To Be Rather Than to Seem

Check out my new project that is finally ready to go public. I have been traveling the state of North Carolina for the last year collaborating with Muslim Americans to help them create self portrait images. Go to www.muslimselfportrait.info

Look on the sunny side.......

This Table of Honor to Hispanic Immigration is available for installation on request.

This past Sunday I attended a conference on the effects of policy changes on Undocumented Immigrants and came away convinced that our nation is drifting head long into another mistaken reaction (Iraq was the first) that makes villains of Hispanics and Latino regardless of their status. I have seen "immigrant" come to mean the same thing as "illegal alien" in my own church. I have heard of local law enforcement racial profiling and fishing for "illegal aliens" at road blocks and in diners and in schools ("Gee thanks Mr. SRO for catching that dirty illegal alien!") and listened to politicians, Democratic and Republican, jump on the "What part of illegal do you not understand" band wagon for the sake of votes. I have neighbors who have attacked and robbed Hispanics without fear or prosecution, know of police that decline response based on status. I see Hispanics that are suffering mental illness and stress and read of attempted suicide rates unacceptable in a humane world. I have watch the national news focus on the most divisive and simplistic aspects of undocumented immigration and I AM MAD about it all.

Rather than simply rage on I have created a " Table of Honor to Mexican / Latino Immigration" to remind us that their are good people hidden behind these labels we so easily apply to dismiss so many of our neighbors.

Anyone can donate an item in honor of a loved one or friend from Latin America- regardless of their status; citizen, legal immigrant, or illegal. Flowers, letters, pictures have already been given. This table has appeared in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. It was disassembled without my permission in the latter two communities.

Searching for the brighter side of human nature is an idea that cannot be disassembled- at least in my home and at this table.

Coffee, Culture, and Cherokee, NC

Crush all your stereotypes about Native-Americans while sipping on great tasting coffee in the Qualla boundary (Cherokee, NC.) Drive past the god- awful looking high rise casino, the ugly generator of some good things for the Cherokee people, and find the old but soon to be remodeled Cherokee Museum in the historic section of Cherokee. Across the street and near the river that runs through Cherokee is Tribal Grounds Coffee House, run by Leon Grodski and Natalie Smith. These guys are great and have made a go for many years now of mixing great coffee with support of the arts (visual and musical.) While their website is lacking (www.coffeewithculture.com) nothing is lacking in their ability to bring together the diverse community that is now Cherokee for some inspiring contemporary art and beautiful music. My wife and I will never forget the open mike night we experienced there. Check it out for yourself.