Friends of Live Earth event in Asheville on 7/7/07
Join in a celebration of music, citizen empowerment, food and drink in Asheville on Saturday, July 7 as local environmental groups, green businesses and concerned citizens come together for the health of our planet.
Who: Concerned citizens, environmental groups, and green business who want to take action to deal with the climate crisis
What: An event designed to enjoy ourselves, raise awareness of simple, cost-effective actions we can easily take, and to watch the U.S. Live Earth concert and clips from the others around the world.
When: July 7, 2007, 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Where: Asheville Brewing Company, 77 Coxe Avenue, downtown Asheville
Why: To have fun and empower citizens to take action now
Visit the Friends of the Planet blog for info on the local event: wncfriendsoftheplanet.wordpress.com
Visit the Live Earth website for info on the global events and events outside the local area: liveearth.org
Take the Live Earth pledge to combat the climate crisis at liveearthpledge.org.
RSVP: joinliveearth.org/page/event/detail/jtq
Broadcast: NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Sundance, XM Radio, Sirius Radio, LiveEarth.MSN.com
Help spread the word! Please let others know about this event via word of mouth and your e-mail list. If you’d like flyers for this event, just let me know.
I look forward to seeing you on July 7.
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Live Earth will help us reach a tipping point that’s needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis.
–Former Vice President Al Gore
Friday, June 29th, 2007Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in her sight
For these are all our children.
We will all profit by, or pay for,
Whatever they become.
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. . . . The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
By the end of this century, Whites will no longer be the majority in the United States. Interracial marriages and biracial children will be commonplace—the face of America is indeed changing.
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Not too many years ago, marriage between men and women of different skin color was illegal in this country. Forty years to be exact. On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that anti-miscegenation laws (laws barring marriage or cohabitation 
between a white person and a person of another color) were unconstitutional, striking them down in the 17 states (North Carolina included) where they were still enforced.
If you want a first-person account of how such despicable and unjust legislation (as well as the virulent racism of the era) adversely affected folks in North Carolina who dared love someone of a different color during the 1950s, let me suggest The Color of Love: A Mother’s Choice in the Jim Crow South by Gene Cheek, a writer from nearby Black Mountain.
Interracial love in the 1950s South
Cheek was the son of Sallie, a white woman, who fell in love with Tuck, a black man. I won’t give the plot away. I’ll just say that Cheek’s heartrending story of the pain and challenges that resulted from the hatred and intolerance of their family, friends and local officials was not an easy read, especially for someone like me who’d lived through this era in the South, someone who sometimes lacked the courage of his convictions. Toward the end of the book, I could frequently only read a few pages (some stained with tears) before having to lay it aside for the evening.
Here’s an eye-opening excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on miscegenation:
Laws banning miscegenation were enforced in Nazi Germany, in South Africa during the Apartheid era and in individual US states from the Colonial era until 1967. All these laws primarily banned marriage between different racially and ethnically defined groups, and many also targeted sexual relations between different races and ethnicities. The laws in Nazi Germany, South Africa and in US states all based themselves on concepts of racial purity and white supremacy.
Nice company we were keeping. And despite changing times, many in this nation still consider black-white marriages taboo, and the abhorrent notion of white superiority lives on. According to the 2000 census, only 363,000 marriages (out of 57 million total) of this type exist in the U.S. This number seems incredibly low since it’s now clear that race is a social construct, not a scientific one. In fact, many scientists believe that Africa was the birthplace of all of our ancestors, all of us black. And as some humans moved out of Africa and further from the equator, their skin turned lighter to better soak up the more limited amount of the sun’s rays.
Racism in our nation today
From my perspective, racism as it exists in America today has an emotional as well as a rational context. If you don’t feel good about who you are and your situation in life, one reaction is to imagine you’re better than another group, especially one identifiable by the color of their skin. “I may be pitiful, my life may suck, but at least I’m better than those black/brown/red/yellow people.”
Of course, throughout the history of this nation, the ruling class has found it expedient to pit poor whites against the black folks, to divert the whites’ attention from the real source of their tribulations. And it’s still a tactic used, though not as overtly, by some politicians to gain votes, to maintain power.
