws. This year, please help give David -- and millions of LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bi Trans) American--equal rights. Please show your support for David's 100% equality by joining this page and by inviting your friends. I'll keep you posted on how you can help David and other LGBT Americans gain full equality in the upcoming year. 

Thanks for your support

Join Connect 4 on the Catalysts Network

Connect 4 President, De Nichols, produced a book last semester called The Catalysts Paradigm that has now grown into a network amongst WashU students called The Creative Catalysts Network. The CCN is an online community whereby innovative/creative student thinkers and leaders and communicate and share the initiatives, creative projects, issues/causes, and businesses that they are forming and leading. This is a also a great place for student groups, for they can share their events/missions. This is a great place for student artists/designers/creatives, for they can connect with sg and initiatives leaders in efforts to make their design work better. AND this is a place for people who simply want to share ideas and vocalize needs/causes in the community. If any of these are you, please join, and join the Connect 4 page and group on it.

"Unity Fest", A Concept

 I found this idea online, and I think it would be something really cool to host either as it is described below or as an expanded concept for all ethnic communities on campus. It could even be something that students collaborate to create in order to serve a higher meaning with the term UnityFest.


I can't remember which university this is from, but it's cool.... and if you think "Connect 4" is a stranger group name, check out "SODA." 

Within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community are many ethnicities and experiences. This event will acknowledge and celebrate this diversity. There will be performances, discussion, and food from several distinct communities.This event is also part of a UnityFest and is sponsored by Raising Our Asian Rights (ROAR) and Students Organizing Diversity Activities (SODA).

Multicultural Retreat, A Concept

For a while, some members of Connect 4 have considered the idea of programming a multicultural retreat that would be open to all students and serve as an opportunity for us to explore our various identities, learn about leadership in diversity, and find ways to open more opportunities to learn and advocate for issues when we're on campus.

Well, I started looking around/researching what other universities are doing in this effort and came across the following retreat that is hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Read the description. Sounds pretty similar to some of the goals that I have heard from WashU peeps.

Cultural Leadership Retreat: February 5th to the 7th

The Cultural Leadership Retreat is a three-day, two-night weekend with interactive workshops designed to create an environment for individuals to explore cultural identity, share experiences, and discuss the meaning of leadership within the context of a diverse society. The workshops create a safe climate for sharing activities. Participants need to come prepared to actively participate in activities by sharing views, attitudes, beliefs and experiences openly and honestly. The Cultural Leadership Retreat is an unique opportunity to learn more about yourself, connect with other students, and to make a positive impact at UNLV.

For students interested in applying as a participant for the retreat, please click here to apply. Application deadline is January 14, 2010!

For staff or faculty interested in applying as a facilitator for the retreat, please Click Here to apply.

Afriky Lolo Brings the Rumble in the DUC

Today I was sitting in the downstairs SU offices with Senators, when suddenly an onslaught of drumming caught my attention. Though in midst of conversation, I removed myself to find the sound and came across the following amazing performances by Afriky Lolo, "a nationally acclaimed West African Dance Company" based out of St. Louis. The African Students Association hosted their performance today in preparation for their show "Sundiata" in Edison theater. Please watch the videos below, post more if you got to see them, and support them and ASA February 26!








Below is the flyer for the show. Please show your support by attending this event! I will be connecting with Connect 4 and Culture Shock members to by group tickets to see it. Join us!

Learn more about Afriky Lolo by visiting http://afrikylolo.com

Opportunity with NSBE to Discuss the Lack of Diversity in Faculty

Alice Ndikumana sent the following request to student group leaders in efforts to coprogram an event to discuss the lack of diversity amongst the faculty at WashU. De will be meeting with her next week to learn more about this endeavor.

My name is Alice Ndikumana. I am a junoir biomedical engineering student, and the programs chair for the National Society of Black Engineers. Every year we host a NSBE Week in the Spring Semester. This year the theme of our week is inspiring and educating Black engineers. Along that theme, one of our main events is an event discussing the lack of a diversity amongst the faculty at our university. The goal of our event is, firstly, to answer the following questions: 1. How racial/ethnic representation among Washington University in St. Louis compare to similar intstitutions? 2. What is our university doing to increase these numbers? 3. What are the main obstacles we face? Secondly, we hope to educate our student body about what it takes to become an professor and what the career entails. 

