Listen, every evil you can imagine wants you isolated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
School bullies. Domestic abusers. Dictators. Social media billionaires. They all benefit from you being alone, voiceless, and afraid. <\/p>\n\n\n
Vow with me to never do their dirty work for them. Do not go gently into that bad comment section. Do not let your world get so small that you can’t be curious, that you can’t be kind. Do not let other people (or entities or twitter talking heads or or or) tell you what you feel or what you believe. Collect information from multiple reliable sources and put together your best guess and be prepared to be wrong and to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s what I’m doing, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes we are so far apart on our beliefs that it feels like we live in different worlds. But we don’t. We’re neighbours. We live here, in Huntsville: you, me, our Town and District Councillors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many people here hold opinions that could hurt and divide our community. Some of people vocalize said opinions. I think for many, the hurt is part of the point. They feel wronged, they perceive that feeling as hurt, and therefore feel justified to hurt others. They truly believe their hurt is the most in need of redressing, and when they see the pain of others tended to, they have a deep sense of injustice. Right or wrong, that’s what they feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are angry, especially online when their physical person is ostensibly safe, I read their words and think: you are afraid. You do not want to suffer and you truly believe you are experiencing or about to experience suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All beings, when given the choice, will move to alleviate their suffering. Some beings but not all will move to alleviate the suffering of others. Some beings are not able to alleviate suffering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which kind are being are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know who you are. And when I read your words, so do I. I almost died from cancer and then from the surgery to remove it \u2013 I will not be spending my one wild and precious life calling people mean names and committing logical fallacies on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do, however, want the eradication of needless suffering (unlike Mother Theresa, while we’re on the subject of canonizing humans). I don’t think suffering is godly and I think most of it is optional (kind of a Buddhist take, but let’s not make a statue about it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it is important to take every available opportunity to ease the suffering of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two things happened when the news came out that Huntsville was gifted and formally accepted a bronze statue of Gandhi: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people said, Not sure that’s a great idea. He was kind of racist and a creep and thought all kinds of humans were not really human. We can no longer just accept a legacy without examining it. Let’s move away from lionizing fallible humans and move toward celebrating the values they represented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people said other things, many of which were un- or mis-informed, and some of which were really fucking racist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuanced takes that I saw and appreciated discussed the politics and optics of international gift-giving and receiving, the missed opportunity for civic engagement on a potentially divisive topic, the value of setting in stone (or metal) a particular person from a particular place and time and hoping his (usually his) image will serve as a stand-in for an idea or way of being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are someone who thought, Surely Gandhi is not divisive? Well, I admire your ability to avoid certain areas of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Huntsville Town Council held a special meeting shortly after this issue became a bit of an inferno. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They put forth a motion to revisit the acceptance of the statue and then voted to decline it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I appreciated Mayor Nancy Alcock’s measured and thoughtful words, and those of the councillors who spoke. I am grateful that Councillor Renwick used the word ‘racist’ to describe some of the objections. We all know there is great power in words. I am not surprised she said that the emails she received were mostly civil but that the social media comments were not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Councillor Dionne Schumacher continues to have my great respect. Schumaker spoke of her grandfather, an immigrant who came to Huntsville and understood then what remains true today: Huntsville does not tolerate difference. I sensed a great disappointment that we as a community have not left that intolerance in the past. We have made great strides, not all of them forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most elections, my neighbour puts up an election on his yard. Most elections, our house does too. Very rarely do our sign colours match. What do I know from this? That we both care enough to publicly show support for the best parts of the parties we support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I greet my neighbours and sometimes stop to chat (especially at a yard sale). When we talk about politics, I work to find the things we have in common. It’s usually that we want people who are having a hard time, including ourselves, to have an easier time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s why the signs on our lawns are just another piece of data about people with vast and complex inner lives, different lessons, and meaningful values. When the power goes out for too long, I’m not calling my friend who voted like me and lives twenty minutes away; I’m going next door too see if they need anything. That’s also where I’m going if I need emergency help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes it’s hard to get new neighbours. They have different inner lives, life lessons, and even values. We can getlaser-focused on difference and aren’t great at deescalating. We don’t often say, \u201cI’m sorry, I misunderstood,\u201d \u201cMaybe I don’t have all the necessary information,\u201d or \u201cThank you for explaining, I didn’t realize that.\u201d We’re mad and we think we’re right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What the Huntsville Town Council did was listen. They heard the feedback, all of it. And they made a decision in light of the many factors that they had not considered being that they too are humans with a great many decisions to make with their own, you know, inner lives, different lessons, and varying values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Huntsville Town Council apologized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they changed course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they decided to move forward differently so we don’t have to go down this rather pot-holed road again (that’s a 2022 Council election debate joke, and no I’m never running for Council again). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My family watched the Town Council session online, and when it ended, I turned to my mom and my girlfriend and said, \u201cYou know what? This is literally the best way this could have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a feminist, I don’t have to suffer another monument to men who think they are superior to women and other races. As a citizen of Huntsville, I have renewed faith in our Council in the path they chose and the determination to do better next time. As a welcomer of newcomers, I understand how much our town is failing them and how much action is needed to stop racism against our community members. As a witness, I saw many people claim there was no racism only to be shown evidence of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a Huntsville citizen, I urge you, reader, to get offline a bit more, get outside a bit more, ask your neighbour for help with something (people actually really like to help). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope we all resolve to be more curious, take deeper breaths, care for our neighbours, practise civic engagement and at least fill out the gosh-darn town surveys, and…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
you know I have to do it…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be the change you want to see in the world.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n -Mahatma Gandhi<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kathleen May, Huntsville (Writer of the former She Speaks column).<\/p>\n\n\nDon\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n