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The Journey Begins. Wait… no… now!
Posted in 2007 Equality Ride: West by Cylest on March 5th, 2007
The plan had been to have most, if not all, Riders gathered here in Minneapolis by the end of the day on Thursday, March 1st. As of about 9:30 p.m. tonight (Saturday, March 3rd), we are all here. It took a while, yes. Several flights were cancelled, causing hundreds of hours worth of delays, sleeping in airports, and driving. Long, long days and very little sleep. We’re all feeling exhausted… but at least we’re together.
For me, personally, the reconnection of the 2007 Equality Riders in Minneapolis was a time for rejoicing. It was hard, after making 51 immediate best friends in Austin at the beginning of the year, to be away from them for eight weeks. Coming back together was amazing. The knowledge that we are about ready to start this thing is even better.
Because of the time delay (which was the result of bad weather here in the Twin Cities), we had our first real day of training today. We had to make up for lost time, so the day was extra long. Tomorrow will be, too, as will the rest of our time here, I’m sure. Our day started with breakfast and followed with several hours of media training. We were honored to have two people from GLAAD lead the training course, Alex Shoor and Cindi Creager. We went through some PowerPoint slides and then utilized what we had learned in mock interviews/media experiences. I, personally, got to participate in a mock Paula Zahn interview. I had my hands in my pocket. Oops. We learned not to do that.
During our lunch, Cindi and Alex presented us with video clips of different interviews and the plethora of methods that can be used, by both the interviewer and the interviewee, to create a desired end. Our desired end, of course, is always understanding and reconciliation. After the conclusion of our mock interviews, we each were given the opportunity to stand and present, as we would to the media, our names and personal statements regarding our participation in Equality Ride. My personal statement went as follows:
“My name is Cylest Brooks and I am joining Equality Ride as a straight ally. In late April of 2006, a dear friend of mine from high school killed himself after years and years of struggling to reconcile his faith with his identity. It was a horrible tragedy and hit me personally very hard. I decided that, while my friend no longer has the ability to use his voice, I can certainly use mine to stand up and take action that will, hopefully, prevent others from suffering the same discrimination and hatred that Brock did.”
After our media training adventure, we were given a little over an hour to prepare for our next event… a fundraiser and then a sending service here in Minneapolis. It was a “Sunday best” kind of event, so we all got fancied up in our polka dots and our button-up shirts. Some of us donned the tie, some the wide belt. Some played it safe, some liked it hot. We all looked amazing.
At the fundraiser and sending service, I was honored to see dozens of supportive gay men, lesbians, and transgender people there offering support, advice, compliments, and checks. We were humbled by the presence of both Scott Dibble, a gay Minnesotan Senator, and Mrs. Kim Ellison, wife of Congressman Keith Ellison, who made a stop at the sending service to read a letter that her husband had written specifically for us. Also, Rev. Phil Lawson, a prominent civil rights activist and friend of Martin Luther King Jr., spoke to us about the reality of our journey. He cited a story from the Bible, forgive me for not remembering the names or the reference, about lepers who had been banned from a city. They realized that they had two options: to sit there until they died, or to get up, approach their adversary, and face the threat of being killed. They chose to stand up and march into town. “Why should we just sit here until we die?” Rev. Lawson pointed out that, in this day and time, we are also faced with the option to sit and wait to die or to stand and act. Equality Ride, for me at least, is a symbolic standing and moving from the place that I am in. It was profound, and I love that man. I hear a little birdie saying that he is our non-violence trainer for tomorrow, too… thrilled!
The night ended with a solo song from a rider, a responsive reading, and the classic “Stayed on Equality” song by the Equality Ride Soul Singers. It was a wonderful time.