Taft Garden

When I chose Taft Garden, I wanted to choose somewhere that we hadn't met, which was difficult at this point in the semester. We have gone to many of the common rooms and other public spaces that haven't required permission to use. However, when I was writing the email telling you all to go to Taft Garden, I remembered it was the first stop (after TGH) on the Black at Bryn Mawr tour. That tour generated a lot of criticism and negative feelings about how it was constructed/focused, so after inviting you all to Taft Garden, I thought maybe being there, our class could reclaim the space. It would no longer be M. Carey Thomas's private space and display of her wealth, but a place where we would feel safe discussing issues, about the environment, racism, social justice in general, and we did. I think that being outside after being inside for several of the last class times, made us feel more liberated to speak. Being inside, in well-decorated and posh rooms, I think we weren't as free with our speaking as today. Today, we were isolated but out in the open air, and I noticed there was a lot less of a chance of someone walking close by and overhearing our conversation, unlike the common rooms we have been in. There was a lot of emotion, but also being there for each other, in today's discussion and I think being outside helped that, we were not constricted to the limits of the inside, set by the interior design and close promixity to students outside our class. Though it was a bit colder than I expected, I think meeting at Taft was a good change from the last couple of weeks inside.