As Pastor Neil heads into retirement in June,
Kenny and Pastor Neil will examine his journey that brought him to the present and his gems of optimism for the road ahead.
Questions of the week:
-What's the music that spoke to you during your teen years?
-What do you think about the theory "culture of poverty"?
-What is a productive way to do the work in communities being from the outside?
-Who were those historical figures when you were a child that you looked up to?
-Where there any historical figures that you read about that made you question [things]?
Gems of the week:
-"On a spiritual level, [it's] about breaking through the barrier of the self."
-"Communication in the deepest sense is a breaching of the wall that holds each of us hostage behind our own eyes."
-"[The professor was a white guy.] [I told him] "this is not something like you understand." He said "I've worked in Latin America and worked with poor people."
I said "Look I don't think you can say - you have been personally damaged by the system,
you are a person who benefits from the system. I'm a person who has to confront the system in a different way and has in fact been assaulted in various ways - personal and political. I don't think you're qualified to argue with me about this."
-"[It] never works with those folks that come into any community with pre-conceptions to "what is going to be helpful." Even their efforts to solicit suggestions from others, from the people they want to help, doesn't work either because ultimately they are being condescending. Because in their hearts they do feel superior. They may deny to your face, they may deny it to their own mirror's reflection. The fact of the matter is
that they believe themselves in being superior. That will never allow them to actually give somebody else the opportunity to do something for themselves."
-"We spoke about it - so many things would be done effectively if there was no credit to give. You just do it."
-"More so than that what I loved about Malcolm [X] is that he wrote about
self-empowerment. There was that theme there. You don't need to beg. The point is to be empowered and have a sustainable living."
-"He's part of a national organizing group - Industrial Areas Foundation - they go to a community...they get people in the community & organize around leaders. The [leaders] pick specific issues that are significant to that community. Strategy involves giving people a taste of victory. You go over something small such as a speed bump near a school. If you get that, it's something you can celebrate. You try to cultivate leaders."
-"The organizer really really tries to stay in the backburner. His or her name is never used in any publicity releases. You really have to self effacing to do the work. There is something pretty spiritual about that. That takes a special type of person to make that his/her career."
-"It was something I believed in because I knew it was right not because I felt indoctrinated. I never rebelled against progressive ideas because I know they're right."
-"The struggle ends when the gratitude begins."
Honorable Mentions:
Tom Rush
Jimi Hendrix - Freedom
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
2pac - Changes
Autobiography of Malcolm X
Walter Isaacson
Woody Guthrie
