One of the most memorable events was the Concert of Colors event at the Arab American Museum. The whole night was bittersweet – it began on a sober note with a forum and the #SayHerName piece by Abby Dobson. People began trickling out halfway through the event. I wasn’t sure if it was just my hyper-sensitivity kicking in, but the air began to feel like water you were drowning in, and try as I might, I couldn’t break through the surface of helplessness and hopelessness that comes after being barraged by painful reminders of just how alive injustice still is in this world.
But then the music group Las Cafeteras took the stage for the closing, and they performed loud and colorful songs that painted images of a ‘soon’, of a ‘someday’. The entire crowd, what was left of it, got to their feet and danced. I stood in the back doing my little own cha-cha two-step and watched Tawana Petty wave her arms in the air, arms that were crossed in dissension during the forum. I saw Naim, Elsa’s supervisor dance with a little old lady right in front of the stage. The only word to describe the emotion of that moment was triumphant.
I’m grasping for the right words right now to properly articulate my thoughts, and I can’t find any, so I’m going to just end this post right here.