Indeed, I believe that much of the immigration hullabaloo can be boiled down to this: White folks in this country are terrified of the possibility that people of color may become the majority in years to come, and when they do, they’ll treat us as poorly as we’ve treated them.
We are all one
Our spiritual practices as well as today’s science tell us that we’re all connected, that ultimately we’re all one, that what we do to another person or any living thing we do to ourselves. Thus, if for no other reason than our self-interest, wouldn’t it make sense to bring down the invisible barriers that separate us and treat one another with love and respect regardless of any real or imagined differences? If Gene Cheek can move toward loving and forgiving those who treated him so maliciously, then surely we can express our love and respect toward those who have done us no harm at all.
I hope you will read Cheek’s book. If you live in Western North Carolina, I hope you will consider Patti Digh’s Bridging Differences book club or participation in Building Bridges, as Gene Cheek recently did. And I hope you’ll invite someone whose skin is a different color than yours to break bread. We’re all in this together, and the sooner we realize it, the happier and better off we’re likely to be.
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Resources
The Color of Love: A Mother’s Choice in the Jim Crow South by Gene Cheek: Available at Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville or at Amazon.com.
Gene Cheek’s website: genecheek.com
This American Life episode 313 from May 19, 2006, “Parental Guidance Suggested–Two Possibilities, Both Bad” provides a radio version of Gene Cheek’s story: thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=313
Bridging Differences Book Club at Inclusive Asheville: 37days.typepad.com/inclusive_asheville or contact Patti Digh at patti@thecircleproject.com
Building Bridges: Going beyond racism with understanding and respect: buildingbridges-asheville.org or call 828-777-4585.
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007“We are each other’s angels” performed by David LaMotte
One of my favorite songs, “We are each other’s angels,” (written by Chuck Brodsky) is performed in the video below by one of my favorite singer-songwriters, David LaMotte.
Enjoy!
We are each other’s angels
Words and music by Chuck Brodsky ©1995
Well I hope I see you later
‘Cause it’s time for me to go
Someone just pulled over
Sure was good to know you
Go answer your calling
Go and fill somebody’s cup
And if you see an angel falling
Won’t you stop and help them up
‘Cause we are each other’s angels
And we meet when it is time
We keep each other going
And we show each other signs . . .
My daughter Lilla turns 39 today
When my daughter Lilla was born on this date in 1968, I was 25 years old, still in my “don’t trust anyone over 30″ phase. And today she celebrates her 39th birthday, just one away from the big 40.
On this day I’m filled with sweet memories of my “little girl.” I remember the day she was born, tiny and beautiful, cuddled in her mother, Shannon’s, arms. I remember her, still in diapers, grazing in the family garden and
coming back to the house with tomato juice running down her little belly. I remember her hanging out with and sleeping with her “sister,” Langdon, her trusty black Lab, in Bear Hollow. I remember when being with her could help reconnect me with the gentler part of myself. I remember her volleyball exploits at West High School in Knoxville, TN and at the College of Charleston. And I remember her marrying Brandon and bringing Molly and Jack into the world.
Man, how time flies. As Lilla approaches the halfway point of her years in this mortal form, I enter the last decades of mine.
Looking back, Shannon and I endeavored to give Lilla just enough rope so that she didn’t hang herself. We raised her to be able to take care of herself, to work through issues with others on her own and to think and act independently. I’m proud of the strong and compassionate woman Lilla has become, and the family she has created with Brandon. And we excitedly await the annual summer visit of grandkids Molly and Jack in early August.
Happy birthday, girl! Shonnie and I both send you our love on your special day and hope that all your birthday wishes come true.
Monday, June 11th, 2007“After the storm,” a powerful video from Little Pearls
Little Pearls, a local nonprofit, headed by Linda McLean, now has three of its most evocative videos on YouTube. According to their website:
Little Pearls is a non-profit media organization that creates and freely distributes inspiring, thought-provoking “tiny films” for television, the Internet, educational programs and grassroots sharing. These Little Pearls of wisdom, love, hope and change are opening minds by opening hearts.
Watch these three compelling videos by clicking on the play buttons below. Then I invite you to contribute to Little Pearls’ inspiring efforts by clicking here.