I am hoping that your membership may be interested in attending our event and that you may interesting in co-programming this event with us. If you are interested please respond to this email we can set up a time for us to meet and bounce around ideas.

From Camille, "The Psychology of Stereotypes, Identity, and Perception" at Missouri History Museum Thursday

Connect 4's Co-VP Camille Young sent the following message regarding an event that many Connect 4 members will be attending Thursday before our Pre-Activities Fair meeting. Please let her know if you will be attending by emailing connect4.wustl@gmail.com. 

As you all know, this Thursday, we will be having of first meeting of the year at 9pm in Seigle Hall. Before hand I was hoping that we could, as a group, attend an amazing lecture at the Missouri History Museum, entitled "In the Mind's Eye: The Psychology of Stereotypes, Identity and Perception," at 7pm. The lecture is being led by our very own Alan J. Lambert, associate professor of Psychology at Washington University. I've attached the events link:http://www.mohistory.org/node/3755

As our campus' premier diversity awareness group, I believe it is important that we educate ourselves on the complexities of discrimination and stereotyping, and this is a great opportunity for us to do so! (as well as group bonding ^_^)

This semester, our group is seeing a lot of changes; from choosing a new name, starting new initiatives, and to potentially becoming apart of SU. As we undergo these changes, it is important that we remain on our "A" game. In order to do so, De, Lexi, and myself are looking to promote and acknowledge the diversity within our own group as well as comradery.

So, if you would like to go and can make it this Thursday, to the History Museum at 7pm before our first meeting, please contact me no later that 12pm on Thursday. The museum is on the Metro Link line at Forest Park and we can ride it together.

Thanks guys, and hope to see and hear from you all soon!

A DECISION TO CARE, Bob Hansman's MLK Commemoration Speech

If you were in attendance at last night's Annual MLK Commemorative in Graham Chapel last night, I'm sure you felt a plethora of emotions as students and faculty performed and spoke in the honor of the legendary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, no one can deny that the moment the touched our hearts and minds most emphatically was when we got to listen to renown WashU professor and St. Louis trailblazer, Robert "Bob" Hansman share his reflections on the legacy of Dr. King. Today I received emails and messages from peers, staff, and professors alike still remarking on the raw passion and truth with which Bob spoke, and I was utterly elated to receive an email from friend and Catalyst, Danielle Hayes sharing the manuscript from Bob's speech. It is posted below and is definitely worth cherishing and rereading over and over, for the fieriness and blatancy of his words touch the heart even with out the sound of his dynamism and zeal in speech. Please read it, and share it with others. Let's continue to cherish Bob and the amazing contributions that he has made to the WashU, St. Louis, and national community. Moreso, accept the challenges that he makes in his speech, and live life being a warrior for justice.

de

This speech can also be viewed at http://www.slepton.com/slepton/viewcontent.pl?id=3030

A DECISION TO CARE

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. CELEBRATION, MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2010, GRAHAM CHAPEL

I never got to meet Martin Luther King, Jr. But I did get to meet Coretta King while Martin was still alive.

I got to hear a young Stokely Carmichael and spend some time with a young Julian Bond at his cousin’s apartment.

I managed to get attacked and beaten up by the Ku Klux Klan.

And when I decided to press charges against the head of the local Klan, my lawyer’s office got bombed.

I marched to make this day a holiday, and I can tell you, because I remember, that Martin Luther King, Jr. had a lot more going on than just that dream that shows up in holiday cards this time of year.

Because remembering can also be a way of forgetting. It’s how we simultaneously worship and erase real and complex people. It’s a kind of…second assassination. And selective memory is also a way of letting ourselves off the hook.

