Instead of responding to my post about Urban Ventures, Art Erickson (who is
President of UV) and the Colin Powell Center, Wizard Marks instead for the
second time, tries to attack me personally:
Yes, Eva, you lived here ten years; but during those ten years you never
took part in one committee, board meeting, NRP meeting,
annual-whoopee-for-us-day. What you have is the ten year old memories of
people who still carry a chip on their shoulders because they perceive
that they lost something in the Great Debacle that was more important to
them than a peaceful community with their neighbors.
I wasn't active with the NRP process. Does that mean as a citizen, I
should not be able to give my opinion on an issue? Again, this diverts the
attention from whether Urban Ventures and the Colin Powell Center are good
projects or not.
Personally, I don't particularly care for Art Erickson of UV, though I
think Ralph's a honey. I don't much care for their brand of religion;
course I don't much care for any other brand of religion, so that's a toss
up anyway. They're creating little republican entrepreneurs, so I don't
know that your beef serves you well either.
It's foolish to blame Art for the Soul Lib Festival. He was not top dog at
Park Av. The whole church, leadership and congregant alike, created Soul
Lib. So don't pick out one, the focus is behavior by Park Av. Methodist
the institution. Art was one of thousands who allowed that to go on. He
was one of more than a dozen leaders who agreed to Soul Lib without asking
by your leave from the neighborhood. Churches operate that way overall.
Yes, the Church was responsible for Soul Lib - but Art was a big part of
that - and he was the lighting rod - because of his well known homophobia -
in a neighborhood with a high concentration of gays.
What Art and I agree on as neighbors and as people who work in and for the
neighborhood, is that the kids here need tons more support and much more
supportive space than they presently have. What Art's cronies and he can
produce is kids who are much less likely to wind up shooting someone or
getting shot, kids who will be prepared to get and hold a job, marry in
due time if that's their bag, and produce and rear children who will do
likewise. That is the A number one priority here. Part of that priority is
that those who were once bad actors and bad parents who commit to changing
their behavior are given resources and encouragement to change.
I agree that there's need for after school programs and programs for kids
such as those offered by the city parks, churches such as Calvary Lutheran
(which does alot in the Central neighborhood and does not preach anti-gay
bigotry from the pulpit).
Whether Colin Powell and Urban Ventures pray with Michelle Bachman over an
amendment that will specifically prohibit me from marrying another woman
is a distant second or third place issue. Your insistent commentary on
this fuels a myth created by the Central AfAm community due to the
behavior of a few bad actors in the GLBT community. The myth, repeated by
people I thought had more sense, is that "gays" are taking over Central
neighborhood and want to push out all the AfAm families. Thanks a toad
ton, Eva. I live here and you stand a chance of making life more difficult
for GLBT people in Central with your screeds.
It is an issue because they are 501c3 - and so is Midwest
Chaplains. Midwest Chaplains "capitol ministry" is clearly more about
politics than about ministry.
I think if we allow Michelle Bachman to keep talking she will dig her own
grave with her teeth. At some point the populace overall will see how daft
her notions are. That means, to get rid of Michelle Bachman as a political
figure one puts the lever where it will do some good without doing any
harm. Urban Ventures and Colin Powell are neither one of them the proper
place to put the lever. Among her constituency is where you cut off the
hydra's head.
Wizard still avoids the issue - and that is that UV and Colin Powell
claimed that a retraction was forthcoming about their participation in the
Midwest Chaplains Prayer Proclamation for the Bachmann amendment. If
that's true, then I'm just asking them to produce the promised
retraction. It should be easy enough to do - and they can put the
retraction in the press areas of their site and ask Midwest Chaplains to do
the same.
Eva Young
Near North
Minneapolis
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com
"You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on
freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave
the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the
world is full of idiots, and probably always will be." --Article II of the
Bill of Non-Rights.
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