The View From Here

Not too long ago I found out that an alum of a college I used to work at was being promoted into a significant position, and I thought it'd be great to have the news about him be part of the college's list of on-line articles about alumni news.  When I asked the college about this, I was told that they had actually been tracking this alum's career and have been wanting to interview him but he did not respond to their initial inquiry.  So I offered to follow-up and I did. Well, it turns out that, yes, this alum received their inquiry and though he was open to being interviewed, he wasn't so sure they were open to hearing what he had to say.  And it was no surprise that he said that he would have both very good things to say and some tough things to say about his experiences at the college,  I suppose this is true for most alum of any college in that one has mixed experiences as an undergraduate.  Yet it is particularly true for those who are marginalized due to...

To get the pulse of any campus, I like to read the school paper.  It's interesting to note that though technology is taking over much of our lives, the weekly or even daily college school paper continues to be on, well, paper. Earlier this week I picked up the paper at the college that I'm attending for graduate school and work at part-time.  In it was a response editorial by the paper's editor about her consternation about last week's guest editorial about #blacklivesmatter . The editor was particularly upset about the idea that we in the present are responsible for the past.  I quote the editor in full: "After reading the #BlackLivesMatter article I was annoyed and angered. The author was taking things that happened before we were even born and using them against everyone alive today.  There has been much oppression in our country's history.  When the Irish came over they were scrutinized and kicked out of buildings.  they were passed up on jobs an...

Last night my boyfriend and I were having a discussion about the problem of race and being Latino/Hispanic.  This is not a new conversation for us considering my past work in diversity in higher education and his academic teaching on Latin American and Latino US American politics. Depending on who you talk to, being Hispanic/Latino can be racially framed, i.e. being "brown" or culturally framed, e.g. being "Mexican" or "Cuban."  All of this got a bit complicated when in 1980 the US government decided to change the way census demographics would be noted and collected. So instead of being of being Hispanic, one must choose a race (White, Asian, etc.) and Hispanic or Non-Hispanic. I've often talked to friends who are Hispanic/Latino and they lament the fact that it was not racial category especially when it is racialized and they experience the racialization every day through stereotyping, microagressions and outright racism because of features deemed...

For my graduate class I'm doing a practicum in the local area.  Due to all the snow I've only gone in twice but so far it has been a good experience.  Much of it is because majority of the staff are people of color.  In my entire life this is the first time I've ever entered into a workplace and most of the people are those of color.  In this case they're also mostly women.  Also most if not all were either pursuing their Master's degree or already had one.  Having lunch with them and listening to their stories encouraged my heart and sustained me for the rest of the day. That's what happens when you're among those who are like-minded yet are different in so many ways. The expression "Unity in Diversity" really can be true. Yet the truth is that I know that when these women are out and about, they are probably presumed to be drop-outs, illegal or poor simply based on what they look and sound like.  I also know that I don't get any of that be...

It's really true that I find myself being the only one in most contexts in Rhode Island.  In some ways that makes perfect sense since the state is nearly 87% White  but I can't help still being surprised when I experience this alone-ness time and again. Today I attended a workshop about trauma, which was helpful since I'm going to be working with clients who have experienced alot of trauma in their lives.  As I looked around the room, there was one other visibly person of color in attendance.  Again, no surprise but always disconcerting to say the least. This experience outside of what I used to do in higher education reminds me that diversity is just hard in the many places I find myself in.  Yet, if not me or you or someone else then change won't ever happen.  The question that haunts me though is how do those who are always breaking ground able to be resilient and have fortitude in the face of oppression and resistance.  I'm still wondering abou...

Last week I scored a free ticket to see " Middletown " at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI. I was looking forward to seeing this play as it seemed that they would have a touch more racial diversity in their casting.  Also the story line seemed thought-provoking in that it was considered to be a contemporary "Our Town" set in a small town and addressing as written on their web page, "universal themes of love, birth, death, loneliness, elation, forgiveness, disappointment and redemption." Again, I found myself being one of a handful of people of color in the audience and certainly one of the younger audience goers.  This definitely is a reality for so many theatres when it comes to the lack of diversity in age and race among audiences.  The only time that I was in the racial majority was when I went to see " Raisin in the Sun " with Denzel Washington, which was refreshing to experience. Then again, is anyone surprised by that? A...

The other day I went to my niece's cello recital.  I'm guessing that your mental image may be much like mine in that the students who were performing that day will be mostly Asian American and perhaps mostly female.  It's not that I want it to be that way but media in the US has propagated the image of cute Asian kids who were prodigies playing violins like Antonio Vivaldi . The funny thing is that though I tried to learn the violin at the age of eight, I lasted about a week to the consternation of my mom. It was more about the expense of buying the violin than the disappointment of a supposed " Tiger Mom ." So, imagine my surprise when I walked into the room and saw only three Asian kids out of a dozen and mostly boys who were poised and ready to play their cellos.  It was a good reminder that stereotypes don't really hold up as much as our society likes to believe that they do.  Next time when someone says that stereotypes have a "grain of truth"...