inspire action

there was definitely a divine being at work with this one. there was a reason why it ended with emmanuel, donaghy, and me sitting and having lunch. and truly talking about huge things that can come of this all.

so what's next? there are already dots i know need to be connected. and they are pretty big dots. baltimore. boys of baraka. kenya. ghana. mica. bikes. velocipide. my mind is working trying to put it all together. but after the past few days, i am just emotionally, phsically, and mentally drained. (i'm sure along with the entire rest of the avondale crew, who has been busting their butts even more than me and sacrificing even more sleep and sanity.) that's ok with me. this one can take some time. i'm not worried that the urge to do something will escape me. not at all. and i've got a crazy five weeks ahead of me. but when i think about everything from the last five weeks, it's a really exciting place to be at.

overcome challenges

this was such an emotional, powerful, day for me.

it's hard, because i'm here. but i'm not here. my mind is 9 hours away in baltimore. and everything that is said brings me back to that.

the structured activity today was a simulation created to mimic class systems. everyone was separated into three groups (two of which got chairs, and the last was just told, "sorry, i guess you have to sit on the floor.") and everyone got five chips with varying point values. except the initial distribution was very calculated. the first group got really good chips, the third, not so much. and from there they were instructed to trade. there were lots of levels at play: political, social, economic. things went as they do in the real world. the top basked in their success. (and even worked to prevent anyone from rising to join them.) the middle stayed comfortable. the bottom completely drowned. when the opportunity for bonus points was offered to each group, i stayed with the lowest group to see how they would distribute amongst themselves. one girl was adamant. "we're trying to move people up. he has the most potential. you don't." another thought that they should "give it to the lowest so that everyone has a fair shot." no one wanted to take that risk. now these activities have some power when you are participating and caught in the middle of it all. but for me, it was much more fascinating to observe from the outside. to take note of what people were saying and see it all go down.

after that, i met emmanuel at the airport. he was so little. so soft spoken. and the weird thing was it didn't hit me until much later that he had a prosthetic leg. it hadn't even crossed my mind. we snuck him in the back door, because no one knew that he was coming. before he would suprise everyone later that night at the awards banquet, we took him to lunch. (pretty fancy.) and he shared with us what he is doing now. later this year he's planning a bike race with disabled citizens to promote a peaceful presidential election in ghana this december. and he's collecting bikes to give to students who walk hours to get to school everyday. i'm amazed at all that he is continuing to take on. or maybe i assumed he would feel like the stuff he had accomplished leading up to the movie was enough. not at all. he just keeps going. nothing is too unreasonable.

change perceptions

i'm going to attempt to do a day-by-day, play-by-play (i make no guarantees. as with everything, it is so much better in real life.) of this crazy thing called the masc/mahs state student leadership conference that i left mica for a weekend to be a part of. and that my old high school, avondale, is hosting. (it's weird looking back, because states was really the start of it all for me. as overdramatic as that sounds. i went to the state conference four years ago, not knowing anything at all. and i left after a whirlwind weekend with a position on the michigan association of honor society state board of delegates. and the rest is history...)

day one of the state conference was all about changing perceptions. (one of the themes that was pulled out of the movie "emmanuel's gift"- the motivation behind the conference. ) typically this conference consists of 3 semi-decent speakers. (which seems to be more like irrelevant filler time. or "if it ain't broke don't fix it.") but this year, it was all about doing things the avondale way. raising standards and pushing innovation. they decided that they didn't need speakers at all. (shock!) they would just show the movie, because it is that good.

it was a smart move. during structured activities, everyone was spot on. making connections between the start of the movie and this activity based on labels and stereotypes and power. and there was very little prodding on my part that needed to be done. they were getting it. which is exciting because i know what this is building up to...

here's the video donaghy made to show at the opening ceremony: