Dear Fellow Rotarians,
Last week's presentation during our regular weekly meeting by members of our own Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion task force was outstanding.
Jim Palmquist and Alicia Ruiz-Orbin both serve on our District 7430 DEI committee. They sparked interest in getting Emmaus Rotary to look at these foundational issues without delay. I asked Mike Waddell, our President-elect, and Sal Verrastro, 2nd vice-president and Trumpet editor to join them. Together those four recruited David Dunn, Geoff Boyer, Nelly Kabiru, and Mark Erle. The Gang of Eight did most of their work virtually.
I want to thank all of them for leading the way.
They have laid out some definitions, values, expectations, and hopes for us. They are giving us a solid foundation to move forward together. Please respond to the email from Mark Erle which is a short questionnaire designed to show us all where our starting point is. It took me less than 10 minutes. I am looking forward to the report from our DEI task force about what that survey shows in the near future.
One gift I received that morning was the quote from Willie Ratchford, Community Relations Director, that Sal projected on the screen. Do you recall it?
Diversity is being invited to the dance.
Equity is playing music we all can dance to.
Inclusion is being asked to dance.
So we are all not moving into some kind of "Dancing with the Stars, maintain your frame and keep the time" talent show for entertainment. This is real. Real people are involved. And we want to move forward toward serving others above our own individual selves or comfortable preferences. I have spent time as a wallflower, eager to dance and scared to dance. I wondered then, "will I do it right?" Now? I say, "Let's Dance." I am all in and with Kevin Bacon. I am living out those closing scenes in "Footloose" (1984) I believe that each person counts, matters, and has skills and gifts to offer. Here is the way the poet Ross Gay expressed it in 2015:
Is that Eric Garner worked
for some time for the Parks and Rec.
Horticultural Departments, which means,
perhaps, that with his very large hands.
perhaps, in all likelihood,
he put gently into the earth
some plants which, most likely,
some of them, in all likelihood,
continue to grow, continue
to do what such plants do, like house
and feed small and necessary creatures,
like being pleasant to touch and smell,
like converting sunlight
into food, like making it easier
for us to breathe.
This Thursday, April Fool's Day, is a Club Assembly. I will leave the poetry at home and come with an agenda updating our current club position. I intend to leave time for questions, concerns, and ideas for our future together.
Yours in Service,
Lexa H. Shallcross
Emmaus Rotary President 2020-2021