“亲爱的社区还没有结束. 就是现在.——理查德·埃德蒙·巴尔加斯
“我们不需要一个救世主. 社区是救世主.“-Patrisse Cullors
As a student at the 威尼斯人平台, I have a lot of events to choose from. I went to see the recent talk by Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the 黑人的命也是命全球网络的创始人理查德·埃德蒙·巴尔加斯 启动司法 and of 成功的故事 (the subject of the documentary 《澳门威尼斯人官方网》), because of what I knew about their organizations.
I’ve been inspired by the work of Black Lives Matter and was interested to see what feminism in prison would look like. I expected to hear about the two speakers’ work. Maybe they would talk about voting, the current political climate, or Cullors’ book, “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir” (St. 马丁的出版社). I was pleasantly surprised when the evening ended up being less about promotion and more of a call to action.
这一夜从基思·大岛开始, 威尼斯人平台 professor and director of 种族及民族研究, acknowledging that the ground we were on was originally that of the Serrano and Cahuilla people. He asked us to remember the pain and suffering the original inhabitants of this land were put through.
卡洛斯和瓦格斯成为了焦点, speaking at first one at a time then in a conversation with each other, pain was a theme that echoed throughout the night. 但是社区也是如此.
Vargas set the st年龄 starting in his high school years. Cullors, 当时21岁, came into his science class to talk about the school-to-prison pipeline, the statistic that young black men have a higher chance of going to prison than of going to college. This mess年龄 struck home with Vargas and inspired him to join Cullors and others to work for change, but didn’t prevent systemic issues from affecting his life.
16岁时，他加入了一个帮派. By 19, 他被判犯有七项抢劫罪, 两项绑架罪名, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon for helping friends rob two Rite援助 stores. 这些加起来总共有150年的寿命. How, you might ask, is he talking at a college after getting out of prison three months ago?
答案是:社区. The community of organizers that Cullors had gotten Vargas involved with raised $10,我花了1000美元请律师. That lawyer was able to have Vargas’s sentence reduced to 10 years.
At this point in the evening, the crowd was snapping. 他们受到了启发. 我得到了灵感. Vargas went on to talk about the other ways in which community helped him when he was in prison. 他的第一个项目之一, 成功的故事, was only possible because of the community he was surrounded with. He dropped his first album in prison, again thanks to his community of support. 启动司法, 和他妻子合作的一个项目, Taina Vargas-Edumond, was a product of community in and outside of prison.
In his words, “Punishment did not change my heart. It was the love of my community that changed my heart.”
Cullors, who in addition to her role in the Black Lives Matter movement is the founder of 尊严与权力 和高级研究员 天下母亲组织, spoke more to the state of our greater community. It’s one characterized by 500 years of white supremacy, 不管我们是否愿意承认, 她说, 而它的捍卫者们想要消磨时间, 扰乱, 让反对派和激进主义迷失方向. Her question to the group was this: How are we upending legacy of white supremacy?
答案还是社区. 就像瓦格斯一样, Cullors put tremendous importance on the ways individual relationships are built, saying on the days she felt most exhausted by the constant opposition it was the love she had that kept her going.
在瓦格斯和卡洛斯的对话中, Vargas noted when he was in prison he relied heavily on his community organizer training to start 成功的故事 and teach those around him about the effects of patriarchy by connecting with them through personal examples and stories. 安全也是讨论的一个话题, with Cullors pointing out that Vargas didn’t present as the stereotypical man, and Vargas noting the vulnerability of often lacking of allies.
Questions from the audience expanded the conversation. The speakers emphasized how important it was that those with privilege, 比如台下的大学生, advance social justice by choosing to be allies (supporters) of marginalized individuals and groups; one resource for this Cullors recommended was an organization called SURJ.
听完这个演讲后, I will definitely be more actively supportive of people around me, 我鼓励你们也这样做. The burden does not, and should not, rest on those who are the most oppressed.
We closed the night with a call and response, and I left feeling emotional, inspired, and empowered.
