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Letter to The Piedmont Post Editor, January 27 2016

2/1/2016

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Dear Editor,
​

Last week, the MLK Day Celebration hosted by PADC and the City of Piedmont drew more than 300 people from Piedmont, Oakland and beyond. They heard talented student performers and our city and state leaders beautifully express themselves on the challenges of continuing the civil rights work of Dr. King. We at PADC are grateful to be part of a community that creates a space every year to celebrate and reflect upon the transformative work of Dr. King, reminding us that his work – and our work – is not yet done.

Unfortunately, an incident occurred at this event that made some of our invited guest feel very unwelcome in our community. A few minutes before the OSA Chamber Choir took the stage, Choir Director Cava Menzies and her students suffered a verbal assault from two audience members. (You can read more about this here on our website.
) We at PADC know that many in the Piedmont community, like us, were mortified by this poor treatment of guests at our event, but what’s worse is that it’s not the first time visitors have felt unwelcome – even unwanted - in our city.

You may have read in in this newspaper about teenage students of color stopped and questioned because a resident thinks they looked “suspicious,” and the calls to the police from those feeling threatened by a gardener’s truck parked on their street. But you may not be aware of what PADC hears all too often: an African-American resident afraid to go running at night because of how his neighbors might react, or the black family celebrating their child’s birthday in one of our parks that elicits a call to the police. There is also the sentiment – even among visitors who don’t experience such treatment - that Piedmont is intolerant of “outsiders,” especially outsiders of color. Or the feeling voiced by colleagues in Oakland that "Piedmont definitely has diversity, race, and privilege issues."

We have work to do. We need to ask ourselves questions: Who lives and works in our community and how do they experience Piedmont? What causes people visiting our city to feel unwelcome? What are the qualities that drew us to Piedmont and are they extended to all? And how exactly how do we want to be perceived in the larger community (Oakland and beyond)?

There are many ways to address these questions. Community organizations from parent clubs to houses of worship can add such discussions to their agenda. School district leadership, teachers and parents can reflect on how and whether diversity and inclusion are taught in their classrooms and in their homes. Oakland is a source of diversity and leadership in social justice; we can make a conscious effort to build broader ties between cities and host joint events. Finally, we can ask ourselves how well we know those in our own community, and reach out to our neighbors.
PADC is committed to spurring our community as a whole to discuss and reflect upon questions that the MLK incident and many others like it have raised. We hope you will join the conversation.

Kobi Eshun and Alison Feldman
Co-Presidents, Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee
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Shameful Blight on MLK Day Celebration

1/23/2016

3 Comments

 
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On Monday, January 18th, a few minutes before the OSA Chamber Choir filed onto stage to blow the roof off the Veterans Memorial Building, Cava Menzies suffered a shocking verbal assault from two audience members. She and her 32 students were packed into the catering galley area off to stage right. This area would normally have been reserved for staging, but had become makeshift overflow seating to accommodate the turnout. 

First, one middle-aged white woman walked up to her to say that her students "were an embarrassment and need to learn some respect." Then a second woman jumped in saying, "you know, I'm a teacher too. You need to learn to control them. It's not that hard. Make them go outside." All this with her students and their parents watching. In Cava's own words, "It was unbelievable to experience that kind of condescension and entitlement only five minutes prior to us going on stage. I was shocked by the lack of compassion and respect for myself or my students from those particular guests."

Needless to say, this is a horrifying blight on our community. Such condescension and entitlement on a day of celebrating tolerance and humanity — the irony here is grimly poetic. And, of course, this was not just an assault on Cava, but also on the 32 students who had dedicated their day to serve our community by sharing music with us. Let us remember that these students commuted to us from East and West Oakland to participate in our event whose purpose was to promote and celebrate diversity. Is this the message we want to give our young people of color that come as visitors? 

You may be tempted to downplay the racial overtones of this incident. Please don’t. What is not communicated in the summary of the encounter is tone of voice, body language, and overall demeanor of both women while speaking to Cava. Clearly, beyond just the language that was spoken, the way in which she was spoken to in front of her students was unacceptable. The specter of two privileged white women vying to put a successful black woman in her place, and to shame a talented group of student performers, most of whom are black, is blatant.  The message, "You folks don’t belong inside here” is inescapable. We don’t know if these two women are racist or even if they are Piedmont residents. But the impact of their actions is undeniable. And, unfortunately, this behavior is not completely atypical in our community.

​I'm sorry to hear about the distress experienced by Ms. Menzies and I hope we convey to her our sorrow at the incident and our plans to improve staging for next year's event. 
​I hate to hear and read things like this because it puts a lot of anger inside but unfortunately it's reality!
​This is a very complex situation containing so many internal issues on both sides
​Lesson learned--we need to be very conscious of the staging areas for performers
​How very rude!!! ... Until more people have more experiences with people who don't look like them, I fear these incidents will continue.
​Public shaming is not acceptable. No true educator should undermine the authority of another educator like that. Piedmont has a problem with its image in Oakland. Nobody will want to perform here if they are spoken to like that.    
This gets to the heart of my previous request that we reexamine this event. The idea that this celebration needs to be reclaimed and realigned with Dr. King "The Man and The Work" is trending and this incident highlights why.  I'm thinking service learning, a series of commonwealth-like conversations with social justice leaders
​Our membership has been very vocal and thoughtful in their responses, ranging from embarrassment and outrage to questioning the organization and the focus of this annual event. We’re also reminded that, as an organization promoting diversity and inclusion, we have a responsibility to give the two aggressors the space and opportunity to reflect on the events in a constructive manner.

 The logistical issues identified are obviously straightforward to address. The existential challenge to the event itself - the idea that the celebration may need to be "reclaimed and realigned ..." - also seems to be a tractable problem.

 But there also emerged some questions with no obvious or straightforward answers:
  • Our city has a reputation for being unwelcoming to   visitors. "Piedmont definitely has diversity, race, and privilege issues."  Is this reputation fair? Is this how we want to be perceived?
  • What was going on for the two women who verbally assaulted Ms Menzies and her students? What assumptions did they make? Are they aware of the impact of their outbursts?
 
Cava Menzies herself asks,
  • Are there cultural considerations and communication norms that are essential in breaking down racial barriers in communities like Piedmont that are predominantly white?
  • What is our responsibility in educating our population of these needs?

 PADC is committed to spurring our community as a whole to discuss and reflect upon these questions. Will you join the conversation?
3 Comments

MLK Day 2016 Performers: OSA Chamber Choir

1/10/2016

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Cava Menzies, founding faculty member at the Oakland School of Arts, will direct The OSA Chamber Choir at our 2016 MLK Day Celebration. The group will perform a selection of powerful songs, opening with Glory from the movie Selma, by Common and John Legend.
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Alex Bennett • Lauren Blakely • Jazz Broughton • Isabella Calderon • Genesis Chambers  • Isaiah Chambers  • Charlotte Cohen  • Tatianna Cordoba  • Daniel Fine-Salan  • Sara Fitting  • Satya Hawley  • Julianne Horenstein • Anais Leal  • Cerica Liam • Chelsea Loftus  • Mia Matsuno  • Florence Faith Matteson  • Arianna Mittelbuscher • Shavon Moore  • Michael Mueller • Lyla Neely • Brian Nervis II  • Julissa Otenbriet • Divine Pongtorn • Ella Raffael • Caretha Richardson • Nava Rosenthal • Cataleya Sazo • Amy Schaffer • Lily Stevenson • Juliana Tucciarone • Zearah Tyson • Hedda  Wikstrom • Asher Witkin  • Cicoia Zelie
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