In his last book, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE: CHAOS OR COMMUNITY, you may be surprised to find that King had this to say: “Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook…. The outraged white citizen had been sincere when he snatched the whips from the Southern sheriffs and forbade them more cruelties. But when this was to a degree accomplished, the emotions that had momentarily inflamed him melted away. White America left the Negro on the ground and in devastating numbers walked off with the aggressor. It appeared that the white segregationist and the ordinary white citizen had more in common with one another than either had with the Negro. When Negroes looked for…the realization of equality, they found that many of their white allies had quietly disappeared.”

You won’t find that in many holiday cards.

Apparently the mythical King bore as little resemblance to King in his own mind as it bears to him in many of our minds. “I am conscious of two Martin Luther Kings,” he said. “I am a wonder to myself.…

I am mystified at my own career. The Martin Luther King that the people talk about seems to be somebody foreign to me.”

The real King saw connections among things: poverty, race and the casualties of war; military imperialism abroad and the gutting of civil rights at home. He explicitly advocated for affirmative action and a guaranteed annual income, and—as if anticipating current social and sustainable concerns—delivered scorching critiques of the way we live: materially, spatially, hence, morally.

Listen to this: “…Affluent Americans will eventually have to face themselves with the question that Eichmann chose to ignore: How responsible am I for the well-being of my fellows? ….Many Negroes have felt that their most troublesome adversary was not the obvious bigot of the Ku Klux Klan or the John Birch Society, but the white liberal who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice, who prefers tranquility to equality….The suburbs are white nooses around the black neck of the cities….(They) expand with little regard for what happens to the rest of America….It is not enough to say, ‘We love Negroes, we have many Negro friends.’ They must demand justice for Negroes. Love that does not satisfy justice is no love at all. It is merely a sentimental affection, little more than what one would have for a pet.”

Or this: “America is deeply racist and its democracy is flawed both economically and socially. The black revolution…is exposing…systemic rather than superficial flaws.…For the last twelve years we have been a reform movement….But…we(’ve) moved into a new era, which must be an era of revolution….This means a revolution of values….The whole structure of American life must be changed.”

This is strong stuff. There’s a lot of it, too, and a lot stronger stuff that I won’t read because, ironically, it would sound pretty harsh at a Martin Luther King celebration. But when you get past the Dream, the Drum Major, the Mountaintop, and the Sneeze, he often sounds a lot more like Malcolm X than he does our holiday image of Martin Luther King.

No wonder that, at the time of his death, the man we celebrate today was one of the most hated men in America. FBI paranoia notwithstanding, perhaps in some weird and twisted way the FBI had a better appreciation of King’s radical nature than we do today.

People get upset with King’s tougher words even now. We like to think that maybe he didn’t mean them, that he was still the Dreamer that we think he was in 1963. We don’t want Martin Luther King to …be Martin Luther King. We don’t want King to change, or to want that much change; at least not from us, not still now. How dare he suggest that the life that I choose to live affects the life that you have to live? How dare he challenge my sense of my own innocence and virtue? Look at all we’ve done. What more does he want? I thought he wanted other people to change, not me.

A large part of what King said is apparently still at odds with our selectively airbrushed portrait of him; and yet here he is—radical, challenging, fierce—in his own words. So who was Martin Luther King, Jr.? Who—and what—are we celebrating today? And how do we follow in his footsteps?

Because who we think he was determines what we will do in his name. Are we celebrating an eloquent but ultimately safe and reassuring Dreamer? Or are we celebrating a demanding, radical prophet and teacher who was engaged in what he himself called “a dangerous unselfishness?”

His friend Stanley Levison tells us, “Martin found it very difficult to live comfortably….Martin was always very aware that he was privileged….One of the reasons that he was so determined to be of service was to justify the privileged position he’d been born into.”

“I think I’d rise up in my grave,” King said, “if I died leaving two or three hundred thousand dollars….If I have any weaknesses, they are not in the area of coveting wealth.”

In his sermon WHAT ARE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS? he speaks of telling his children:

“I’m going to…do everything that I can do to see that you get a good education. (But) I don’t ever want you to forget that there are millions of God’s children who will not and cannot get a good education, and I don’t want you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will never be what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be.”

