Elevation
Conn’s inaugural social justice conference shines light on the silenced.
Poet Kate Rushin has “had enough.”
Reading from her work “The Bridge Poem” during the opening assembly at Elevate: The Inaugural Social Justice Conference at Connecticut College, Rushin recited:
I’ve had enough
I’m sick of seeing and touching
Both sides of things
Sick of being the damn bridge for everybody
Nobody
Can talk to anybody
Without me Right?
Presented by The Agnes Gund ’60 Dialogue Project, the Elevate conference brought together Connecticut College students, staff, faculty and alumni, along with residents of the New London region, to celebrate cultural diversity. More than 550 participants attended the conference, which was designed to shed light on those who have been marginalized, erased or silenced because of their social identities or personal backgrounds.
To lift up the marginalized, communication must take place across the social lines fragmenting our society, otherwise the speaker in Rushin’s poem will continue having to explain herself so that white people have insight into Black lives. She writes: “I do more translating / Than the Gawdamn U.N.”
President Katherine Bergeron, who spoke at Elevate’s opening assembly, explained that the mission of the College is to “create productive citizens prepared to put their education into action in support of global democracy.”
Social justice conferences like Elevate can spark the much-needed dialogue to fulfill this mission.
“That means working to elevate our discourse, our practices and our forms of self-governance to create the kind of environment where all people, no matter their identity or background, have the opportunity to thrive, to reach their potential, to contribute meaningfully to their community and the world.
“That ideal, which we call full participation, lies at the heart of who we are and what we do.”
Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion John McKnight, who directs the Gund Dialogue Project and organized the conference, said that we all need to learn to better communicate with one another to achieve “deeper levels of compassion, empathy and human connection.”
“Elevate was built on the principle of full participation,” said McKnight, who delivered Conn’s land acknowledgment at the opening assembly.
“But in order for everyone to thrive, we acknowledge that we must continually work to create the conditions for all members of our community to feel respected, connected and empowered.”
The conference, scheduled to be an annual event at Conn, featured author, educator and interfaith leader Eboo Patel; author and community organizer Charlene Carruthers; filmmaker Shalini Kantayya; and writer and activist Jonathan Mooney.
For more than 15 years, Patel has worked with governments, social sector organizations, and colleges and universities to help make interfaith cooperation a social norm. He delivered Conn’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Lecture” on the subject of spirituality and social movements, saying that power can be generous and this generosity can result in social change.
He challenged us to imagine a level of generosity that could surprise even ourselves, a kind of generosity that can “change everything for the better,” and he related stories about King, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Ella Baker, Diane Nash and Jane Addams to illustrate his point.
Patel asked: “Can we create spaces … where it is easier for people to be good; where it is easier for people to cooperate?”
He informed the audience, made up of students, faculty, staff and New London residents, that “One of the wonderful things about being at a place like Connecticut College or in a city like New London is that all around you there are people waiting to help you create those spaces, waiting to help you create campus community programs, waiting to help you create new types of interfaith activities.
“Now is the time to expand the circle of the beloved community,” he said.
To build the open spaces where Patel envisions people can create change, social justice activists must not only voice what they are against but also advocate for what they believe in. While introducing Carruthers as the keynote speaker of the conference, Naomi Miller ’22 pointed out that Carruthers wants to know “what we are for.”
“What world do we truly envision? When will we get there? How will we actually practice our collective liberation?” Miller asked.