Poet, writer, educator, and activist Nikki Giovanni wrote, “Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts.” At Philanthropiece’s recent Celebración y Convivencia gathering, I spoke in Spanish to offer an introduction to our discussion on the theme of co-creating resilient communities. In doing so, I presented our featured guests as our panal, mistaking the pronunciation of the word for “panel.” This literally translates as “honeycomb.” And it was the response to my error that showed evidence of the incredible, adaptable, creative, and inclusive community that was present in the Philanthropiece barn that evening. The error in pronunciation led to a metaphor of working and being in solidarity as a community. A mistake that may have led to judgement was instead transformed to spark a conversation that was at once profound and joyful.
For this, I offer a heartfelt THANK YOU, TAN TIUXH, MUCHAS GRACIAS to all who were part of the discussion and to all of you who were present and listening. Very special gratitude goes out to Emma Ruffin of Desert Raven Design for capturing the spirit of the beehive, and of our time together, in the graphic capture that you see above.
Katie Doyle Myers serves as the Executive Director for the Philanthropiece Foundation. She has been humbly speaking Spanish for over 30 years.