Family,
Here is the audio (1 min 51 sec, wav file) from my brief interview on Radio Nation with Dr. Laura Flanders this past Saturday night while I was in Memphis, TN at the Free Press National Conference on Media Reform. I used this time to describe what the mission and vision of The SuperSpade is to a broad audience.
This gathering was one of the most inspiring and energizing assemblies that I have ever attended. I will reflect more on the conference, who I met, and what I learned a bit later. The SuperSpade was very well received.
I am back in Seattle for all of one day before I go to Detroit for a few days this week.
Happy MLK Day everyone. Use this as a day of learning and not of laziness.
Categories:
SuperSpade
Speech
Radio Interview
Hi Garlin. I sat by you in Memphis at the session where we crafted the internet ‘tollbooth’ message.
I just gotta say, even though it feels weird, that I think Memphis was the best black experience I ever had. I grew up with a black population and had some superficial friendships with my black classmates, but I didn’t realize that I carried some of those negative pubescent impressions from high school right into my adult life.
Now I would totally say I was a liberal, but the truth is that my community and town is very white. I really don’t have much day to day interactions with African Americans. It’s a little hard to admit, but I was surprised at the courtesy, kindness, intelligence, and positive feeling I got from nearly every black man I met in Memphis. From folks in the sessions to people on the street. I got an education from many local folks and a musical/hospitable experience of a lifetime at Wild Bill’s (thanks for sharin’ your birthday Ms. Lynn).
Being able to visit the Civil Rights Museum and walk where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walked, to see where he died, to experience being in a crowd of black people explaining to their children the events of history. Realizing that I hadn’t really taken the time to try and teach my own children these lessons.
So thanks for your part, Garlin. I’m gonna check back in here to get the black perspective. You seemed tuned in to many of the same nuances of communication that I was.
See ya next time.