cross-post from facebook re: the Jian Ghomeshi situation.
hey guys, i just had a long conversation on twitter re: the jian ghomeshi situation and i’ll summarize it here. heavy time amidst all this book-celebration (and the bed show, which is sold out and opening in less than a week! i’m flat-out in tech and performances every day from now until the book drops, aie aie aie).
here’s the deal: a few months ago i asked jian to be my chat-guest in toronto for this book tour along with a bunch of other people in other cities (zoë keating, bob lefsetz, amy cuddy, peter sagal, armistead maupin, etc, etc). if you’ve been following the news, he’s become a lightning rod in the past couple days.
i see all your thoughts and it is my personal style to never shut down a conversation or run away from the fire: a philosophy that often (as you’ve seen before) lands me in hot water. sorry for the mixed fire/water metaphor…haven’t had my coffee yet.
i’m still figuring out what to do about this.
just a request: while i try to figure out what to do about this situation, let me remind you that HATE HAS NO PLACE HERE IN THIS COMMUNITY. it’s just not what we do. i have so much pride in this place we’ve built, and have always been overwhelmed with gratitude for this community’s ability to converse without yelling or harsh judgement, for our ability to stay open and thoughtful and kind. please, let’s keep it that way.
ironically (poetically?) enough, i am spending my days, as we speak, at bard college making a musical with a bunch of students that deals directly with the painful aftershocks of sexual abuse, rape culture, and lack of communication. and i’m about to publish a book about how communication and openness trumps anger, hate, and fear. these things can’t be coincidental.
i believe deeply that you don’t respond to hate with more hate. it doesn’t make the world a more compassionate place: it drags us all down into the mud. so please, keep the conversation here going, but keep it kind, open, loving, and respectful.
thanks.
i love you guys. stand by.
AFP
p.s. please comment here or on facebook. i am reading everywhere.
