So I was going to write more about yesterday today, assuming that we would have not much to tell about today. How sadly wrong I was. We had major issues today.
We had the girls (now 11, because Rosailin was there today - and she is awesome!) for the morning, from 9 to 12. The morning went very well - we put together the first piece of the show, which is very brief but basically entails the girls each taking on the voice of someone in their lives who is pressuring them - that pressure could be familial, drugs, prostitution, from men, whatever. That went well - it took longer than anticipated, but it was fine. Then we did some "mining for material" and videotaped the girls talking about their responses to prostitution and drugs. That was quite interesting and we found that the girls love talking on the videocamera. They get very serious and love to watch themselves on the tiny little screen. So that is fun. Then we did a little dance combo, which went pretty well today, and then the girls decorated their journals and we talked with each of them - did a little interview and got to know some of the quiet ones a little bit better. All was well. The girls were pretty into each activity, and no real problems arose.
However, Anna and I had been noticing ever since yesterday that some racial tension was occurring. For instance, we will often all sit in a circle for discussions or scene work, and the girls always segregate based on skin color. The lighter skinned girls (the Dominicans) sit to one side, and the darker skinned girls (the Haitians) always sit on the other. The two groups barely associate with one another unless it is absolutely necessary. I guess we initially thought it was just a question of friend groups, but it has become apparent that the tensions are racial. Ironically enough, we went to talk to the camp psychologist, Alexandra, in the afternoon while the girls were in their academic classes, about our concerns with the racial tension in our group. Little did we know how ironic that was ...
As we were meeting with Alexandra about the racial tension in our group, the girls were in academics upstairs. And a fight broke out, which soon erupted into a fairly serious verbal abuse session with both groups yelling at each other. We only found out about this incident after our meeting with Paulina ended and we were sitting in our classroom, happily planning how we were going to try and mix the groups up tomorrow. Oblivious ... :)
Anyways, after a whole set of meetings with the girls and then with the whole staff, it was concluded that one of our girls, Sarah, who was at the heart of the fight, would not be allowed to come to camp tomorrow and Friday. Sarah is an awesome girl, but she has some attitude and respect issues, which luckily Anna and I have been spared from, but the staff that know her better are more familiar with her behavioral issues, so they decided how to handle the situation. In any case, Sarah won't be with us tomorrow or Friday, but she will be back on Monday. Basically, our group has some serious issues - serious serious serious - and we need to get our group to unite.
So we are now forgetting the creation of the theater right now, and we are going back to square negative 20 and working on some basic respect and cooperation skills. We are pretty much going to spend the entire day tomorrow doing team-building exercises, as well as some yoga, which we hope will teach them some peace, love and respect. We will do trust falls, lots of theater games, modern dance, partner interviews, discussions about racism, Zentangling (Hi Mom!), collages and other fun things. It actually should be interesting.
Sorry to make this so long, but there is another point I want to make here. As Anna and I were discussing the issue and how ridiculous the racism is when you put it in perspective, I remembered something. Bear with me here. We are working with the Mariposa Foundation, which is an organization created in memory of the Mirabal sisters, three women who started an underground movement to end dictator Trujillo's regime. They were called the "mariposas". They were killed by Trujillo, and their death brought about the end of his regime due to the international horror at the execution of three beautiful, inspirational young women. So what I realized today is that Trujillo, during his regime, was trying to "whiten" the island. He was conducting massacres of Haitians and darker-skinned Dominicans. Thousands and thousands of Haitians were executed under Trujillo's regime - Trujillo, in fact, took inspiration from Hitler. So the girls, by exhibiting and promoting such racism against each other, are in fact going against the Mariposa legacy and almost undermining it by sort of promoting (on a very small scale) what Trujillo did. We are going to tell them that - especially because they all so value the legacy of the Mirabal sisters and that whole thing is pretty disturbing. :(
So there you go. Sorry I was so long winded. Not good, I know, but I had to let you guys know what is happening. Please PLEASE PLEASE respond with suggestions or ideas for activities we could use to help fight this racism. Thank you!!
Love and lots and lots and lots of peace,
Kelly and Anna
Hi Guys,
ReplyDeleteI was drawn to your blog post from Facebook. I highly recommend that you read "Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria and other conversations about race" by Beverly Daniel Tatum. An incredible read about identity development, particularly in young people. It is incredible how segregation in our society has very little to do with one's intent and much to do with how we are raised and who we end up surrounded by. One must be very intentional to incorporate mixed races into a friend group, even when there seems to be a critical mass. I don't have a solution for you, except to say congratulations for being aware of the racism. I wonder how the girls feel about it and how obvious or oblivious they are to it all.
