With Pain and Gratitude
Dear Members of the College of Fine Arts:
I write with many emotions as there seems to be so much to write about — so much that I am unsure where to begin. I could share my disdain for the misogynistic oppression of women across the world and the violence taking place across many nations or I could place a mirror to our own front yard and assert how painful and unacceptable the rise of antisemitism is; I could reiterate how deplorable gun violence is and how tragedy struck the LGBTQ community on Trans Day of Remembrance, and the community of Chesapeake, Virginia just yesterday. I could write an entire message about any one of these atrocities.
The truth is I am growing weary from writing messages that cast out hate from our lived experiences. Sadly, we live in a world where so many people choose ignorance over understanding. It is not hatred, but fear of the unknown and the choice to remain ignorant that causes hateful acts. That is what every one of these deplorable events and acts have in common: ignorance.
Working at an institution of higher education, one would think that ignorance does not exist here but it does. We harm each other with the ways we speak to one another and acting on our perception and misinterpretation instead of seeking clarity; we cause harm by leaning into prejudice and bias, excusing our impact with our intentions. We speak to respond and do so in reaction instead of rooting ourselves in understanding. It all has to stop. We all deserve more.
As we near a federal holiday where one is suggested to give thanks, for those who celebrate, it may be harder for some to lean into gratitude when these atrocities suggest your lives or the lives of your loved ones do not matter. The history of this day is close to that narrative, suggesting the lives of Native Americans did not matter. However, their lives did and continue to matter, as do all of yours.
On Sunday, I had the privilege of watching a group of our students from Heinz College and the School of Music engage in a celebration concert for the Lullaby Project. One of the students sang a lullaby she created for her sister. The words she sang brought me to tears because of the beautiful affirmation she had created.
Attached is an audio recording of her song (attached in original email). I hope it brings you each comfort and plants a seed of gratitude for where you are in this moment. (This file should be fully accessible, please let me know if you experience difficulty accessing it.)
I believe pain and gratitude exist hand in hand. On the other side of pain is gratitude and joy; without pain we would not be compassionate; we would not experience happiness as fully if the potential or experience of pain did not exist, and we would not know gratitude if we did not experience the bad.
I do not wish anyone pain but the reality is this has been a painful season. I encourage you to use pain as a conduit to gratitude and joy — exist with whatever pain ails you but then reflect on the good, on what you can control, and the difference you can make by extending a desire to understand. We may not have power over the pain created outside of our college but we have power to limit the pain we cause within the College of Fine Arts. My hope is we return ready to finish the semester on a high note and take the winter season to restore ourselves and our community.
Wishing you all a restorative end of week and weekend.
In community,
Valeria J. Martinez
Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
College of Fine Arts
