Dearest Community,
Last week an extended member of the community wrote in the Record about the insular nature of this campus, how isolated we are in our ideas, our values, and our actions. When I first read the letter, I was defensive; I thought, “How could they possibly know what it’s like?â€? And then in my head, I tried to refute their claim, dissecting the ways in which we do care about other things beside ourselves. But I’m not one who says we need to focus on greater world problems, ignore the ones in our own lives…I think it’s cheesy, but that phrase, you gotta work on your community first in order to change the greater structure, really fits. But what doesn’t fit here -at Antioch- is the ways in which we “workâ€? on our community, but you all probably knew that. We easily become reactionary when it comes to fixing our problems (that includes that administration, students, etc. everyone!). When I see that one of the bathroom stalls in my hall was kicked down from last night’s party, I get angry and immediately want to point fingers and find some kind of public way to shame the person who did it. We all know that scenario too well; it was replayed in community meeting yesterday after a piano was smashed. I guess what I’m getting at is all too simple but seemingly much too hard. We need to work on more longterm goals to challenge systemic problems. So, the whole “cowboys and Indiansâ€? party controversy – it needs to be addressed with a deeper vision and commitment of an anti-racist education. Allen G. Johnson was a start, but please, let’s put our egos aside, and find places to inject “our valuesâ€? in the structure of this community. Culture only exists in practice and we need to practice everyday. I am inspired everyday here, and I think sometimes we need to remind ourselves of those good things and continue to bring this education and dialog into a greater context. Creativity is key. We are all creative. Thanks for reading this corny attempt to communicate.
Much Love,
~Lauren Hind