National Night Out
Today is the big event that the Center is hosting, National Night Out: A Recognition of the Contributions of African American Men to the Bay Area. I suppose a good question is Do I have enough time to write a blog right now? Apparently so. This is the earliest I have been in at the Center and it is quieter than I could ever imagine. For this moment, however, I am not going to write about the event, or how busy we will be today, or how many things there are to do, or even how calm it is right now.
Last night I was talking to my girlfriend, Susie. She will be spening two years in Tanzania, Africa in Jesuit Volunteer Corps: International. The program is similar to the one I am in but is a little more intense. She shared with me that there are some basic structural designs built into the program that may be considered hypocritical. For example, it is good that we send volunteers to areas of Africa that need help, but the job that the volunteer takes could have been given to a native person. Do the the positives outweigh the negatives in this situation?
It got me thinking. I, for one, believe that sending volunteers is a good thing. The positives do outweigh the negatives. Yes, a native person may lose their job, but what a well-educated, engaging, passionate person can bring to a different culture is invaluable. Some of the main reasons for conflict, and in the long run war, are ignorance, tunnel vision, and individuals (and cultures) with singular viewpoints. These all breed misunderstanding, prejudice, fear and if let sit too long violence. I think that the sharing of stories and values and the overall promotion of diversity that comes hand in hand with an international volunteer program is indispensable for uniting the different parts of the world. The volunteers cannot lose and neither can the environment where they are placed.
This brings me to the Center. I think that we have the same thing going on here, of which I believe I have talked about before. For me, this has been in invaluable experience. I have lived in an environment that I never have before. I have seen and experienced things that I never would have seen if I had remained in white, middle-upper class suburbia. I have learned about people, why they do what they do, their needs, desires and hopes. And I think this all goes both ways. Hopefully the guys have learned from me. Hopefully, just because I am a different face and from a different experience, they have been able to see a different world. I am not saying anyone's experience is good or bad or that there is any value judgment whatsoever. What I would like to promote here is the diversity that we have created. Which should, with time and energy, lead to enlightenment where there was once ignorance. If we can really know each other, and see the world with each other's eyes, then we can better rid ourselves of the prejudices we naturally have, and we can move toward a reconciliation of all our differences (which are in fact good, because diversity is good, but which can lead to misunderstanding). I suppose what we are looking for is a Center (and a world) in which we can enjoyably and peacefully share our similarities while we celebrate our differences.
Last night I was talking to my girlfriend, Susie. She will be spening two years in Tanzania, Africa in Jesuit Volunteer Corps: International. The program is similar to the one I am in but is a little more intense. She shared with me that there are some basic structural designs built into the program that may be considered hypocritical. For example, it is good that we send volunteers to areas of Africa that need help, but the job that the volunteer takes could have been given to a native person. Do the the positives outweigh the negatives in this situation?
It got me thinking. I, for one, believe that sending volunteers is a good thing. The positives do outweigh the negatives. Yes, a native person may lose their job, but what a well-educated, engaging, passionate person can bring to a different culture is invaluable. Some of the main reasons for conflict, and in the long run war, are ignorance, tunnel vision, and individuals (and cultures) with singular viewpoints. These all breed misunderstanding, prejudice, fear and if let sit too long violence. I think that the sharing of stories and values and the overall promotion of diversity that comes hand in hand with an international volunteer program is indispensable for uniting the different parts of the world. The volunteers cannot lose and neither can the environment where they are placed.
This brings me to the Center. I think that we have the same thing going on here, of which I believe I have talked about before. For me, this has been in invaluable experience. I have lived in an environment that I never have before. I have seen and experienced things that I never would have seen if I had remained in white, middle-upper class suburbia. I have learned about people, why they do what they do, their needs, desires and hopes. And I think this all goes both ways. Hopefully the guys have learned from me. Hopefully, just because I am a different face and from a different experience, they have been able to see a different world. I am not saying anyone's experience is good or bad or that there is any value judgment whatsoever. What I would like to promote here is the diversity that we have created. Which should, with time and energy, lead to enlightenment where there was once ignorance. If we can really know each other, and see the world with each other's eyes, then we can better rid ourselves of the prejudices we naturally have, and we can move toward a reconciliation of all our differences (which are in fact good, because diversity is good, but which can lead to misunderstanding). I suppose what we are looking for is a Center (and a world) in which we can enjoyably and peacefully share our similarities while we celebrate our differences.
posted by Ryan at 7:15 AM
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