Posted on October 30, 2013 by

Ode to a Street Gentleman

This is a repost of a blog from New Year’s Day, 2011.  That day I wrote about a man named Bill who I haven’t seen now for over two years.  He’d be 68 by now.  The street people around here who know him haven’t seen him or heard anything.  I’ll keep asking, but all of us have the feeling Bill’s life may have passed.  I’m spending lots of time considering house and… Read More

 Posted on October 22, 2013 by

One Change Leader — My Mama

There it was – the enormous stack of mail that comes from being away from home for awhile.  Daunting as it seems, it’s always possible, even curious, to riffle through – separating the “must attend to this” ones from the far more plentiful immediate candidates for the recycling bin.  In a way that has become exceptional and continues a bit thrilling, there was a hand addressed envelope from a real person —… Read More

 Posted on February 18, 2013 by

Awareness is Tattooed and Riding a Harley

In a week of exceptions — a meteorite crashing through an otherwise ordinary Russian sky, a Pope resigning for the first time in 600 years – an unlikely story of a racist street fighter turned modest-but-powerful spiritual teacher beloved by people of all walks of life seems right in line. For context, I’ll tell you about this picture.  This is the sunrise earlier this month over a mountain in southern India.  Surrounding… Read More

 Posted on September 3, 2012 by

Building it.

Of late a good deal of national opposition has arisen around the words “build it.”  Some months ago, our president made a point in a public (and arguably campaign) speech about the labor that supports most, if not all of the social activity in this country, including business.  Some folks heard his comments as indicating they shouldn’t get credit for their work.  The media and campaign publicity machines got hold of the… Read More

 Posted on July 29, 2012 by

Mary Says, Mitt Says

My 19-year-old niece Mary is in Israel.  So is Mitt Romney.  Mary arrived almost 4 weeks ago to assist with rebuilding homes of Palestinian people that have been destroyed in the areas of the country historically populated by Palestinians now being displaced.  Many of those lands are occupied by Jewish settlers. These are complicated issues from the standpoint of local, national and international politics.  They are less complicated but more urgent and… Read More

 Posted on February 19, 2012 by

Keeping Courage

I’ve just spent the past three days crossing the Southern tier states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama into Georgia.  I’ve spent precious time with relatives – kin by birth and kin by choice and community.  Along the slow roll of land falling toward and then rising up from the Mississippi River’s reliable flow I found story after story, learning after learning. In the three years since I last drove these Southern highways… Read More

 Posted on December 18, 2011 by

EX:Change Gift Idea — 100 VOICES

Listen to the voices of your neighbors.  One hundred voices from across the U.S.  All talking about change.  All speaking their dreams. Give the book to yourself, to friends or family.  Join us in the EX:Change as it continues to offer its invitation to all of us — Listen to each other.  See what is there in those with whom you think you have nothing in common.  See what is there in… Read More

 Posted on May 14, 2011 by

Everyday Desperate Measures

During the work week between 6 and 7 a.m., it’s a different kind of quiet on the streets of downtown Portland. All last week I walked downtown to catch the bus.  The weather was warming, the air softer to the touch.  I liked it. That time of morning, delivery people dot the grid of city streets.  They roll dollies with boxes of produce.  They use fork lifts to move reams of paper… Read More

 Posted on January 29, 2011 by

Seeing Privilege

It’s going to take a while.  I don’t want to speak for blacks, but from my perspective being a black man with what I have observed in my lifetime, I will feel as though I’m going to be shortchanged because of the history behind us.  I will feel that until I see some definite improvement.  If  they tell you that you can be equal, but you never make any gains, you’re going… Read More

 Posted on January 1, 2011 by

New Year’s Story

I live in a house that was built in 1898.  It’s my home.  And it’s home to my daughter, even as she lives her new and bountiful adult life 6000 miles away for now. I’ve been paying on my mortgage for 9 years now.  I’m one of the lucky ones for whom timing and other circumstances have made “ownership” possible.  I love my home. There is a man.  A white man who… Read More

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