Jean Rohe
says what she really wanted to talk about at the New School commencement ceremonies yesterday was social responsibility in a time of war and about her experience in using music as a tool for communication.
I wanted to talk about the New York City public school preschoolers with whom I work each week and how they've been empowered through music, how they've been able to learn linguistic and social skills by singing together. I wanted to talk about my grandfather, who, despite the fact that he has Alzheimer's disease and cannot remember even my name, still knows all the songs he sang in his youth. I wanted to talk about music as a powerful tool for peace. I wanted to encourage everyone to identify his or her talents and to always use them for the greater good.
Unfortunately, a certain not-so-dynamic duo of "centrist" politicians foiled my standard graduation speech and forced me to act. Until just the day before commencement I really hadn't understood the gravity of the situation. I suppose I should tell the story. [my emphasis]
Ms. Rohe's accounting of exactly how she came to give the speech she did is an inside look at the mind of a young activist who felt duty bound to respond to the politicizing of her commencement ceremonies. She is a young lady who stands on principle and did not do what she did for the fame or glory.
When I was selected as a student speaker for the New School commencement about two months ago I had no idea that I'd end up on CNN and in Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Times, among other places, when it was all over. One day after the big event I'm still reeling from all the media attention and emails from professors, students, and other supporters from all over the country...
She did it because
It really wasn't his fault that he got invited into a pit of very well-educated vipers, and it really wasn't my fault that I did what I had to do in the situation. Had he been speaking at something other than our graduation, or had he spoken about almost anything other than his life and his position on the Iraq War and Darfur it might have been OK. But what did he expect? Campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination at the New School is like trying to catch fish in a swimming pool. It was just totally out of place. [my emphasis]
Ms. Rohe had spent the day before, on Thursday, attending 2 other graduation ceremonies for her 2 other degrees (not a slacker, this one!). She had been in "hibernation" for a number of weeks prior to the ceremonies getting ready for her recital and preparing her thesis so she was a little "out of touch with her student body." One of the ceremonies she refers to as
...a pretty raucous affair, owing mostly to the dissenting voices of Elijah Miller, a student award recipient, and Mark Larrimore, a religious studies professor and our keynote speaker. Through the cheers at that event I got a sense of just how widespread the student outrage was. [my emphasis]
She met another student named Irene who was involved in organizing pins and armbands for the commencement ceremonies the next day where Ms. Rohe was to speak right before McCain took stage. She was beginning to feel the pulse of the student body again. She writes
This same day all of us in the platform party got an email from the event organizer letting us know that certain media representatives would be in attendance, among them Fox news and National Public Radio. The situation seemed pretty serious. [my emphasis]
So, when she got home that night she realized she had to put a line in her speech about those armbands. And it grew from there.
And I would've left it there, had the other student speaker, Christina Antonakis-Wallace, not reminded me in a telephone conversation that night that I should read John McCain's speech from his other two speaking engagements which was conveniently posted on his website. Of course! I had to do my research. I checked the schedule for the ceremony and realized that I would be speaking just before the senator got his award. And that's when the idea for a preemptive strike began to brew in my little stressed-out brain. What if I tore McCain's speech apart before he even opened his mouth? After reading his speech a couple of times I picked out a few particularly loathsome sections--and believe it or not, none of these actually came from the extensive section where he defends his position on the war in Iraq--and I began planning an attack against him using his own words. [my emphasis]
Karl Rove should hire this young lady! Or maybe one of our progressive candidates wants to hire her on as a strategist? Sorry, I digress. But, I mean you don't graduate with multiple degrees, be on the platform committee for your graduation ceremonies, and be asked to speak if you don't have smarts and ingenuity. OK, so she works all night completely changing her speech and gets lots of encouragement along the way from her boyfriend (good man!)
"Jean, you have to do it. You'll kick yourself later if you don't... Jean, do it. You'll have nothing to regret."
And god bless supportive Mothers!
The morning of the event I shared my speech over the phone with my mother who predictably enough, cried. She gave me her words of encouragement.
And she found her courage and didn't go home even though she was sick to her stomach and "felt like an infiltrator."
But when I heard an organizer on her walkie-talkie speaking nervously with another coordinator about the students outside who had leaflets and armbands, I knew that I would have my supporters.
This young lady has guts and she has insight. She writes that when she and her fellow speaker were introduced to McCain before the event, she wanted to warn him what she was going to do
But he didn't even make eye contact when we shook hands, so I figured I didn't owe him anything.