Students are often told nowadays, especially since the latest presidential election, that we live in a post-racial, post-civil rights era now; that clearly anyone can be anything they want to be if they just make good choices and work hard. They usually hear this from a white teacher, while sitting among mostly white classmates, in a mostly segregated suburban school—and they don’t detect a trace of irony in any of it. Sometimes they make it all the way to college still believing this.

I try to imagine that same teacher going down to Peabody School, next to the projects where I spend the other part of my life, and explaining to those kids that segregation is over now, that we live in a post-racial society now, that we should all be color-blind now. I would pay good money to see that.

Of course we all should aspire. Of course we all make choices. But some of us have different choices to choose from than others. And while some of us get to work hard choosing which school to go to or which laptop to buy, others of us have to work hard, choosing between diapers and dinner, and never get to make the other choices.

But there is one choice we all can make, and that is to tell the truth.

The perfect King that we think we can’t possibly be like is a King that King himself could not identify with. The good news is that this puts him within reach: If he was more like us, then we can be more like him. Following in his footsteps is both easier and harder than we make it out to be: easier, because he was not a god, he was human, flawed, conflicted—just like us…and harder, because he wasn’t the beatific Dreamer that we have created in his stead—someone who can easily be emulated merely by adopting a color-blind posture toward those people with whom we happen to come in contact.

People argue about whether the problem, hence the solution, is personal, institutional, structural, systemic, cultural, social, political, legal, economic, educational; it’s all of the above; they’re all related, and they’re all just big words for us—which means there’s plenty for us to do. But make no mistake: we must work, because wherever else the responsibility falls, it also falls squarely on us.

The test is not just the acts we commit, either, but the acts we omit: not just how we are with each other, but how we aren’t.

What does King’s Dream mean when, right now, people are dying in North St. Louis of conditions that get easily treated in West County?

What does King’s Dream mean when the killings of some innocents are cause for national hand-wringing and searching for reasons, while the killings of “my kids” in the projects barely make a ripple, or only cause people to blame the kids themselves, and stay as far away from them as possible?

What does King’s Dream mean when we move far away from “my kids” and then study the speeches of Martin Luther King in school? When we talk about colorblindness where there’s no other color around to be blind to? When one of the very reasons why we live where we do is color-consciousness—and we all know it.

What does King’s Dream mean when we would rather live in a safe neighborhood –safe, because it is removed, exclusive, fortified, gated, fearful of what is beyond—than in a safe society? –safe, because it is open, inclusive, compassionate, equitable, with no reason for fortification or fear.

What does King’s Dream mean when we arrive at Wash U hearing, “Don’t go north of Delmar.” “Don’t go east of Skinker.” “Wellston is a ghetto.” “If you go there, you’ll get shot.”

What does King’s Dream mean when we are told to be afraid—or have to be afraid—to drive through Kinloch, to drive through Ladue, to go to Meacham Park, to go to the Galleria, to go off campus….

What does King’s Dream mean when a little 6-year-old girl in the projects knocks on the door of my studio, sees me eating a sandwich, and asks me, “Do you eat every day?”

That’s not a dream, that’s a nightmare—of our own making. We’re not living King’s Dream—or any dream—when we move out, ignore or blame the people we leave behind, destroy everything from the school system to the environment in the process, and then…talk nice to each other…?

King’s Dream isn’t about the way we talk; it’s about the way we live. It’s not about our own internal transformation; it’s about justice for others. It’s not just about the one person at the top, in the White House; it’s about the millions of people at the bottom, in the projects. It’s not just about being able to climb the Fortune 500 corporate ladder; it’s about being able to play jump rope and not get shot.

It’s not enough to just talk and dream and have these yearly celebrations and pursue our own dreams of security and growth at the expense of “my kids’” dreams of security and growth rather than with them, and then hope that somehow in another generation or two the problems we’re perpetuating will just die out. King didn’t die for such pathetic dreams, such “anemic democracy.”

“(We) fear each other because (we) don’t know each other; (we) don’t know each other because (we) cannot communicate; (we) cannot communicate because (we) are separate.” Maybe Kings’s Dream and the American Dream aren’t even compatible.