-Mrs. Skerritt
I'm sorry i couldn't talk last night, especially in light of reading the blog entry this morning. I thought you were talking about the challenges you encountered the day before but then i read yesterday's and saw your new challenges.
ReplyDeleteWhich...first of all...you are rising to, and I'm really impressed with your perspective on this...with your ability to lay down your best laid plans and go in new directions, with your ability to listen to what the group needs and not just what you had hoped for, with your ability to see the real potential of the kind of work you are doing, and the ability to look at what is going on there with your girls in an even larger context.
Keep talking to your Mariposa colleagues and using them as resources and collaborators on this as you work through your challenges with the group.
It sounds like the girls really enjoyed the video interview work so perhaps you can do more with that, framing some of the issue work you do in the (perhaps fictionalized) context of the small screen.
Whether onscreen or off, I think you will find a lot of help in STORY...their stories...telling each other, listening to each other's, riffing off of them in your theatrical ways...whatever...if they begin to know each others' stories, perhaps they can begin to find more common ground or understanding.
Sense when you can be hitting your issues head on and when you need to come around the side of it with things like story and exercises. Might not always be the best to go hard right into the issues for them.
Can you do more than just talk about Trujillo, but make that story the context of some work you do with them?
I'm in Vermont tonight with Dawson, so I don't know if I'll have signal of any kind, but try skyping in and we can talk further.
I also passed your blog link on to Nikki, who I think would have amazing input for you around this stuff, as of course would Michael, and I'll try him too...if they have the time and chance to get back to you.
You guys are IN IT. Keep listening as you do so well.
Tangling with them will be a great stress reliever! Yoga a great idea as well. I like the comments above....all of the work you do with the girls to relieve the racial tension among them will end up fitting in beautifully with the theatre piece.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of incorporating the Mariposa sisters into the big theme of the show....
I'm so impressed with how well you are "going with the flow" of what needs to get done.
As always I'm so proud of you both.
Lots of love, Mom
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteComing back from the lake and....wow, this is a new angle on the project, but a good one. Not sure how to advise, but I can say that the blacks in this country have struggled with the same issue....still do. W.E B Dubois talked about it in early part of the century and what he had to say may help you and that is---and I'm paraphrasing--that the race has enough difficulty being accepted into the culture without this kind of infighting--that in order to progress, first we must understand that and then one another. Malcolm X came to realize the same thing toward the end of his life, and, of course, Martin Luther King. Some argue, though I am not necessarily one of them, that this type of thinking continues to retard the economic development for minorities in this country. The infighting has nothing but negative outcomes for everyone. You want to be thought of as equal or even superior? Then do the work it takes to get there. Yes, it's more difficult for some, but all have the chance.
That said, it seems as though, by stopping the show (so to speak) you are doing exactly that---letting them get to know one another, their backgrounds, what make them tick and, ultimately, that they have a lot more in common than they've ever realized or been taught to realize.
It's a bummer, but what an opportunity to turn these young women around on antiquated and limited thinking.
Not going to be easy, and I don't envy you.
But I do envy them. You will make something great happen, I am certain.
Love to you. Going to be out for awhile as I am going to the bluegrass thing and then to the mountains to camp and....be alone.
Proud as can be and looking forward to directly seeing what comes of it all.
Be safe. Attack from the side:+
Dad
Got a place at the Villa Traina, so that is bonita. Voy a Cabarete. Hoy, yo trabajo en le.....popup.
ReplyDeleteNot going to be pretty Spanish when I get there, but I will be better by then. Almost done with Unit One, lesson 4, so if people are talking the language of travel, I am all set, or if they are going to the library or to the museum, I will be all over it.
Hi Anna and Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI've been following you on FB, and it seems you already have a lot on your plate. Trust yourselves--you're already doing a great job by tuning into what is happening, drawing on your experience, and by reaching out to ask for input from others. It's good to think about all the bigger issues and "isms" at work here, but remember too that these are individual girls who just want to be heard and seen and understood. It sounds like many may not, in their everyday reality, have a safe place to express and figure out what is going on in their hearts and minds.
It's hard to give advice without knowing all the details, which will unfold more for you and for your readers as you get to know these girls. (How old are they? What is their history together? How do they understand the issues that are developing between them? What do they want to achieve in this space that you are creating for them?) My mom has done a lot of counseling in various contexts and has found a lot of success by going back to basics: try asking the girls to simply name their feelings and get in touch with what, for each one, is at stake in a discussion or conversation. Work on creating a safe environment for everyone to share and get to know each other and build trust. Know too that for some, it will take a while to do that.
You're doing great. Don't forget to rest and take care of yourselves and each other. Thanks for sharing your journey!