Savory Sonoma by Stephanie Hiller - April 2017
Lauren Smith loves history. She studied the life of Martin Luther King when she was in Fifth grade. “I loved the way he made change without violence. Even in elementary school, this man was my hero.”
Now a junior at Sonoma Valley High School, Lauren has already shown that she, too, has a gift for leadership.
“I do speak my mind. I started to not care what people think. I try to be polite, but I’m very argumentative when I’m passionate about something. I’m setting an example for other students, or trying to.”
Two days after the election, she organized a student walkout in response.
It wasn’t her idea, but when she heard from other students that they wanted to express their feelings about the election, she began organizing. She put it out on social media, she contacted the school administration and the campus police, and she made sure she had the sheriff’s phone number at the ready in case there was any misbehavior. The walkout took place the next day.
When the hour arrived, hundreds of people poured out of classrooms. “I had to yell for people to be quiet so I could tell them that this is a demonstration of peace and love, not a protest. People could join us as long as they were advocates for equality. This is completely peaceful,” I told them. And it was.
She had expected perhaps forty students to show up, but there were about 500.
“Were you impressed with the result?” I asked her.
“Really!”
High school students are overlooked, she felt. “It’s our future and we’re inheriting the country! I wanted to make it known that our high school was advocating for equality. And a lot of people recognized that we are here, we are aware, and we’re mad about what’s happening.”
What makes Lauren mad is the “sexist homophobic student culture. So many of my friends have had to come out to me in secret. I can’t stand for people to judge people for their sexual interests. I used my voice for people who can’t.”
The march had a positive effect on the student culture. “The last couple of months there’s been such a feeling of unity at the school.”
That feeling prevailed March 8 at the rally Lauren organized in honor of International Women’s Day. “That was to unify the city,” she said. “It wasn’t a walkout from school. I didn’t want to repeat what I did before. It wasn’t about me personally.” At the open mic, young women read poems and spoke their wishes for women’s equality. “Older women were inspired by the younger women and vice versa. And the perspectives of feminist men, it was lovely to hear them speak.”
The rally drew about three hundred people of all ages. The girls were charming, the message uplifting. Perhaps it is a quality Lauren communicates, a way of drawing people together rather than driving them apart. She’s straightforward, but not abrasive.
She plans to study film in college, to become a social activist, “to make change using my art to spread equality.”
She’ll make her hometown proud.
That sense of solidarity is spreading through town. The school board approved a heart-warming resolution Feb. 28, expressing its commitment to protect its immigrant students as much as it can and provide support to children and families who may be affected by the sudden removal of a family member. Now the city council has begun work on its resolution for “inclusion” of all residents.Mayor Hundley, now three months into her one-year term, appears comfortable taking a leadership role on this issue. Some 150 people attended the council meeting March 5 to support Hundley’s initiative in sponsoring a resolution; many of us spoke. The sense of community, of hearts joined in unity regardless of differences of opinion, was victorious. In these troubled times of reckless and reactionary leadership, anything may happen; but strong hearts joined together is what will carry us through.
On Sunday, March 5, the members of the Shambhala Center celebrated the Tibetan New Year of the Firebird. A hotheaded, passionate creature, the Firebird seems perfect for our time. My young friendDante Cushman was there with his family; he and his brother Roman had to leave to attend a rehearsal atCinnabar Theatre of Midsummer’s Night’s Dream.
Still ahead is a special event at Reader’s Books, celebrating the publication of the first anthology by theSonoma Writer’s Association, Thursday April 6 at 7:00 pm at a30 E. Napa Street. . Hope to see you there!