In truth, anyone can have a dream. That’s easy. And anyone can say they have values. The question is what are we going to do? I can claim to have the finest values on earth, but if I don’t do anything with them, they don’t do you a bit of good. It’s just me talking. Values are nothing if they’re just words. We’re all “colorblind” until it’s 10 o’clock at night and my son is walking toward you. (Praise god.)

Of course it’s good to treat people equally, within our small sphere of influence, but it isn’t the same as working for justice. It’s too easy to just talk, and our words become merely a soundtrack to a life lived in a very different direction—a life that ultimately exacerbates the very problems our words purport to be solving. Because, collectively, when it came time for us to change, a lot of us dropped the ball and ran, and we’ve been denying or rationalizing it ever since.

Around millions of kitchen tables, we made millions of personal decisions that turned our backs on “the rest of America”—and then we wonder what happened to the Dream.

“In the end,” said King, “we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

In a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, less than a year before he was killed, King said: “You may be thirty-eight years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid….You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity….So you refuse to take a stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are ninety, but you are just as dead at thirty-eight as you would be at ninety. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for truth. You died when you refused to stand up for justice….”

King’s was a “militant nonviolence,” not a passive one. For King, “Justice is love in calculation.”

Some people say that it’s hard to care about anything that doesn’t affect us personally—when we’re raised in ignorance, when we live at a distance from other people and their problems—even ones we’ve helped create. It’s true there are some things we can learn only by making it personal, but it’s also true that we don’t have to wait for it all to affect us personally in order to care; we can just look in our hearts, grow up, and make a decision to care.

So here’s a test: If we couldn’t talk, if we couldn’t tell people what our values are…could people tell what they are from just our actions? When we walk out those doors in a while, when we wake up tomorrow, or years from now, what will our actions say about our values? What will the arc of our lives look like?

Because the other thing about King being like us is that it takes away our own excuses for doing so little. King was us writ large: passionate, uncertain, despondent, determined, funny, furious, hopeful, humble—in a word: imperfect. He worked hard to be Martin Luther King; being Martin Luther King didn’t come easy, even for Martin Luther King.

Tellingly, the dedication to his last book ends with the phrase “that brotherhood will be the condition of man, not the dream of man.”

This is the man I love, this Martin Luther King—who loved us enough to nail us to the wall with truth, not just with dreams.

This is the man who set me on a path that led eventually to the projects of St. Louis. And the message was unmistakable: if I had stayed where life put me, if I had just accepted my gifts as if I deserved them, if I had just said, “Well, my privilege worked for me, and I want nothing more than for my son to have the same,” I would never have found my way down to the projects; I would never have found my son.

If it weren’t for Martin Luther King, Jr., I would never have gotten beaten up by the Klan; but I would never have found my son, either.

Meanwhile, a couple miles northeast of here, St. Louis’ statue of Martin Luther King sits up in Fountain Park, surrounded by a fence, in a part of the City where few of us will ever venture, even today.

The man I’ve told you about this evening is the Martin Luther King I love, the man I owe so much to, the man I owe my life to, really. Sometimes I wish I could just see him, just hold him in my arms and tell him, “Thank you. Thank you for my life. Thank you for my son. Thank you for making me work hard, not for making things easy for me. You were a great teacher, and we are all still your students, with so much still to learn.”

As much as I celebrate his life tonight, I still grieve his passing, as if it had happened just this evening, just…a little while ago….

As those of us who actually remember Martin Luther King become fewer and eventually die out, it will become harder and harder for young people to discern the truth about the man. But it wouldn’t take a great man, it wouldn’t take a prophet to espouse the “bland euphemisms” that “fall pleasantly on the ear” on a day like today. So don’t you fall for it. Martin was made of tougher stuff than that.

I’ll leave you with some of his last words, delivered at Mason Temple in Memphis the day before he was killed: “We are constantly trying to finish that which is unfinished.…Life is a continual story of shattered dreams. (But) God does not judge us by the separate incidents or the separate mistakes that we make, but by the total bent of our lives.…I want to be a good man, and I want to hear a voice saying to me one day, ‘I take you in and I bless you because you tried….You are a recipient of my grace because it was in your heart….It is well that it was within thine heart.’”

