There are many ways in which we communicate, through art, with music, body language, languages of movement like dance or mime, etc. Words are certainly a basic form of communication. But what happens when certain words are effectively, if not explicitly, banned by the government? Now for a bit of context, I was raised by a father/writer who did not support the idea of “bad” words. He affirmed the fact that words could be inappropriate in certain contexts or places, or with certain people. But I was taught that every word had a certain value. I was pushed to constantly expand my vocabulary and learn to use words in spoken and written forms as both a healing poultice and a powerful sword. So, when I saw the Trump administration’s lists of words which were banned and or discouraged from use in any contexts connected with the government I was appalled. Words were scrubbed from government sites and government funded agencies and non-profit organizations reports. How much damage could be done with this sledgehammer censorship?
The wrecking crew started work at once. One of many targets was Headstart programs. As PEN noted in its article about the 200 words banned words sent to Headstart agencies. “The Headstart program in Wisconsin is suing the administration noting “In a declaration submitted to the court on Dec. 5, “Mary Roe,” –the director of a Wisconsin Head Start who withheld her name because of fear of retribution– said the language restrictions made it impossible to “appropriately describe the scope of uc my Head Start Agency’s services and how we serve the most vulnerable children and families in our communities…” and “The program aimed at poor children can’t even use “socioeconomic” in its grant applications.” A few of the words included on the list are: “accessible,” “cultural sensitivity,” “diverse communities,” “equal opportunity,” “immigrants,” “minority,” “pregnant people,” “trauma,” and “underserved.” Other words removed referenced sexual orientation and people of color.
The compiled administration’s list of words sent a chill through my writer bred bones. I began to shuffle the words like magnetic word tiles on a refrigerator door and came up with this brief response using almost only words from the list.
Note: Any words in italics are not on the Trump administration’s list of words which are either completely banned or instructed to be eliminated or used as little as possible in both federal and federally funded agencies, schools and colleges, etc.
considered words
I
as a
black
woman
assigned female at birth
using she/her pronouns
a historically excluded female
marginalized, vulnerable
undervalued and underserved
an antiracist, multicultural
elderly, political woman
fostering inclusivity
promoting diversity
social justice
environmental justice
in my continuum
while affirming care
clean water
clean energy
clean power
cultural differences
cultural competence
community
and a sense of belonging-
reject
ideology with
implicit biases
that promote
hate speech
inequality
injustice
racism
oppression and
oppressive polarization
I invite you to consider using the wordlist to create your own poem or statement and putting the results in a comment.