III. Living Together? Real Stories

Janice Fitzgerald Davis

Pennsylvania has been very kind to me. I like this state and appreciate all that South Central Pennsylvania offers. But, there are certain realities one must reckon with when living here. There are socio-economic and socio-political truths that have influenced this society, and they persist. We must understand these truths and their consequences everyday. In the book Is My Armor on Straight?, the author discusses putting on armor to not only protect him from mild hurts of selfishness, but also the great stress of threat and physical abuse. I wear a suit of armor to protect myself from insults, slights, slurs. Everyday, I check to see if my armor is on straight, and it has become a part of my daily life. Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote the following poem:

WE WEAR THE MASK

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O ... our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

We all wear masks and armor.

* Janice Fitzgerald Davis is the Executive Deputy of the State System of Higher Education. She is an African American, an observant Orthodox Jew, and is part of the Kesher Israel Synagogue Congregation. She is also a former professor of English and is a free lance poet and writer.