Thank you.

What WashU Students are Doing for Haiti

The video below is NOT produced by WU students, but I thought I'd share this video as an opener to this post. Listen while you read. These are talented youth. Since arriving back at WU, I have received many emails and Facebook message/invites regarding initiatives that WU students are starting to have for supporting Haiti, so I thought I'd pass the word. Community Service Office. This previous post shares CSO suggestions and insight on how we can immediately get involved with the efforts to help Haiti. Please read it and participate. Student Union's Goals. SU President, Jeff Nelson, recently sent a challenge to all students to help SU raise and donate at least $20,000 to the Partners in Health (PIH) for relief efforts by Monday, January 25th. [They] ask that each student go to http://su.wustl.edu/help-haiti and donate $5 to this effort. Student Union will donate $500 from its fundraising account and an additional $1 for every $40 donated up to our $20,000 goal. Do it!!! Black Senior Alliance "Jump Off Party." This student group will be helping Haiti by hosting a back-to-school party THIS WEEKEND that will collect can goods and money in collaboration with Partners in Health. Visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=416277600393&ref=ts for more info. Touch the Sphere. Freshman and Catalyst member, Andrew Taliaferro recently launched his initiative, Touch the Sphere, which aims to keep WashU students alert and contributing to the cause via the Touch the Sphere: Students United for Change in Haiti Facebook cause that he created. Please join it and contribute- all proceeds go to the American Red Cross. These are each awesome endeavors in their own ways. Please support with as much generosity as possible. Share other things that WU peeps are doing as well! Peace

Winter Break Update #06

Somehow I didn't post 04 and 05...but here's 06.

Last update of the break, and I hope it finds you all well! 

Lots of things have happened within the past week and lots are coming up quickly, so I will post details to some stuff below to the C4 blog that I created (that streams through our FB fanpage). As well, since our official first meeting is the day after the Activities Fair, let's have a Welcome Back/Pre-Activities Fair meeting this Thursday  so that we can prepare for the Fair and review our calendar and activities for the semester. Our first meeting will serve as an information session for new and interested members, so we need to figure out what we each will share.

Here are this week's updates:

1. Legislation Meeting TONIGHT at 10pm in the DUC. For those involved, please meet in the Commons, and we can find a room. 

2. REMINDER: Weekly Meeting Time= Thursdays at 9 in Siegle 305. (We have Sundays at 8pm as back up). 

3. CALENDAR: If you have not viewed our tentative calendar for the semester, please do so here and add other WU/STL events that will be relevant for our group to attend/participate. I will distribute these in hard copy Thursday, which will also serve as a time for us to solidify things that we desire to program.  https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ap8s6fYNrzZ5dDlOU0Ffc2c4ODd1akVFQVMwVFdZZWc&hl=en

3. IMPACT Conference- This opportunity came from CSO, and I thought it would be great to get a group to go. Read here http://connect4wu.blogspot.com/2010/01/impact-national-student-conference-on.html

4. Culture Shock- At RCE, students led by Hana Schuster created an initiative called Culture Shock that aims to unite/connect people on campus by attending various cultural events/meetings on campus. Read more here or join the facebook group at

 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=290753875490&ref=ts

5. Diversity Pre-O. Ezelle shared this initiative at RCE and received great feedback! Because the 2010 PreO deadline has passed, this be planned for Fall 2011, but please connect with him to join his committee for bringing this into fruition.

Culture Shock Initiative

Many Connect 4 members and student leaders attended the Office of Student Activities' Redefining Community Experience Retreat this past weekend, and boy, did we have a blast!

One of the awesome initiatives that emerged from RCE was Culture Shock, an initiative started by Hana Schuster that aims to

expose students to various cultures by attending one culture group event each week, and will create an open, welcoming, and more diverse campus environment. It will offer students opportunities to experience cultures they wouldn't normally be exposed to, and will create student ties and relationships between various groups, in hopes of promoting a more open and understanding student body.

