A Community Thread

Ryan Re referred Emery to participate here. I had only known of her as Bill Moseley's daughter, so it was great fun to meet her under completely different circumstances. Before we started recording we talked about the idea of how differently we may appear to others who we meet under different circumstances. We talked about quite a lot before recording, but fortunately that interesting conversation carries throughout the recording, too. It was so fun getting to know Emery through this interview and I so enjoyed getting a peek at the world through her eyes. 

Ryan recommend Pinto to participate here. I met her very briefly as I was leaving their home after Ryan's interview, not knowing Ryan would refer here. So, on this morning she greeted me with a big hug and then we chatted for a little while in the warm spring sunshine before heading inside for the interview. Pinto would have preferred to do the interview in a treehouse in Georgia, but we just couldn’t make it work, so we settled for floor cushions in a sacred room in her home. Pinto’s pretty much a bundle of smiles and warmth and hope and hard work and joy and, as you can imagine, a real treat to talk with. I’m happy to introduce her to you here. 

Michelle Mitchell recommended Todd to this project. It took us a while to get a date and time nailed down, but we finally worked it out for this lovely spring morning. I showed up at Todd's door, which was wide open, and he greeted with me a smile as big as the room. We chatted over coffee and fresh pineapple for about an hour before getting into interview mode and connected well during that time, opening the door for a sense of familiarity in the interview portion of our conversation together and allowing us to dig pretty deep here. 

I occasionally run into people who shared Todd's belief that 'people are doing the best they can with the awareness they have' and, I have to say, that sentiment does not resonate with me at all. We have a great discussion regarding that towards the end of the interview and I’m a huge proponent of great discussion. I'm thankful for meeting him and chatting with him and I'm so glad to be able to share our conversation with you here. Keep an eye out for Todd. I'd pretty much guarantee that your encounter with him will lift your spirits. 

Natalie Murphy recommended Sharon to participate here and she readily accepted the invitation. This was the absolute perfect interview for this particular day. I went into it feeling defeated but within minutes of chatting with Sharon I was completely turned around. We had a lively conversation and I enjoyed watching Sharon come alive as she spoke about what matters to her. I am so thankful that we were able to meet in the middle, as it were. Sharon didn’t overpower my feelings of frustration with over-the-top optimism or disingenuous and trite positivity, but she did articulate her truth with passion and her energy, as it turns out, was contagious. Isn’t it interesting how it can go either way? Sometimes we can let somebody bring us down and other times we just can’t help but be lifted up. This conversation meant a lot to me and if you only have time to read or listen to one of these interviews, I'd highly recommend starting with this one.

Leslie, who has become a very dear friend through this process, recommended Tina to participate here. We talked a lot about the project before we began recording and then picked that conversation back up about halfway through this interview. In a rare turn of events, we end up trading places as Tina starts to put me through a fairly intense line of questioning. I enjoyed our entire experience together and hope my presentation of it offers you a good representation of how it was in the moment. I'm happy to introduce Tina to you here and I hope this conversation will serve as an example and encouragement for you to go engage in one of your own. 

I met Carlos at a Black History Month event I attended at COCC at which Marcus was doing some readings. While there, I ran into Carol Delmonico and both she and Marcus pointed to Carlos as someone who should participate here. Carol introduced us and we chatted briefly. Then we exchanged a few emails over the next month or so. Carlos was not sold on the idea originally, but he eventually decided to participate. And then when we met for the interview, he expressed his hesitance in more detail. In the end, I gave Carlos the opportunity to forego this process, but after more deliberation, he decided to go through with it. He talks a bit about his internal struggle with the idea in our conversation and makes a valid point. It was a pleasure chatting with Carlos and it's a pleasure to introduce you to him here. 

Lisa recommended Natalie to this project. Natalie laughingly told me the story of their meeting.  After they ended up as next door neighbors, Natalie and her daughter used to go out of their way to walk by Lisa's house when she was out in the yard with her kids in hopes to make their acquaintance. That’s evidently a good tactic as they’ve since become dear friends. We met in Natalie's office and had a very lovely conversation. She mentioned a couple of words that tend to make me only want to ask for more clarity - contentment is one and like-mindedness is another - and I enjoyed learning from her throughout our thoughtful discussion. 

Tiffani mentioned Ryan in our interview as they work together in the ecstatic dance and Lucid realm and then she immediately referred him to participate here. I met Ryan at his home and he greeted me with a beautiful array of snacks and dandelion tea and we sat together in a room in his house that has come to be called Temple iZ. Ryan and I clicked right away conversationally and ended up chatting for quite a long time before recording. Eventually, Ryan asked if we were recording and when he found out we weren't, he suggested we start. I am torn on this issue as I often wish the pre-interview conversation was sharable, but I fear that turning on the recorder sooner would then change the tone, rendering that more intimate conversation stale. At any rate, we turned the recorder on shortly after and continued our lovely chat. There were quite a few people outside of Ryan's house when we finished our interview and I got swept up into a few different conversations, which seemed like an appropriate way to transition into the rest of my day. I hope you enjoy getting to know Ryan as much as I did. 

Joan came to LeeAnn’s mind as someone to refer to participate here because they had worked together on the Town Hall on Racism last fall and then met again over some follow-up KPOV radio interviews. When I met Joan she told me she had become familiar with this project through my short and sweet (my words not hers) Mayoral campaign - nice to know somebody was paying attention! Anyway, I am so grateful to LeeAnn for connecting us as I’ve had an interest in involving some younger folks in this project, but as a 36-year-old man, I have found that particular crowd to be rather inaccessible. It was a joy chatting with Joan and I am happy to introduce her to you here. 

I directly invited Dan to participate here because as I've gotten to know him, I’ve come to understand his heart for bringing people together. When I started talking with Dan early in 2018, he was the manager of The Commons - a café that I frequent. We began planning the end of the year show for this project and became more and more familiar with each other throughout that process. We postponed this interview for a couple months as Dan was assuming his new role as owner of The Commons. The tone of the interviews change slightly when I interview someone who I already know versus when I interview a stranger. And I’m able to push a little harder and dig a little deeper because there’s already an established level of trust. That’s particularly evident in this interview. If you don’t already know Dan, I’m happy to introduce you to him here. And if you do know him, I’m delighted to facilitate your learning even more about him.