After the storm
The best and most beautiful things
Dr. Willie–A special therapy dog
Friday, June 8th, 2007What guys really want
What do guys really want? Chicks with nice boobs? Copious amounts of cold beer? Plenty of sports? A really cool car? The new iPhone? Well, that
online video of Jennifer Aniston strolling topless down the beach is pretty titillating. And it’s hard to beat a pint of good ale with a hot slice of pizza. Furthermore, when our favorite team is competing on TV, family, social and business commitments are often out the window. And, yes, nice wheels are imperative. As are the latest gadgets from Apple.
But beneath all the grab ass, locker room banter and fascination with things that go fast (cars and computers alike), we guys have some deeper wants and needs that we don’t always share with our female counterparts. So in the interest of greater XX-XY harmony, here’s a list of what guys really want from the women in our lives.
We want you to tell us what you want. Of course, sharing what you really want from us doesn’t guarantee you’ll get it. But it sure as hell increases the odds. Plus it eliminates the need for us to make dubious assumptions, take half-assed guesses or play Kreskin and try to read your mind. For starters maybe you could tell us how and when you prefer to be touched, how you want to be comforted when you’re feeling low and what really turns you on in bed.
When we’re grumpy, sullen or withdrawn, we want you to understand that it’s
probably not about you. We guys have our ups and downs just like you do. Often we’re not even conscious of what’s going on. We just know something’s not quite right, and we tend to pull back. From your perspective, it may be easy to think we’re pissed at you or dissatisfied with the relationship, when frequently it’s just that we’re not at peace with ourselves, which brings us to . . .
We sometimes want time alone. Don’t take our desire for solitude personally. Occasionally we just want some down time to “be,” to consider our own wants and needs, to reconnect with who we really are so that we don’t become enmeshed with you, so that we can come back and offer you the best of who we are.
Just listen when we dream out loud. Sometimes we guys like to share our dreams aloud. When we do so we are not asking for your approval, feedback, opinion on how realistic they are or strategies for achieving them. We’re merely having fun envisioning future possibilities that we may or may not intend to actually manifest.
If you’re pissed about something, put it out straight. If we do something and you react with anger, we’d appreciate it if you’d share your displeasure then and there. It might not be very pleasant, but it’s a hell of lot better for us than being blindsided by pent up resentment that leaks out days or months after the original event occurred.
Be gentle with your language. Frequently teasing, clever banter and wisecracks directed toward us or toward the male sex in general are actually thinly disguised criticism and disapproval. This kind of behavior tears at the fabric of our connection, and when we’re on the receiving end, it hurts more than we’re typically willing to let on.
We like to be acknowledged. Let us know when we’ve done something for which you are grateful. A simple, sincere “thank you” can foster a stronger connection between us as well as increase our desire to replicate the action or way of being.
We want you to love us as we are. Guys are not here to live up to your expectations. We’re not projects or fixer-uppers. As the eminent philosopher Popeye
the Sailor Man once said, “I yam what I yam and that’s all what I yam.” Having said that . . .
We want you to help us remember who we are when we forget. As members of the human race, we sometimes forget who we really are and what the hell we’re doing here. At times like these we yearn for you to nudge us in the right direction. We may resist at first, but when you compassionately remind us of our strengths, our personal power and the gifts we have to offer the world, we’ll ultimately be deeply grateful for your love and support.
Fully commit to the relationship. Yeah, we know. We’re supposed to be the ones with commitment issues. But when we’re assured that you’re in all the way, the space is opened for us to join you. And when that happens, there’s no more looking around for someone better, no more “should I stay or should I go,” no more exit strategies. We’re both on firm ground and can relax and enjoy it.
When all’s said and done, we’re not the indifferent, irascible bad boys, the technoholic geeks or the politically correct metrosexuals we may sometimes appear to be. We’re just guys . . . with hearts and minds and spirits. Wanting to connect, wanting to love and be loved, wanting to express our tenderness toward you . . . but sometimes just aren’t quite sure how.
Oh, and about Jennifer Aniston’s boobs . . . they’re definitely not real.
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An earlier version of this post appeared in the June 2007 Y chromosome issue of Western North Carolina Woman. In addition, an abbreviated version of this post was entered in Problogger’s Top 5 Writing Project.
Saturday, June 2nd, 2007
