My First Action - Raymond Two Hawks Watson

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Raymond Two Hawks Watson, MINDSETTER™

 

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Raymond Two Hawks Watson PHOTO: file

The activist. It’s a title that I’ve become intimately acquainted with over my professional career. To be honest, an activist wasn’t something that I ever set out to be. Like most people who authentically end up with the title, I just wanted to do something to address a problem that I saw in my community. Somehow, someway, simply trying to do the right thing started me down a path that still amazes me to this day. This week I’ll share some perspectives and experiences in this regard. Moving forward I’ll label similar submissions “Tales from a Providence Activist.” This edition is titled “My First Action”.

I was on my way to meet members from Direct Action for Rights and Equality. DARE is a social, economic, and political justice organization based in the Southside of Providence that has a long history of successful advocacy and activism on behalf of marginalized communities in Rhode Island. From police reform, to payday lending reform, to housing advocacy, to advancing rights for the formerly incarcerated, if it has something to do with activism and advocacy in Rhode Island, DARE is likely in the mix. DARE is on it. For those of us who are familiar with the city DARE is the red building behind the Burger King on Broad Street.

DARE was hosting an “action” at the Providence Planning Department and invited me to come out to support. I had no real idea what an “action” was. I just knew that if it helped me get my mind off the recent passing of my grandmother, I was with it. I made plans to be at the action. I didn’t know it at the time, but DARE’s invitation would be the spark that set me off my activist career.

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A woman named Mary Kay Harris was my point of contact. I was to meet Mary Kay and other DARE members at the corner of Empire Street and Weybossett Street to strategize before we began the action. Having recently earned a master's in community planning from the University of Rhode Island concentrating in housing and community development, it was surreal to be heading to the Providence Planning Department to participate in my first action. As I approached the corner, to my complete surprise I was greeted by a woman wearing a full statue of liberty costume. She was standing next to Mary Kay. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but I was intrigued. Even more so when I was informed that we were going to be taking a stand for the community by demanding an impromptu meeting with the Director of the Providence Planning Department to address the concerns that the community had . . . and that’s exactly what we did.

I remember my excitement as the elevator opened on the 6th floor of the Providence Planning Department. Out went Mary Kay and the DARE members, making a “v” line for the closest staff person. I was right in step behind them. After making it very clear that we weren’t leaving until our concerns were heard, the Planning Director came out to meet with us. I didn’t speak much during the meeting because I didn’t have much to say. I was in complete awe. I had just witnessed what I had been studying for the past two years; a small group of passionate community members, including one dressed up as the statue of liberty, walk into a municipal planning department, demand a meeting with the head of the department, and actually get the meeting. Margaret Mead came to mind; “Never doubt that that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” Apparently Ms. Mead was correct. So here I sat listening to Mary Kay and the DARE members make their voices heard. I didn’t speak much; I didn’t have much to say. I was in complete awe.

It was a complex feeling. As a new planning professional, I was a witness to the successful application of the community engagement and mobilization theories I had studied during in master’s program. As a Providence community member, I was a participant in the exercise of nonviolent direct action that, at least in my mind at the time, had impacted change. Needless to say, I was sold. I wanted in. I needed to know where the next action was, what the next meeting would be about, and who else I could meet that carried this same energy. In effect, the activist in me was born.

I left the Providence Planning Department feeling powerful. Even more so when I returned a few months later in my new capacity as Executive Director of the Mount Hope Neighborhood Association to drop off the Center’s CDBG requisitions. It’s not anything I’ve officially confirmed, but a part of me believes that it was because of DARE’s action that visitors now had to check in with the receptionist on the 4th floor before reaching any of the upper floors. I can’t say for certain, but I like to believe that I had something to do with that policy change.

Over the years I’ve been blessed to support many more actions with the extended family at DARE. I’m always proud to say that an organization with such reputable history in the Rhode Island community was instrumental in my own development as an activist. Working with individuals such as Sara Mersha, John Prince, Mary Kay Harris, and Fred Ordonez, to name a few, DARE has been a key resource and mentoring institution in my own professional development. DARE is where I learned the nuance of what it takes to effectively engage with and advocate for the community; something that academic research simply can’t teach. I really can’t say enough good things about DARE, and I’m a fan of giving acknowledgment and respect when and where it is due, so I’ll end this week’s commentary by saying this; “Hats off to Direct Action for Rights and Equality; helping passionate members of the Rhode Island community become more effective activists and advocates since at least 2006.”

That’s my three cents.

Raymond Two Hawks Watson

 

Watson is a civil rights leader in Rhode Island. He has an accomplished career in business. He is the founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. Watson holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Union College in NY, a Master's Degree in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island, and is a current Juris Doctorate Candidate at the Roger Williams University School of Law. Watson is also the recipient of the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2016 Innovation Fellowship.

Raymond Two Hawks Watson is a civil rights leader in Rhode Island. He has an accomplished career in business. He is the founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. Watson holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Union College in NY, a Master's Degree in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island, and a graduate of the Roger Williams University School of Law. Watson is also the recipient of the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2016 Innovation Fellowship.


 

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