Speak Your Truth and Don’t Be Afraid
James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Jose Angel N are challenging social myths and structures that perpetuate oppression. Baldwin goes about mentioning in his speech about the purpose of education and how it may be used to change your identity. Baldwin says the purpose of education is “to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity” (Baldwin, 1). However, he does mention that the paradox of the education system is “as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated” (Baldwin, 1). A myth Baldwin says is that the identity people of color suffer throughout their times of development over and over again is being inferior to the white upper class. Audre Lorde in “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” writes about her silence being transformed into language and action while fighting against a malignant breast tumor, “Some of what I experienced during that time has helped elucidate for me much of what I feel concerning the transformation of silence into action” (Lorde, 40). She encourages people to speak up about their own beliefs and not be afraid of letting their voice be heard. Jose Angel N speaks about the myth of economic growth that drew many to immigrate to the United States, the “cup of promise” including himself. He says “I too drank from the cup of promise … Just like my neighbors, I sneaked into the United States thinking that escape from social stagnation could be found in economic advancement alone”(Angel). He draws an image for his readers of the United States for foreign countries being a place where all their sufferings will be taken away from them and a promise of prosperity.
Lorde uses her story to tell these truths by encouraging women who are still in silence to come out from that corner and not be afraid of doing so, “And I began to recognize a source of power within myself that comes from the knowledge that while it is most desirable not to be afraid, learning to put fear into a perspective gave me great strength … My silences had not protected me .. Your silence will not protect you” (Lorde, 41). Many times when faced with a situation that is a big part of who we are like Lorde went through, we tend to isolate ourselves from society including family and shut our voice rather than speaking about what we feel and that is what Lorde is trying to speak about when telling her truth. She had to go through a tough time in her life in order for her silence to be turned into language and action which is why she is trying to bring awareness to others who aren’t going through a situation like she did to come out from their silence. Jose Angel N, in his reading, talks about the duty that exists in humanity about wanting to prosper and advancing ourselves as individuals and together as a society. To demonstrate, “it’s also the fact that the idea of growth has always been an essential part of the country’s psychology”(Angel). There is this huge idea of the “American Dream” which relates back to the “cup of promise” that people were after. Jose, after immigrating to the United States with some of his countrymen, realized that America was expanding its borders which was leaving immigrants without opportunities. The promise of hope and success had turned into a myth and a paradox when it was all eventually taken away from them. This as a result had an impact on him making him be cautious about his thoughts and decisions now knowing that people and situations aren’t always what they seem.
Lorde outlines the 3 principles of Kwanza: 1) The decision to strive towards unity in self and community, 2)self-determination, 3)collective work and responsibility. I feel like the first principle can definitely be applied to my service learning experience at Canal Alliance with the UP! Program. There is a saying that says “In unity there is strength” and it is something I have always carried within me to bring to my community as I give back to them by helping young scholars strive for a higher education. Having each others’ back has been something I have been taught since very young and it’s something I strive to show to the kids I am with in the program by making sure they know they aren’t alone.
As an educated person, I believe my responsibility is to give back to the community which I grew up at and incorporate a better knowledge for their growth. I believe that as my education is teaching me more valuable lessons, I can also bring that together with my personal experience to portray better outcomes. Many kids that I work with at Canal Alliance are from Guatemala and I find it to be something which connects me even more to them being from El Salvador. They all remind me of a place in my life where I was once in and now that I am being educated even more by attending college, it’s something special they are able to know about me. I hope my experience and example inspires them as we share more moments together to speak up, be heard and not be afraid of what others might think.
