Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend I was able to take a day off and make a trip to Canton, Mississippi (birthplace of the Miss Bettie Walker - or mom as I like to call her). Thanksgiving Day started off with me sleeping in. Here in the Delta the weather is similar to a Midwest mid-fall. The air was crisp and the sun was gleaming. I sat in my dining room reading the paper with a big cup of coffee. Of course I got a bit too caught up in the ambiance of the day and found myself rushing to get out of the door and on the road so I wouldn't miss my aunt's 2:30 dinner. Is it me or does "dinner" in the south begin around lunchtime? Anyway, I packed, hit the road, and headed to my Aunt Alice's house. My aunt likes to cook so listing all of her menu items would take up too much blog space. Suffice it to say in addition to the six (yes six) pies she baked (12 of us were present for dinner) dinner was excellent! I spent the next four days lounging around my aunts house. She has a room in her home that I call the yellow room where I love to lodge. The room has a huge window, a couch, television with dish access, and a private bathroom. I love this room not because its yellow (pink's my color) but because - as you can tell from the description - it is very much like a hotel. I like to think I spent the weekend eating great food and relaxing at the Hotel Alize!

Another Visit to the Bulldog

Again I have fallen a week behind on post. Here is a short update on from the week I missed. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a consortium regarding the Mississippi Delta. I had a second opportunity to visit the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State. There, multiple partners had gathered in an effort to brainstorm ways to genuinely assist the Delta. Sustainable, community-led development was the goal of the consortium. Over two days many academics, foundation members, research students, and program directors hashed out the challenges of the Delta, discussed current programs, and came up with a plan of action that would enable a broad yet deep assistance to the region.

NOLA

I spent this past weekend attending a conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose of the conference was to assist in the building of a nationwide coalition of college students, graduate and undergraduate, committed to the just and equitable rebuilding of the coastal communities hit by Hurricane Katrina. As a part of the conference, attendees visited a green house built in the lower ninth ward. Elements of social, political, economic, and environmental development were tied together to give participants a greater idea of what equitable development should look like in Katrina-marred areas versus what it actually looks like. What was communicated at the conference as immediately needed was the dissemination of accurate information regarding the social, political, economic, and environmental development of these areas. Many of the hardest hit areas are not receiving adequate funding. Much of this is due to political power play. Federal dollars have been allocated without oversight. Many of the hardest hit residents feel there is an intentional reshaping of New Orleans going on in the rebuilding that is not remniscent of the city pre-Katrina.

It was difficult to put all of this information into context with the realities of the French Quarter and Warehouse District where I was lodging. In contrast to the city's other wards, the famous/infamous Quarter and Warehouse District were bubbling tourists havens. I'd been to NO several times before but had never seen the city like this. The French Quarter and Warehouse District boasted vibrant mom-and-pop shops, numerous chef-inspired restaurants, Americanized European-styled architecture, and of course, music. There is a spirit unique to the city. After visiting I can better understand how amidst all of the remaining debris, the sulfuric political rhetoric, the injustices, and the seemingly intended pollution of every kind, lifelong residents continue to trickle back and rebuild.

Some of the pics include the quaint side streets of New Orleans' French Quarter and the Green House built in the ninth ward. As an aside, I ate enough during this weekend for all of those reading this blog but were not in the NOLA. Thanks Emeril, Lucy's, the Praline Shop, and numerous other vendors for your gastric support ;)

New Orleans proved to be if not the "Most Unique City" that it claims to be, then certainly one of the most unique places I've ever visited. Long live NOLA!

A Call to Conscience

The Delta has slowed to a home-like pace. I've learned the short-cuts and back-ways to my favorite places. I've gained that familiarity with the area that makes one say, "I don't even remember how I got here" after shifting the car into 'park'. Nevertheless, the pace of change in the world has not slowed. The presidential baton has been passed and the Dow has dived. Our national conviction in our powerful economic system has shaken our confidence, and for some, given us the down right shake-down. In the wake of these changes, economic and social disparities abound. While commentators opine on which avenue, the re-enforcement of our staid power brokers or the assistance of our every-day, will best lead us to stability, words to wisdom can be gleaned from a 1967 address Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made to the SCLC. The pace of life here in the Delta has allowed me the time to read some of Dr. King's key speeches. So, while like is slow down here, hopefully this reflection will give all of you out there some insight into our current, fast-paced, ever-changing times. Enjoy.

"There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites, polar opposites, so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. It was this misinterpretation that caused the philosopher Nietzche, who was a philosopher of the will to power, to reject the Christian concept of love. It was this same misinterpretation which induced Christian theologians to reject Nietzsche's philosophy of the will to power in the name of the Christian idea of love.
Now we got to get this thing right. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. And this is what we must see as we move on."

-- MLK "Where Do We Go From Here?"