Power, Priviledge and Perception

Today I went to see Jane Elliott speak at Pier 21 in Halifax. Her lecture was entitled Power, Privilege and Preception - The Anatomy of Prejudice.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity for the first time to see a video of an experiment Mrs. Elliott did with her Grade 3 school children in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This video made in the 1968 (40 yrs ago) holds such a lesson that still today it is relevant to recognize where in our soceity and personal lives we may be attempting to hold power over our fellow human beings. You can see a clip of the follow up Frontline report on it here.

Today some of the things that resonated with me were when Mrs. Elliott spoke how we should see each other for all the differences we have and how we should embrace that, not striving for us to all be the same.

"When I look at you I don't see a colour"... bullshit... that is one of the first things we notice... and there is nothing wrong with that. Kind of like being tall or short, a man or a woman, except we still choose not to talk about noticing the colour of ones skin... like it is a bad thing.

I see you! I see you as the black woman you are... I see the beautiful hues of all of us... and I notice that you are not me... and I am not you... that is why life is so amazing.

Each one of us... because of our colour, religion, creed, ethnicity, sexuality, social status, life expereinces is a very unique individual who can bring such richness, awareness and awakening to those who care to see us.

I want to see and be seen. I want to hear and be heard. I want to feel and be felt. I want to live in appreciation of all that is different about us... knowing that we all ultimately are connected.

As we go about our day to day life... accept what is there already in our filters and perceptions of the world and thing about how we can change that if we choose. By standing up and being counted... working on Eliminating Discrimination of all sorts.