Letter to the Editor

TO THE EDITOR:

Let me tell you why it makes me feel good to know that Martin Mohabeer has the opportunity to be a voice for growth and progress in Weston.

I met Martin last fall because we had both signed up for an interfaith led course on antiracism. The purpose of the course was to explore our own assumptions and behaviors, to work toward developing strategies for dismantling our own racist attitudes and assess the systems and structures of which we may be a part.

Our goal was to re-orient our own world view and to build habits that lead us to actively confront and combat racism on a regular basis. It was hard work. Hard, and also mortifying for me.

One of the last evenings of the course we had a group debrief, we called it an afterparty, at which I opened my mouth as wide as it could go and shoved in my entire foot. There was nothing I wanted to do more than shut off my screen and climb into my bed to disappear.

Anyway, I didn't do that, I sat there red-faced and miserable and listened to feedback that made me open my eyes to a world that I had never before really seen, or paid attention to, or been a part of. I wrote a note afterwards to a few of the people who corrected me and Martin was the only one who responded to me.

Martin responded with warmth, patience, knowledge, forgiveness and guidance. What I learned about Martin from this exchange is that he is able to hear a lot of different voices, differing opinions and even oppositional thinking, and he responds with grace and kindness. Martin offered me an education, provided me with knowledge and shared his life experiences with me while holding my hand.

That is absolutely the kind of leadership I like. Show me where we are going, tell me why, bring me in, let me help. Martin will include us all in his decision making and journey to an even better Weston!

— Shara Kolodney

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