I received the following email from Thomas this morning and thought that I’d post my response publicly since I understand that some controversy has been swirling around the free concert we’re doing today. As I say in my reply, I think that living in a community requires putting differences aside…

I’m proud of my friend DA for staying committed to our hometown. This is an important issue and one with no single solution except that we all keep a realistic perspective on the root causes of the teen pregnancy and STD issues in Milwaukee, among them poverty, discrimination, and lack of education. Successful prevention requires addressing these complex issues along with providing the the direct means that young men and woman need to prevent pregnancies and STDs, among them condoms and birth control. Abortion and the debate that surrounds it is another topic that, while related to the mission put forth by Planned Parenthood, is not germane to the concert tonight. Attacking this event and Chester French as pro-abortion is an avenue that I believe is being used to dismiss the complexity of the prevention effort in a manner that is not only reactionary but also non-productive. In light of the larger effort made by Planned Parenthood, this concert and Chester French to raise awareness of the societal ills that force young woman with promise into situations where the choice is abortion or finding themselves part of a dynamic that is detrimental to mothers, children, families and communities thought and empathy is required. As a student healthcare provider who has helped birth children, witnessed the termination of pregnancies, as well as work with communities devastated by STDs and teen pregnancy, I continue to grapple with my own philosophy on abortion, but one truth remains clear, prevention by direct means and the indirect means of social change and community improvement are without question right and just and what I see as the larger mission of this concert.

-Siavash