America Chooses to Change

Dreams have been realized.  Fears did not materialize.  Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States.  And today, it feels so very good.

WE ARE THE PEOPLE WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR poster on flickr by springhill2008 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

I was in the fourth grade when I first became aware that there was supposed to be a difference in black people and white people.  Little Michael Morris joined our classroom at Longfellow Elementary that year after Dunbar Colored School in Mayfield was closed and our classes were integrated by court order.

I remember how small and quiet and scared he looked as he took his seat in the row next to mine.  His eyes never left his desk.  Thankfully, that allowed me not have to meet his glance since I was sure staring.

I was so curious with wonder at what made this sweet little boy with downcast eyes and dark skin different from me?  Must have been something I couldn’t see.  But different he was, I had been told.  My parents had instructed me to leave him alone.  “You just don’t need to talk to him,” my mom and dad had warned.

Good girl that I was, I obeyed.  It made me feel bad inside, though, until one day he looked up and finally, together, we smiled.  After all, another thing that Daddy and Mama had taught me was to always live by the Golden Rule.

That is all I recall of him as my classmate after that time.  Our smiles.

During the years that followed I believed that perhaps I had dreamed that awful mandate to not speak to the black child.  My father proudly introduced me to black friends of his when I joined him on daily excursions around town.  I realized then that life sure was full of interesting contradictions and surprises.

I loved going with Daddy to the little market on the other side of town or to the uptown courthouse and post office.  It made me feel special to meet and greet all different kinds of folks outside of my regular church and school groups.

As I entered high school, I had many black classmates but not any that I could call friends.  As I planned my 16th birthday party and made out a guest list my parents questioned me about each name they didn’t recognize.  “Now, just who is this Don Tharpe?” they asked.

“Oh,” I said proudly, “he is president of the senior class.”  More details were needed for their satisfaction and when they learned that he was black he was instantly nixed from my list.  I was hurt, humiliated and heartbroken.  This contradiction horribly surprised me.

The last time I checked up on Don Tharpe, he was receiving the 2005 Murray State University Distinguished Alumnus award as president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C.  I would love to shake his hand today.

As I recalled these memories during the last week, I could hardly imagine that there was hope for change in America on Election Day.

But now, I believe, that we can hold these truths self evident, that all men are created equal. We now must continue to pray for peace with liberty and justice for all.

the old Moon in the new Moon's arms photo on flickr by circulating / Iris Shreve Garrott - Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike

Who Will You Vote For?

So.  Just for a few moments.  Imagine you can see inside these homes.

Watch the elderly lady who lives alone waiting for a ride to her doctor’s appointment today.

See the child who struggles to make a good grade in school this year.

Worry about the family whose dad got laid off last month.

Rejoice with the mother of three who finally got her GED.

Wonder at the smiles on the faces of the teenage couple, just married, about to become parents next spring.

Photo slide-show by Kittie55 / Kittie McMillan © All rights reserved

Be fearful of the temptations of dependence, depression and thievery that haunt the safety and security of neighborhoods like these every week.

Please click on this amazing photo, shared on flickr by Kittie McMillan, for anothe view of the Shotgun Houses slide-show.

Imagine you can see the people inside these homes.

Then consider, if you will, how Election 2008 will truly affect them.  And finally, make sure you remember someone besides yourself when you vote on November 4.

I know that is what my daddy would have wanted me to do.

Video Your Vote in Kentucky, Just Not at Your Polling Place

Planning to video your vote for YouTube?  Or maybe you intend to participate in the Polling Place Photo Project at New York Times?  In Kentucky, state law forbids the use of recording equipment at the polls.   Kentucky’s legislature outlawed video recording or using cell phones or cameras in the voting places in 2005 to avoid intimidating other voters.

Kentucky folks can be a creative bunch.  Somehow, we can figure out how to photograph or video the vote, avoid intimidation and responsibly abide by the law.

For more information about voting in Kentucky, visit: www.vote.ky.gov, call: the State Board of Elections at (502) 573-7100 or email: Secretary of State Trey Grayson at SOS.Secretary@ky.gov

Jeffries Assures Faces of Poverty Not Forgotten

This is an image that I need to remember… this is a child who needs to be remembered even more.

The Forgotten by LJ. ©All rights reserved

Photographer Lee Jeffries, via flickr, allows me to share the pain of poverty that instigates my tears and promises prayers for grace on this face of our world.  Please visit his amazing flickr photostream to know more faces of poverty in our world.

For additional inspiration to care and ways to act on poverty please visit this list of bloggers for Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty.

Blog Action Day 2008

Blog Action Day is an annual non-profit event that asks bloggers to simultaneously discuss a single issue each year on October 15th. The aim of the event is to trigger widespread discussion around a global issue through niche-focused articles that appeal to their respective audiences. The event began in 2007 when a group of bloggers asked each other, “What would happen if …?” and then decided to find out.

13 of the world’s 100 most popular blogs according to Technorati.com have agreed to participate in Blog Action Day this year, including TechCrunch.com, Readwriteweb.com, Mashable.com, SmashingMagazine.com, Problogger.net, GigaOM.com, Copyblogger.com, ZenHabits.net, Inhabitat.com, VentureBeat.com, Mentalfloss.com, PronetAdvertising.com and TorrentFreak.com.

Corduroy Jump Starts Read for the Record

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record

Help bring national attention to the importance of early childhood education by making Jumpstart’s Read for the Record the largest shared reading experience ever.  You can make a difference just by reading with one child in your life.

