YOU ARE SAFE WITH ME

“When we stand up, we must know that we are standing up for everybody. Each of us needs to know, in fact, that we are rainbows in the clouds for everybody” - Maya Angelou

Rainbows are alive, visible, and vocal in North Kingstown, RI, as part of a group called T.A.N.K., which stands for Transformative Action for North Kingstown. It is a group of local residents, parents, students, merchants, and allies dedicated to enacting anti-racist policies throughout the town, and in particular the school system. They are determined that all students, including every LGBTQIA+ person, be treated fairly within the school system and given a safe place to live and learn. In addition, they are learning tolerance, empathy, and that no one race is greater or superior to another, be they of a different color, faith, or differently abled. They believe every resident should be treated with decency, honor, and fairness.

It began with a mother. Jennifer O’Connor Lima was raising three mixed-race children with her husband, Gary. She saw a big need with other like-minded people in her community and a void of leadership, and she said to her husband: If not me, then who? If not now, then when? She spoke out at a school committee meeting, and although there was fierce resistance to some of her ideas, she discovered she was far from being alone.  A germ of an idea was planted, and the seed took root to form a committee, and with a ton of effort, then blossomed into a 501 (c) (3) organization.

The group recently attended a conference for “Safe Spaces for the Modern Educator.” It was sponsored by the RI NEA and took place in Cranston, exploring key challenges in today’s classrooms, which included racial and social justice, mental issues, and the impact on students and educators.

To that end, the organization presented its own Safe Zone Training seminar.

One of the first items distributed was a pin that said: “You Are Safe with Me.” For everyone to understand the importance of this was a safe zone, and that every place should be a safe zone, whether it is your home, your church, your school, the grocery store, or in the street.

Their Safe Zone training packet included such radical ideas as “Reserve the right to change your mind. Ask questions. Be smarter than your phone. Included were pamphlets on Raising Healthy Teens, Queer Inclusivity (an Allies Guide to Understanding), an LGBTQIA+ glossary of terms (Don’t leave home without it), a Bystander Intervention guide: How to direct, distract, delegate, and delay a potential situation that may become harmful, and a pin that says “Be Actively Antiracist!”. “When you speak up as an Ally, you interrupt hate and let someone know they are not alone.”

It was an informative evening of questions and thoughtful discussions moderated by Natalie Kimmerlein from the RI Regional Prevention Coalition on how to treat people who are different.

Then, the sort of people you may have grown up with.  “You can’t build a rainbow and try to eliminate the colors that make you uncomfortable.”

This year, TANK celebrated its 4th PRIDE Parade and celebration with the help of local merchants. All anyone wants is justice; to be treated with dignity and personal respect. But ultimately, no matter who you are or where you go, you should not have to rely on a pin that says "You are safe with me."

Maya Angelou stated: “We are all caged by someone else’s ignorance, small-mindedness, and fear. When you have enough courage to stand up and say I have come here to stay, you have no idea who you will impress, inform, and change.”

And T.A.N.K is lighting the way in Rhode Island to impress, inform, and change with courage, tenacity, and heart.