My desires for the global community...

An excerpt from a speech given by Vanise at Cal State Channel Islands, 9-11 anniversary, 2002:

My identity as an American was assaulted on Sept.11 and I was angry. But from this anger I knew I had a responsibility as an American not to let it emerge in my thoughts and actions as vengeance, prejudice and hatred. I had a responsibility to uphold the very noble foundations upon which this country was built; justice, truth and freedom. These are fragile things which in the midst of pain can be easily corrupted to justify retaliation and more killing.

So, the justice I seek is not one with bombs, but one that recognizes our role in a global community that stands together with other nations in a cry for peace. That urges the drumbeats of war to slow down if not stop all together so that no more innocent victims will die on our soil or any other land.

The truth I seek does not allow Arabs and Muslims, or any ethnicity, to be subject to negative stereotypes or blanket statements of prejudice. But rather calls to action the highest ideals brought forth by our constitution that “all people are created equal.”

The freedom I seek does not lie in the siphoning off of our civil liberties through secret deportation hearings or undercutting the role of judicial reviews of law enforcement activities, but upholds the system of checks and balances that is the bedrock of our country.

I believe the answer is not only in rebuilding this nation, but building a global consciousness that works to create peaceful resolutions among nations, including our own. It begins with you, it begins with me. That is why I am proud to be an American, because our voices do count should we choose to use them. And as we reflect on the events of Sept.11,2001 and mourn the lost lives of so many, I urge all of you to be part of the peace process through your emotions, your words, and your actions.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi “We must be the change we want to see in the world.”

Dirge Without Music
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains,-but the best is lost.

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,-
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.