I'm not one of those television-hating people. I watch tv, and I absolutely enjoy shitty television as much as the next red blooded Amerikan. Certainly, I don't plan on planting my newborn in front of costumed singing televised dinosaurs for the first 12 years of its life, but I sure do love some Real Housewives hot drama....
However, as has been brought to my attention by numerous Wealthy Gays of My City, I have broken some cardinal rule of homosexuality by hosting a major nonprofit fundraiser on.... OSCAR NIGHT! Yes, it is true. My fancy-pants fundraiser, complete with burlesque, drag, free adult beverages, tons of food (including veg and vegan), and various other forms of merriment is on the sacred eve known as OSCAR NIGHT. By telephone, e-mail, facebook, and to my face, these Wealthy Gay of My City regret to inform me that they will be unable to attend this fundraising event because they "are going to stay home and watch THE OSCARS."
WTF? W.T.F. The vast majority of folks who are in the income bracket to afford tickets to this event certainly have DVR at home. If not, we are fortunate enough to live in a digital age in a digital country in which THE OSCARS will be available at the tips of our fingers on the interweb. Damn, folks could probably even watch THE OSCARS live! on their iPhones!
But, no, no... it appears the flashing lights of the Idiot Box are far more important that interacting with real live human people and helping to raise money to ensure our human rights. Do you truly want me to help protect your right to work or win the right for you to marry? Then, stop watching t.v. and attend (and/or fund) the revolution... it will not be televised on OSCAR NIGHT.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
I Am 1 of 100,000
I signed up to be "1 of 100,000" (www.be1kc.org), a Campaign to get 100,000 adults invested in the lives of students in the Kansas City, Missouri public school district. The Campaign believes, that based on research, every child, including the 20,000 in KCMO schools, need 5 personal, caring relationships with adults to succeed in school and life. The Kansas City, MO school district has been plagued in recent years with all sorts of problems- budget shortfalls, a revolving door of superintendents, discord between teachers and the Board of Education, "failing" schools, violence, etc, etc. Much like in Atlanta, many white families and families-of-wealth send their children to private school in order to avoid the "terrible" public schools. This new campaign, envisioned and initiated by an amazing community organizer and school board member, aims to create relationships between students and adults in the community. This goal of this campaign is not only to support our young scholars and help them succeed, but also to build a critical mass of adult community members invested in the success of our school district. There are a variety of pre-established programs one can sign up with to mentor a student directly in the school.
Today I met my mentoree. I won't write much about her here, as I of course want to protect her privacy. However, it was fantastic! All week long I've been exclaiming to my household, "I'm soo excited to meet my MentorFriend!" I was a little bit nervous meeting my mentoree for the first time. Would we connect? Would she like me? Would she want to engage with me or was she signed up for the program because someone made her? What would be talk about? I had all the same worries and curiosities as if I was back in middle-school!
When I arrived at her school today, the Mentor Coordinator told me my Mentoree had been asking for a MentorFriend for months and was excited to meet me. We sat down for lunch together, and all my worries were put aside. She chatted nearly non-stop. Her family is very central in her life, so we talked about both having large families and missing our family members who live far away. She is incredibly thoughtful, friendly and talkative, and our half our lunch flew by. As I was getting ready to leave, she asked me several times if I would be coming back next week. Of course I will be coming back! I've made a commitment to you, and I'm in it for the long haul.
It's a simple thing to do- to sign-up to be a mentor. I look forward to getting to know this young woman better and learning what she has to teach, listening to what she has to say. And I'm thrilled to be able to say, I am 1 of 100,00!
Today I met my mentoree. I won't write much about her here, as I of course want to protect her privacy. However, it was fantastic! All week long I've been exclaiming to my household, "I'm soo excited to meet my MentorFriend!" I was a little bit nervous meeting my mentoree for the first time. Would we connect? Would she like me? Would she want to engage with me or was she signed up for the program because someone made her? What would be talk about? I had all the same worries and curiosities as if I was back in middle-school!
When I arrived at her school today, the Mentor Coordinator told me my Mentoree had been asking for a MentorFriend for months and was excited to meet me. We sat down for lunch together, and all my worries were put aside. She chatted nearly non-stop. Her family is very central in her life, so we talked about both having large families and missing our family members who live far away. She is incredibly thoughtful, friendly and talkative, and our half our lunch flew by. As I was getting ready to leave, she asked me several times if I would be coming back next week. Of course I will be coming back! I've made a commitment to you, and I'm in it for the long haul.
It's a simple thing to do- to sign-up to be a mentor. I look forward to getting to know this young woman better and learning what she has to teach, listening to what she has to say. And I'm thrilled to be able to say, I am 1 of 100,00!
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