by Jamilah Hoffman
It’s been one week since I”ve left the warm and humid Gulf Coast
and landed in the cool breeze of the Bay.
Needless to say, I should”ve packed warmer clothes! But it hasn’t been all that bad.
One of my first days here in Berkeley, we ran into some Christian
fundamentalist teens. Right in the
middle of Telegraph Ave. We got
into conversation with them and challenged them about what it was that they
were believing in, how did they get to believe such things and what were they
going to do about the world around them?
I was challenged by the whole thing because I came from an environment
in which I thought like they did, and said the same things. But I couldn’t quite figure out what to say
to them that would make them think critically about what they were serving and
the effect that it has on the world around them. I can only hope that they remember that we have
a right to learn about the world and a responsibility to fix it.
were these punkish-looking teens performing a skit and “praise dancing” right
in the middle of the sidewalk.
As we were walking down the street from those teens we
happened upon a protest at UC Berkeley.
The janitorial staff was protesting their low wages compared to those at
other UC campuses. I thought that this
was great and it was, but I noticed that there were not many students marching
with the workers. I know that we are in
the summer session but past movements have been made richer because of the
relationships between workers and students.
This is something that I need to think about more.
But my experience walking through Berkeley
is vastly different than the one I get going through Oakland.
Oakland
Riding through Oakland,
I immediately spot storefront churches on every block, one memorial and two
funerals. I can honestly say that this
was in the span of less than 10 minutes and this really made my heart
sink. I was holding back tears because I
have never been around so much despair.
However, I did notice that at one funeral, where the mourners were so
young and wearing “RIP” t-shirts painted with their lost loved one, a young
woman had, what looked like, pink and purple highlights. I smiled because if there’s one thing I
noticed, it’s the bold and vibrant colors the young people wear out here. Even in the midst of the violence and
destruction, theirs is a conscious choice to live and live and fully as they
can and that is reflected in their appearance.
That gives me hope.
These People are so Patriotic”
Ok. You guys may know
that I’m from Texas
and we do things pretty big out there, but I can honestly say that I have never
seen a pick up truck driving down the highway with a gigantic American flag
blowing in the wind. But I”ve seen that
here! Add that to the cars with, not just
one yellow ribbon decal or one red, white and blue bumper sticker, but, like,
five stickers at a time, I almost felt like I was at home! But then I thought more about it. In Houston,
people have felt content with just one sticker, maybe two. Maybe because the
people in the Bay Area who support the troops and this war feel they are
outnumbered, they feel they have to go really big to show their support and
have their voices heard. I don’t know,
but it’s an interesting thing to think about.
Or, are they?
There are some really cool people out here who are
questioning the status quo and are thinking deep thoughts and trying to figure
out how to change the direction of things.
We watched the movie Persepolis
which is the story of a young woman’s life before, during and after the
revolution and ultimate takeover of that revolution by the Islamic
fundamentalists. It is a beautiful story
but what dominated the conversation before the movie started was Barack Obama.
One guy, a teacher, supported Obama and wanted to know our
position. When it was brought up that
Obama was becoming more reactionary, for instance, voting for the FISA which,
allows the President to grab
all incoming and outgoing international communications without a warrant, among
other things, this particular Obama supporter wasn’t aware of this and actually
had to think about what it was he was supporting. But the younger people who were there were
more aware of what Obama was saying and doing and were less apt to just go
along.
In fact, out in the suburbs, we met up with these other
young people who were not going along with Obama yet, they all had classmates
who were. Their classmates, just like
the teacher, were not getting into the details of Obama’s program. We have to not only tell people the truth
about Obama and not simply to crush their hopes and dreams, which for some, is
the only thing connecting them to Obama, but we have to inspire them to fight
for a better world. We have a lot of
work to do in this aspect.
Nonstop Bhangra
We celebrated a couple of birthdays by going into the city
to this club. The theme: Nonstop Bhangra.
Banghra is a form of music and dance that originated in the Punjab region in India, and now
DJs mix Bhangra music with house, reggae, and hip-hop. We had so much fun and it was a really great
experience to just move around and dance and be silly.
An older woman once told me that one of the problems with my
generation is that we don’t dance. She
went to a march in Washington D.C. and when someone started to drum, she
started moving along to the rhythm, but noticed, that the younger people around
were just standing there.
If she were with us that night, she would have a different
opinion. Our ages may place us in a
generation that is described by its apathy and self-centeredness but we think
about the world around us. We question
the way things are and we refuse to go along.
We fight for a better world and we dance!