She says the rest is a blur.
I didn't have a high school graduation, so I was kind of looking forward to the whole ceremony of it, but all I remember is suddenly being in a robe, walking down the aisle of the MSG Theater to the cheers of my friends (who, incidentally, had no idea what to expect) and then I was on stage staring out at thousands of people and trying not to vomit. Eventually I spoke, and everyone loved it. And McCain spoke and we all had a bit of déjà vu. Then some other people spoke and I tried to pay attention but I couldn't stop gawking at the protesters in the audience. And just before the end of the ceremony Bob Kerrey asked if I wanted to walk out with McCain. I said that would be OK. Kerrey led me over to him as the recessional music began, and I took McCain's arm. "I'm sorry, man," I told him, "I just had to do it." He mumbled something about it being alright, but I think he probably would've rather not had me there. [my emphasis]
You think? LOL I so admire Ms. Rohe for her courage and sense of duty in standing up and speaking out. I can only imagine the queasy stomach and feelings of OMG, what am I about to do? Am I doing the right thing? I applaud her tenacity and can only hope that her speech encourages other students to speak up and stand on principle.
Ms. Rohe wanted to respond to some `blowback' from her gutsy speech. I will leave you with her thoughts and words of wisdom, as well as her bio. This is a young lady who I believe we will be hearing about in the future, whether she pursues a music career or chooses some other career path to follow. And be sure to click on the link to her article because she gives the full text of her speech at the end. [all emphasis mine]
I suppose I've written enough already, none of which has been particularly journalistic. But I do feel that I need to respond to a couple of things that have been floating around in the news. It's been noted in several columns that anti-McCain sentiment coming from the left may actually help him to garner support from the conservatives by giving him the opportunity to paint us as extremist liberals, so we should all keep our mouths shut. I say we need some "extremist liberals" if we're ever going to get our democracy back. Others have said that he's a moderate at heart and that we should let him continue pandering to the religious right so he can get the vote. Once he gets into office he'll show his true colors and be the centrist he always was. I don't buy that. People who truly care about human beings don't vote for an unjust war, among other things, simply as a political maneuver. Enough said.
More importantly, I feel obligated to respond to one thing that McCain told the New York Times. "I feel sorry for people living in a dull world where they can't listen to the views of others," he said. This is just preposterous. Yes, McCain was undoubtedly shouted-out and heckled by people who were not politely absorbing his words so as to consider them fully from every angle. But what did he expect? We could've all printed out his speech and chanted it with him in chorus. Did he think that no one knew exactly what he was about to say? And it was precisely because we listen to the views of others, and because, as I said in my speech, we don't fear them, that we as a school were able to mount such a thorough and intelligent opposition to his presence. Ignorant, closed-minded people would not have been able to do what we did. We chose to be in New York for our years of higher education for the very reason that we would be challenged to listen to opposing viewpoints each and every day and to deal with that challenge in a nonviolent manner. We've gotten very good at listening to the views of others and learning how to also make our views heard, even when we don't have the power of national political office and the media on our side.
I think we must remember that as big as this moment may seem to me today and perhaps to other supporters who are reading this article, this is a very small victory in a time when democracy is swiftly eroding under the pressure of the right wing in this country. We all have much work to do, and for the most part the media do not represent us, the small people who don't hold any special titles but who feel the weight of our government's actions on our backs each and every day. I never expected to get the opportunity to speak the way I did yesterday, but I'm so glad that I did. I hope that other people found strength in my act of protest and will one day find themselves in my position, drawing out their own bravery to speak truth.
Amen! Are those words of wisdom or what?! Like I said, I have no doubt we'll be hearing about Ms. Rohe in the future. Send her some love over at Huffington Post. Here's her bio:
Jean Rohe, a BA/BFA graduate of the Jazz Program and Eugene Lang, was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1984. As a youngster, Jean grew up singing and performing folk music with her family. Jean spent a year at Smith College followed by a summer at the Universidad de la Habana in Cuba on scholarship where she honed her Spanish skills, learned about Cuban history, culture, and politics, and made some of her dearest friends. Since she transferred to the New School in 2002, Jean has sung in venues throughout New York City, including the Birdland, Sweet Rhythm, the Cornelia Street Café, Detour, Barbés, and others. She also teaches and performs music for young children at the Third Street Music School Settlement and at venues throughout the city. She recently completed her senior work at Eugene Lang, an audio documentary about her trip to Israel/Palestine during the Gaza disengagement last August. In July she will be performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.