![I thought I'd use this day to read more Martin Luther King speeches, look at some things that aren't so commonly read. Quotes are one thing, but it is nice to read the wholeness of something. The Give Us the Ballot speech has some complexities. It has an optimism towards voting rights that could be read as too optimistic, or a provide a profound reason why voter suppression is so savage and severe. To get the vote turns out to be more complex than saying folks have a thing, there's a whole lot of machinery of government and culture that can work to support or suppress true democracy. The Give Us the Ballot speech is probably not quoted as much because it has an uncomplicated anti-communism statement from someone who had a complicated relationship with the term and faced savage investigation because of the term. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute has some interesting analysis about that. This quote touches so powerfully on a need, still owing, over 50 years later. And when I read the final paragraph of this speech I am reminded about how so many Black voters in the USA are to be thanked for helping get Trump out of Office and changing the balance of power in the Senate. Martin Luther King's praise seems quite fitting when he speaks of the good that can come from Black voters: Keep moving amid every mountain of opposition. (Yes sir, Yeah) If you will do that with dignity (Say it), when the history books are written in the future, the historians will have to look back and say, “There lived a great people. (Yes sir, Yes) A people with ‘fleecy locks and black complexion,’ but a people who injected new meaning into the veins of civilization (Yes); a people which stood up with dignity and honor and saved Western civilization in her darkest hour (Yes); a people that gave new integrity and a new dimension of love to our civilization.” Transcript: [We are] pleading with the president and members of Congress to provide a strong, moral, and courageous leadership for a situation that cannot permanently be evaded.. civil rights issue is not an ephemeral, evanescent domestic issue that can be kicked about by reactionary guardians of the status quo. -Give us the Ballot May 17 1957 Thanks to all my patrons and a special big extra thanks to Kate Webb, Erik Owomoyela and Sandra M. Odell.](https://www.thingswithout.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/657_MLK_lowres-1-150x150.jpg)
Every month I try to make it to Jessica Abel’s Simplify to Amplify Round Table. It’s a great free coaching call she does to help creative folks achieve their goals AND have happy, balanced lives. I’ve done free and paid courses with her and have always gotten something useful and unexpected out of it. The December call helped me remember stuff from my Creative Focus Toolkit, but more importantly it reminded me that art is a thing I turn up to do. It’s part of who I am as a person.
I’ve been working pretty hard on Ngombor, because I am my father’s daughter and I don’t do things by halves. Ngombor Community Development Alliance was formed to create an empowered and prosperous community in Nebbi, in Northwest Uganda, and is a fantastic permaculture model farm, IT skills hub, and social community. It builds on a 20 year friendship between Vincent Ulargiw and my dad and is a testament to how friendship, empowerment, and sticking around are powerful things.
Friendship really is magic and can create a continuity of support that doesn’t depend on what job or posting I have. It is a lovely thing to be able to help a community, to be a bit of extended family to amazing community builders in Uganda. It’s nice to be able to draw on my experience in the non-profit sector, draw on all the stories I’ve heard from my various aunties and uncles who create change, but sometimes it does mean I forget myself creatively. As you can see, even now I get distracted talking about Ngombor. Where was I?
Right. After the coaching call, I thought yes, drawing is part of who I am, even if my agent never buys my book, even if I’m doing my career all the wrong way and upside down. So I sat down to draw something social and joyful and this emerged. I scribbled the first draft in ballpoint pen in dim lighting and I just love the expression that comes with that.
Thanks to all my patrons and a special big extra thanks to Kate Webb, Erik Owomoyela, Stuart Barrow, Jesse the K, Brian Fies, Jay Hedtke and Xander Odell.
Ngombor has a fundraiser that ends on the 15th if you want to chip in and help awesome people do awesome things.
Good things,
Liz
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