Because this group's purpose relates so closely to Connect 4's mission to connect people and generate awareness of identity and culture, Culture Shock leaders will be attending the first Connect 4 meeting to share this idea. As well, it will be great to unite with them to attend the upcoming LNYF and Black Anthology shows. Post thoughts, opinions, and ideas.

To learn more about Culture Shock, visit its Facebook Group or email wucultureshock@gmail.com

IMPACT: National Student Conference on Service, Advocacy & Social Action

I received the information below from the Community Service Office Regarding the IMPACT Student Conference that will be occurring March 19-22 in Little Rock, and I think it would be awesome we could get a group of Connect 4 members and other WU students to go. I will be talking to Naomi on Tuesday about this opportunity and seeing which avenues are available for subsidizing the costs for a group to possibly go. 

IMPACT: National Student Conference on Service, Advocacy & Social Action 
Early Registration Deadline - January 22 
The IMPACT Conference is a place where college students, administrators, faculty, national nonprofit organizations, socially-responsible companies and many other campus community members involved in service, activism, politics, advocacy, and other socially responsible work across philosophical and ideological lines can gather together. This spring the conference will be held at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas, March 19-22, 2010.
 
You won't want to miss this inspiring three-day conference, which will give students the opportunity to: 
* Present a workshop at a national conference 
* Attend thought provoking student-lead workshops and plenary sessions 
* Attend a Hunger Banquet 
* Network with representatives of non-profit agencies and companies at the Opportunities Fair 
* Listen to nationally recognized keynote speakers and more! 
 
Early Registration for the IMPACT Conference closes on January 22, 2010!
 
To learn more about the IMPACT Conference and to register, please visit www.impactconference.org.  Workshop proposals are also still being accepted.  

Winter Break Update #03

Happy New Year, peeps!

Lots of C4 communication and activity have occurred over this past week, and I am so excited to get back to school and rock the house with you guys this semester! Here's this week's update:

1. Weekly Meeting Time. Thursdays 9pm. Sundays 8pm will be backup/follow-up only when needed since more people are unavailable on that day and time.

2. Calendar. I have posted a Google Doc link of the calendar outline draft below. It is not complete, for it is missing some initiatives and other WU programming dates. Please ADD to it as is relevant our group. I will distribute it via Google Cal, iCal, and hardcopy at our first meeting, January 21 (Welcome Back/pre-Activities Fair Meeting). Please use the draft as a good overview for now. 

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ap8s6fYNrzZ5dDlOU0Ffc2c4ODd1akVFQVMwVFdZZWc&hl=en

2. SU Legislation Update

- We will be completing the first draft for the executive committee legislation by this Sunday, Jan 10. Once we return to school, we will present and propose this to all of Connect 4 for discussion and voting (possibly at our Jan 21 meeting, since the official first meeting, Jan 28, will be more of an info session for new members). 

- Chase confirmed with me that SU Senate may tentatively vote on the legislation at the February 3 Senate meeting should we remain on schedule.

3. Connect 4 Retreat! I spoke with Camille and Lexi today, and they expressed the valid point that we, as a group, do not yet know how we, as individuals, add to the "diversity" of our group. Therefore, Lexi has taken the initiative to help organize a C4 retreat-like event for us! Details will come as we get closer to school, but the tentative date is Jan 31 (before events, etc get rolling). If you are interested in helping to organize this, please contact Lexi at amklein@wustl.edu. 

4. Need More Players! Andreas is well-underway with making this initiative super dynamic. We discussed it this past week, and updates will come soon, but if you have not already filled out the Interest Form for it, please do so here: 

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEhFTUtQa2tjeVdQT3hzOTFrQnhJdWc6MA

Also, join the Need More Players Initiatives page on The Creative Catalysts Network! http://thecatalysts.ning.com/group/needmoreplayers

This is all for now, I think. Can't wait to see you guys soon!!

De

Compassion Works

I found this online and thought the impact that this one group/community had was pretty darn impactful. What if students at WashU connected to have this kind of united impact for our local communities in need. That would be amazing.



Compassion from Dustin Bankord on Vimeo.