Jumpstart is asking adults and children to support early education opportunities for all children by reading the official campaign book, Corduroy, together on October 2, 2008 to break the record for the largest shared reading experience ever, which was set by 258,000 people on September 20, 2007 during the 2nd year of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign.

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Learn more about the value of quality early education and acquire new tips on how to make the most of reading time with a young child.

Reading Resources – a variety of great early reading tools and links for parents and professionals.

Best Books – Jumpstart’s list of favorite books to spark a conversation with a young reader!

Corduroy Lesson Plan – Courtesy of Pearson and the Pearson Foundation

Paducah is a Winner for Quilters

The adventure for visitors from around the world and the hard work of the all those involved in putting on the AQS Quilt Show & Contest is drawing to a close. The enthusiasm, inspiration, hilarity, and sheer exhaustion of Quilt Week in Paducah, KY, however, is sure to linger long after the loose threads are swept up and the last crate of fabric is stowed.

True confession. I have lived in Quilt City USA® since June of 1985, two months after the Schroader’s very first show. This year, 2008, was my very first time to actually participate by going to the Expo.

What was I thinking? That I might absorb enough of the atmosphere just by experiencing the traffic created by daily scores of tour buses and the crowded restaurants full of hungry quilters? Could I really understand the attraction of all the thousands of women, and dozens of men, that show up by only observing their promenades on the city sidewalks downtown for an evening stroll?

I love what the quilt show does for Paducah, always have and always will. Our city takes on a whole new atmosphere with the opportunity to really share our true southern hospitality. Even the dogwood and azalea blossoms shout out, “We’re glad you’re here!” But for me, now, it is so much more real.

So many new flickr, facebook, and blog friends met; such exciting visuals of color, texture, and craft to savor; all true inspirations and opportunities I now understand are just waiting out there for me to explore a bit further.

Special thanks to Mary Hammond, Executive Director at the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau. You moved me forward. And thank you quilters! You brought me great JOY!

AQS Quilt Show Continues to Grow

Quilters continued to arrive in Paducah as the AQS Quilt Show & Contest entered the third day. Crowds seemed even larger today than during the past two days.

But then again, I have only been to the show in the afternoons since it has been a regular work week for me as well.

This morning dawned a beautiful day and the McCracken County Public Library garden captured this glorious view including a V.I.P. Charter tour bus. Quilters from Florida took time out from the show to take advantage of the library’s free internet and wireless access.

This afternoon many visitors took advantage of the final day for the AQS Collector Books backroom book sale. Deep discounts on discontinued titles as well as “hurt” books with minor wear and tear were still available to a flurry of hands that are more accustomed to making slow and painstaking quilt stitches. (photo right)

The AQS Book Fair, a new program this year, featured many favorite authors published by Collector Books. Paducah’s own Ro Morse participated with her new book, 100 Things to Enjoy in Historic Paducah, recently featured in Mary Thorsby’s ilist Paducah blog. (photo below)

Also featured at the Book Fair was quilter/author Judy Laquidara better known to her fans as Judy L. I will tell you more tomorrow about how fun it was meeting her today but in the meantime you can see more photos at Paducah Quilts and Quilters on flickr.

Paducah Quilt Week

For many, a trip through the Expo Center to view the AQS Quilt Contest Winners and browse the vendor booths may be a crowded and exciting experience…

but a stroll downtown in the evening allows everyone to relax and become part of Paducah’s friendly community…

The Pleasure of Meeting Calna

The AQS Quilt Show & Contest brought Calna McGoldrick from Ontario, Canada, to Paducah, Kentucky, and Facebook networking allowed her to meet new friends while visiting Quilt City USA® this week.

McGoldrick, selected as a Paducah Quilt Show semi-finalist for her landscape art quilt “Spring Time Wandering”, posted a question to the Canadian Quilters group on Facebook. Mary Hammond, Executive Director of the Paducah Convention & Tourist Bureau, noticed Calna’s inquiry as to whether there were other quilters traveling to Paducah who would want to meet at the Quilt Show.

Hammond shared her interest in meeting Calna with me and instantly we three began an online communication leading to face-to-face hugs and introductions today.

Calna visited with me at the McCracken County Public Library. Her warm greeting and gracious smile was only the beginning of a most enjoyable time spent getting to know each other.

Traveling with her 78 year old mother, Leone Orr, her sister, Pam Orchard, cousin Denise Watson, and friend Susan Neave, the adventurous group of women left home this past Sunday morning in a ‘98 van with the brake light glowing. After spending the first night in Dayton, Ohio, they arrived at a Kentucky Lake resort where they are camping for the week.

They enjoyed examining the quilts at the Expo Center this morning, but tomorrow they intend to “goof off” and try their hand at crappie fishing on Kentucky Lake. “I have my Kentucky Fishing License already!” she exclaimed.

The group will return to Paducah on Friday to shop and see more sights before leaving for home on Saturday.

Spring of Desire Wins AQS Best of Show

Ted Storm-van Weelden, of The Netherlands, is the creator of the 2008 AQS Quilt Contest Best of Show winner.

Her quilt, Spring of Desire, was also the 2007 Master Award for Traditional Artistry at the Winner’s Circle Celebration of the ‘Quilts: a World of Beauty’ exhibit at the International Quilt Festival 2007 in Houston, TX. Storm has been an international quilting instructor since 1988.

The 24th Annual Awards Presentation was held this evening at the beautiful Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center on the riverfront in Paducah, KY.