Carrie and I are returning to the Valley where we met and married doing public folklife research with the Pioneer Valley Folklore Society 30 years ago. We came back to be with old friends and family. Who could imagine that in the first couple of weeks here we’d be invited by the Sunderland Public Library to join a Martin Luther King Day online discussion of the book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You” by Jason Reynolds and Imbram X. Kendi.
A Zoom invitation, sponsored by the new Sunderland Human Rights Commission and the Deerfield Inclusion Group (DIG), recently drew a score of local residents to an open and searching discussion of how to come to terms with the national epidemic of racism and activate greater anti-racist consciousness in our own lives and communities. That discussion felt like a visit to the promised land, with so much hope and positivity mutually and humbly generated.
We also learned that “Stamped,” especially edited for young readers, has been added to the eighth-grade reading list at the Frontier Middle School in South Deerfield, replete with some parental push-back.
Many people are overwhelmed and frightened. But with the Inauguration of new leadership, and new levels of compassion and enlightenment generated by the pandemic, we have a choice to climb on board the train of change now coming fast to our Valley. We can start by listening for a change, especially to those with whom we believe we are in deep disagreement. Because even with all the differences asserted by our leaders in recent times, we still have a great deal in common to explore together.
Recognizing everyone’s right to the tree of life is essential to achieving harmonious prosperity with justice for all. That’s a goal worth reaching for. Western Massachusetts feels like the logical place to set new standards for fully realizing our humanity and inclusiveness. Let’s get busy and prosper together. If we even things out a little, there’s enough to go around.
Michael Kline
Sunderland