Tag Archives: social justice

Remember Orlando

marcie

Since I woke up last Sunday to the news of 49 people killed in an Orlando gay nightclub (the Pulse) I have gone through a gamut of emotions, but mostly I’ve just felt sad.

Forty-nine people like me were killed for being themselves; in a place they felt safe and should have been safe.

The reason this event hits so close to my heart is one of the reasons hate crimes are considered more egregious than others – because they affect a whole sub-group of our population in profound ways. And, just like many many other LGBT folks, I am feeling profoundly affected.

The responses from all over the world that I have seen are overwhelming and there is no way to adequately mention it all here. I am including a small smattering of examples.

President Obama made a statement about the shooting and here is an excerpt:

“For so many people here who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, the Pulse Nightclub has always been a safe haven, a place to sing and dance, and most importantly, to be who you truly are — including for so many people whose families are originally from Puerto Rico. Sunday morning, that sanctuary was violated in the worst way imaginable. So whatever the motivations of the killer, whatever influences led him down the path of violence and terror, whatever propaganda he was consuming from ISIL and al Qaeda, this was an act of terrorism but it was also an act of hate. This was an attack on the LGBT community. Americans were targeted because we’re a country that has learned to welcome everyone, no matter who you are or who you love. And hatred towards people because of sexual orientation, regardless of where it comes from, is a betrayal of what’s best in us.”
(More about the statements and reactions from President Obama)

In a statement Seattle’s Mayor Edward Murray said:

“Words cannot adequately encompass the feelings of grief I am feeling for the loss of so many of our LGBTQ and allied brothers and sisters in Orlando during the largest single act of violence against LGBTQ people in United States history. For too long, our community has been the target of violence throughout the world. It will never make sense to me that love is met with such hate.”
(Mayor Murray’s complete statement)

On Monday June 13^th, several Kitsap organizations, Kitsap leaders and about 300 Kitsap folks joined together for a vigil to honor the victims and their families.

During the vigil many of us signed a banner that read “Kitsap Stands With Orlando” and the next day Bremerton’s Mayor Patty Lent mailed the banner to Orlando’s mayor.
Kitsap Sun article on vigil

In addition to the vigil, those lost in the Orlando shooting will be remembered at all of the LGBTQ Pride events in Kitsap County leading up to the 20^th Kitsap Pride on July 16^th.
KitsapPride.org

I found several web pages with the names of those that died, with some information about each. Here are two:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/orlando-nightclub-mass-shooting-pulse-victims/

http://fusion.net/story/313038/orlando-shooting-victims-names-pulse-massacre/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialshare&utm_content=theme_top_desktop

These are the names to remember!
Many were so young! Senseless and tragic!

Some of the resources in Kitsap County:
Kitsap Pride Network
Kitsap PFLAG
The Q Center

Obama also said: “So if there was ever a moment for all of us to reflect and reaffirm our most basic beliefs that everybody counts and everybody has dignity, now is the time.”

~ Marcie

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at Olympic College

marcie

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson spoke at Olympic College this past Monday, and I came away inspired and energized. The Olympic College Multicultural Program sponsored the event, and Dan Johnson, the Director of Multicultural & Student Programs at Olympic College, introduced Dr. Dyson.

The program title was Politics, Diversity and the Disenfranchised in America, and Dr. Dyson mentioned how fitting it was that the title “sandwiches ‘Diversity’ in between ‘Politics’ and ‘Disenfranchised.’”

Besides being an author and speaker, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is on the faculty of the Department of Sociology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Dr. Dyson defined politics as “the fight over just distribution of vital resources to a vulnerable population in a time of crisis.” He stressed that critical thinking is essential for all of us, so that we can sort out issues and events, put them into context and understand why people do what they do.

One of the many things Dr. Dyson said that resonated with me was: “The disenfranchisement of some is the undermining of all.”

It reminded me of something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

We are all connected, and probably more alike than not. Social justice is something for all of us to be concerned about because in the long run it affects us all.

A highlight of the evening for me was during the question and answer period when a white man stood up to ask a question of Dr. Dyson and mentioned that he “got down with diversity when he married a black man.” The couple has been together for 25 years and they both got a warm response from Dr. Dyson and from the audience.

It was heartening to me to hear Dr. Dyson speak so eloquently and inclusively about diversity. Dr. Dyson has written many books, and choosing one was not easy – I bought Can You Hear Me Now, and am very much looking forward to reading it.

While he infused humor throughout the presentation, Dr. Dyson never failed to instill the audience with the gravity of the issues facing our communities.

~ Marcie