open space and conversation

8/29

Four days into dealing with the pain of three broken ribs….

Back at the church to prepare for tomorrow’s worship. And meet again with Jason and another friend, this time Babatunde from Nigeria. Knew each other back in the day in Boston. Reconnect through Facebook. Concerned about some of the same issues. Baba coming from a place of passion for design and fashion.

While I work on the service, Jason takes his friend on a tour of the building. They are sitting in the Papp theatre talking when I catch up with them. I make sure that they have a tour of the whole pigeon tower, which in the vision is the light tower both metaphor and concrete reality of the conversation and space Jason wants to create.

Jason’s been down a/this road before with success in his Massachusetts Crush project. Seen a burgeoning movement brought down by unchecked self-interest. There are questions of political satire and free speech versus shared values (why I never ever will say pig in relation to police..if you make your opponent non-human you can’t hold them humanly accountable…) versus a maoist letting a thousand flowers bloom…No immediate clear answers.

But there is clarity that the next wave of lgbtq+++ (ie, queer ) issues are waiting to be raised along with class and race issues. The same issues being explored by Stephanie and Love Songs for the rest of us And the peace poets. . And that this intersects with arts and creativity. And that light tower, waiting to be lighted..

Space and conversation. Open space and conversation.

There must continue to be space here for what could be...

One step at a time. One conversation at a time.,