Dear Weekly Editors,

It is great to see Parker writers paying such close attention to the world around them, engaging with powerful movements for democracy — and bearing witness to escalating threats to democratic life.  Josh Marks’s piece on the annual Civil Disobedience Speaker is part of this important corpus of student writing.  I liked the excerpt he chose from Ms. Hayes’s talk because it reminds us that social action must be grounded in self-awareness and deep analysis of our own context if it’s not going to replicate injustice.  

I’m wondering about the presentation of Hayes’s talk as a “discussion” of civil disobedience.  For me, her talk was activating.  I heard her calling for creativity, critical consciousness, collective awareness – capacities that students are really strong in.  Do students want to develop and use these capacities?  I loved how she said that, “Civil Disobedience puts the state in the position of having to figure out what to do with you.  In illuminating this choice, you are telling a story, forcing the powerful to be part of your story.”  After her talk, some juniors asked Hayes if she’d come back to do a direct action training, and she agreed.  I hope they’ll follow up on that!

With much respect,

Shanti Elliott, Director of Civic Engagement