I saw Michelle, a biology instructor, in cap and gown, and I knew that it was too late for me. But I hadn't known how easy it would be to get to the bleachers! So I joined Lauren Muller, head of IDST, in the bleachers, and I really am glad I did!
I'm going to start with the last part of the program because that's the part that interests Bill.
Lance Black was brought here from London by Rafael Mandelman, a columnist for the Bay Times and something-or-other at the Harvey Milk Center.
Hi, Bill~
You were asking for more details, so I’ll share my
notes with you!
Apparently Rafael Mandelman was instrumental in
getting Dustin Lance Black to our graduation.
He was in London! What do you
know about Rafael Mandelman? I see that
he’s a columnist for the Bay Times. I know
he supports Campos for the State Assembly.
Anyway, Dustin Lance Black seemed really, really young! He began by saying he’d wanted to be cool, so
he’d worn his sneakers, but then he’d seen a graduate with even cooler
footwear. He asked the very willing
graduate to show us, and I’m not sure from where I sat in the bleachers, but I
think he had on high heels.
Then he talked about speaking in Pasadena and going
to UCLA but feeling that CCSF was the most significant place he could speak.
He then told a couple of stories. One was of his growing up the only Mormon in
San Antonio, Texas, where everyone was “coloring inside the lines.” The principal ruled by fear, and he heard
from his own church that next to murder “sexual impurity” was the worst
sin. When he heard the word homosexuality,
he didn’t know what it meant, but he realized it had an x in it and might be
useful for Scrabble. He also heard the
words pansy and faggot. When a friend
named Troy said, “I’m Jewish,” Black said, “I think you can change that.” Difference was wrong. He went to Hartnell Community College, and
even though he stayed closeted among those who knew him, he started going out
to the Castro and West Hollywood.
(?) He said, “Community college
experience is far more valuable” than any four-year college he knew about. (I think I mentioned that he went to
UCLA.) Then he told a story about his
mother, “a good southern mom,” who joined his group of friends for a pasta
dinner, and they all assumed that he had come out to her and that she had come
to the dinner knowing he was gay and his friends there were also gay. So while he was in the kitchen, they started talking
to her and telling her their stories, and she responded like the good listener she
was. When Black finally came out of the
kitchen, she said, “Well, I like your friends—one in particular. But I told him he ought to pay when you go
out on dates.” Then she gave him a big
hug, and he understood that the way to communicate was through stories. So he encouraged graduates to tell their stories
to build bridges, “a coalition of the us-es.”
(I think that’s Harvey Milk’s
phrase.) He also encouraged people to “think
on the ways that you are different. Your
differences are what make you marketable, beautiful” (I didn’t catch all the other adjectives, but
you get the gist. ) He also referred to
the lavender graduation the previous night.
All of the talks were good.
I hadn’t planned on going, and they announced Dustin Lance
Black as the commencement speaker only at the last moment—maybe just last
week. (Maybe there was some uncertainly
about his making it from London.) I’m
glad I went on the spur of the moment—right after giving my final final--
because all the talks were worth-hearing!
xoxo Tina
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