at last

i came home after having our first training series at work. we covered the 4 tools the system uses to influence and control people's behavior: make it popular, education/teaching, creating laws, and the last tool being the most powerful-- oppression and hate politics. we learn these tools so we can "upset the setup." we discussed how learning these tools of the system allow leaders, community organizers both elder, young, and in between to create change. we reflected on the effective ways our president (oh my goodness that feels good to say) barack obama used grassroots efforts, the concept of "each one, teach one," involved visual artists (which i recently learned donated their time, their gifts, and put all their profits back into the campaign) plastered the nation with their art. the a message simple: change, hope, and progress. you can tell.. the man knows his tools. of course, the one organizers, cultural workers, educators, and leaders working towards positive change do not use-- is oppression/hate politics. instead, we put forth our vision for hope grounded in love and liberation. we look at our humanness and remember regardless of ethnic background, political beliefs, sexual orientation, class, religious and spiritual practice.... pain is pain. a broken heart feels the same no matter the shell that encloses it.

taking the train home, i passed out. closed my eyes with my ipod shuffle, streaming through my headphones. it felt good, to rest. now home after running errands at target, the tv is on to a celebration. in fact, the first thing my tired eyes saw--was beyonce singing "at last" at the neighborhood ball and the obama's doing something i hope we all do more often, dancing.

yes, let us dance..
because the struggle is beautiful
and with each swaying of our hips
we celebrate our power to work towards a collective vision.
the difference now,
is that there are more and more young people
joining in.
at the table, hitting the streets to collect petitions
they are fighting within a school system that destines them to failure
and boxes them into statistics that they know
speak about them-- but not for them
as long as they seize the power they've always had
to use their voice and their expertise
to change an institution they spend the majority of their time in.

it was young people that had the largest votes against prop 8.
it was a young man in today's meeting that connected what he learned about laws being made to control behavior, to the passing of prop 8.

the world is shifting.

yes..
i saw dancing...
and felt my spirit
d a n c e

i think about the group of young leaders working to make change in oakland.
they already embody the messages in the
open letter.

i'm blessed to share this time with them.
i'm proud to mark my place in herstory
with all of you!
now...
let's
dance.