La lenguaje

This morning, while finishing the tepid yet delicious instant coffee from a mug with a picture of zebras frolicking about ( yes, I like instant coffee now...from necessity came appreciation) I kept revisiting all of the embarrasing ways in which I had communicated in the last 24 hours. "Oh I am not able my computer because it is in the red...I would be liking to be having in the exercises part, there are exercises because when I was when I was a young, when I was in my young, I liked it.." Oh and there's more but the point is, is while I was internally cringing, Maggie, one of the leaders of Colectivo 41, started explaining to the youth promotores that language, la lenguaje, was the most important way in which a movement in a group could define themselves and communicate their ideas, beliefs, and needs to the public. She brought up the role language has played in the Feminist movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the Zapatista movement. With that in mind, Maggie informed the group that we were going to learn and explore the language that is important to know in the movement for equal rights in the LGBTI youth community. We had created a matching game for the promotores to play in which they had to find a term and match it with the correct definition. From some of the reactions from the promotores there seemed to be a lot of confusion and genuine curiosity in regards to, for example, the definition of a transgender person or a person that was born with male and female genitalia. Before the exercise even started, Maggie brought up how every word has a story. She said the word "joto" which is a derogatory name in Spanish to describe a person that is gay. Quite of the few of the promotores, well, primarily the young men, turned various shades of red and pink and held their hands in front of their mouths as they gulped back laughter. I think they were surprised, as was I, that we would openly address hateful speech in our morning meeting. Maggie proceeded to tell the story behind the term "joto" (I recommend you look it up as it's very compelling) and explained how imperative it was to be informed about the history of words and whom in our society had the power to create and define words. I was hyper-aware of the reactions that were coming forth from the promotores in the room, as Maggie continued listing off offensive language that has been used towards people in the LGBTI community. I felt like it was going to be okay though, even if the subject material was delicate, by talking openly about stereotypes and ugly words we were working it out, right then. Although it could have been the amount of diet coke and gum I consumed today (shame) I continued to feel queasy when ever I remembered the power we have with words and the ways in which we communicate with one another. Going back to yesterday's idea of accountability, I was reminded of our utter lack of control when it comes to what others will say or yell, or whisper, or write, or cry. I am thankful for the concept that can be executed into action; take a moment, take a breath, take whatever we may need, so that we may be able to respond with integrity and compassion in our speech. Hey, may we all be able to learn how to do so in another language other than our native tongue! Espero que si y que vaya bien!