A friend of mine who does ministry work in Oakland recently got her laptop robbed right before her eyes. This is a snippet of an email I wrote her in response to the news:
"...I'm so sorry to hear about your laptop getting stolen, but I'm glad that you're OK and I'm encouraged by your heart within your response to this incident. There was a recent event at my school that helps me to relate to your still choosing to be in Oakland despite the crime. A student brought a knife to school a few weeks ago. Praise the Lord that it was discovered and safely confiscated before anyone was hurt, but certainly the incident was and is cause for students, staff, and parents alike to question the delicate environment and culture of safety that we strive to create and maintain at our school. Several staff members shared how their own friends and family didn't understand why we choose to continue to work in an environment where our physical safety is possibly threatened. Headlines like "Student Brings Knife to School" invoke certain knee-jerk reactions (e.g. fear, blame, avoidance), and understandably so, but this is why context is important. Why did the student feel the need to have a knife with him? Why did the men (or women? don't mean to be sexist) who robbed you feel the need to do so? There are bigger systemic themes and issues and oppressive patterns at play here that you and I are in the work to disrupt, and it's really difficult if not impossible to explain that to those who aren't in the work..."
