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540 Laurel Spears, Grade 3 [untitled] Sky woman falling from the sky She missed her father so She started to cry She met this lovely man He can hunt he can, he can He is very nice He can make his own spice Turtle Island is where they live Respect and honor is what they give Thawn Harris (b. 1978) Thawn Sherenté Harris, a popular storyteller in Rhode Island and beyond, lives together with his wife and their five children adjacent to their Narragansett lands, where they pass on the values and cultural lifeways of their people. He is a traditional dancer and singer and also plays the cedar flute and hand-drum. Harris received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and was the first in his family to graduate from college. He has worked for the tribe as an environmental police officer and is now a tenth-grade advisor and teacher at East Bay Metropolitan Career and Technical Center in Newport, Rhode Island. At that school, in early 2011, he delivered the following speech. It is being published here for the first time. Thank You, met Colleagues, for speaking out against the Rhode Island Education Board of Regents’ proposed three-tiered diploma.⁶ My journey into this world was a fight, one in which my mother and I battled together along with the hospital staff in an effort to free me from Thawn Harris 541 my environment, an environment that was slowly strangling the life out of me, before it had a chance to begin. Throughout the years that followed I witnessed or was part of many fights. I fought for the attention of my parents, being one of six. I fought for the attention of my parents, who were often consumed with alcohol and/ or drinking buddies. I fought to keep the peace when there was tension between those around me. I often stood up to my peers in defense of my relatives who could often be seen staggering throughout the community, though there were also times in which I said nothing, in an attempt to meld into the crowd, to feel like I was not different, to pretend that my family life was normal just like those around me. At times like this I had to fight my feelings of cowardice, embarrassment, and shame. I had to fight those feelings of love I had for that person, despite the fact that they are consistently drunk, dirty, and disorderly. Those around me could not understand the feelings of oppression that were rampant throughout my community, beaten in so deep that the scarring is still present many generations later. A proud people, yes; however, with a loss of the ability to truly live the way we are instinctually hardwired to live, our pride and strength are often misdirected. We are in denial, and alcohol is the shovel that helps to bury our insecurities, pain, and fears. Why deal with something when you could just bury your head in the sand and act like you don’t know about it or you don’t care about it? I see this new three-tier diploma as another tool in the long list of this state’s efforts to oppress those not of privilege. I can see future generations turning to drugs and alcohol in denial of the fact that a high school diploma is and was important to them, their parents, and the younger ones who look up to them. It is hard for me even to think about, because the implied result of such a system is disastrous. I am in awe of how our state can continue to discriminate and oppress people in broad daylight, without even the slightest concern. I would like to say that I am impressed, honored, and grateful for all of my colleagues, who have been fighting so diligently, with ferocity and passion. Listening to you all speak out against injustice has touched my spirit, raising goose bumps on my skin. I am grateful to you all for myself, and those whom this would affect, who can’t even bear to take on such a challenge. ...

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