One thing is for sure. Our children are precious. They are worth the ups and downs of communication gone wrong, hours missing them, worrying about them, worrying with them....what would have become for me if my mother and my grandmother had worked so very, very hard to make sure I had a warm, safe place to live, food to eat, and a loving shoulder for me to rest my weary head on day after day.
Our children are precious and I am privileged day after day to see teachers, staff persons, and moms and dads and uncles and aunts and grandpops and grandmoms and alumni and alumnae and women and men come out for games and plays and community service events...and quietly working as volunteers in the mailroom, on the school phones...all doing what they can to make Bellarmine High School a wonderful place to grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
Here, like at other private and public schools, love roars like a lion
Saturday, April 15, folks are coming together in Bellarmine's new gymnasium to enjoy each other's company and to bid on so many beautiful articles donated by families and friends who not only say that they love our children but choose to share their resources to support Bellarmine's administrators, teachers, staff, and volunteers continue to provide loving service to our wonderful young people.
Check out the decorations on the head table.
Check out some of the articles donated for the auction.
Here comes Bellarmine Prep's new gymnasium. Chilly grey days or too hot to stand it sunny days and the workers are out there, and they are getting that building up! I find myself thinking of various moments in our lives... learning mathematics, a second language, how to pass and shoot and defend, playing a musical instrument well, growing closer to other folks, taking over responsibility for our own lives, loving ourselves... Hard, hard work, and when we get it together, beautiful, just beautiful.
Me... I am doing ok with this growing up stuff... and I am happy to say that I know that without my mother and grandmother, my teachers, my friends, and my God... I would not be ready to put these words together. I remember back in the seventies a friend summing up the Black male experience in America in this fashion... "most of the black men I know are in jail, the military, or dead..." And we have got a lot to do to help a whole lot of work to do to support our young Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow sisters and brothers get pass the recession/energy consuming days ahead...
Words are not going to do it... it's that thinking and trusting and working together that is going to make of "our old world a new world." (Dr. Martin Luther King)
I am glad I have a chance with my brothers and sisters to build strong and high and beautiful that new world.
Five fifteen in the afternoon at Bellarmine... quiet and dark now, with raindrops quietly washing away the hustle and bustle of the day. Now, prophetically, the Christmas tree promises safety and warmth and laughter and gifts of love as Christmas day comes one day closer.
Lots of laughter, tasty food, friends and families coming together comforting each other,filling each other's sometimes empty, at times hurt and lost bodies and souls with each other's sweet, sweet presence.
Encouraging each other to consider, reflect upon, and accept that following the way of light leads to peace and joy
Lots of hustle and bustle around Bellarmine these days. It's Homecoming Week. And I am enjoying seeing students and teachers setting inhibitions aside and letting their creative juices flow. The theme is Candyland.
When I asked this wonderful young lady to tell us what Homecoming means to her,she did not even blink before saying yes.
Summer time... I remember many a lazy teenage summer... nothing to do but get under my grandmother's feet, watch television, or go to a movie. The good old days... hah! When I got to college I put in some serious, sweat filled, muscle straining hours helping with college tuition. If I were working for the wages I made back in THE DAY... I would never darken the doors of any private liberal arts college, that is for sure. Some of the young folks at Bellarmine High School are plugging away at bringing the cost for their education down... doing work study jobs during the summer... and one of the more visible ways I see teens making a difference here are out in our gardens... Good for them.
And one of the gifts they have is their supervisor, Rick K... (who teaches on the side during the school year.) I had a chance to chat with him the other day. Here is a video of our wonderful discussion. Thanks Rick!
WHY? Back in 1968-1969 times were scary on the Hilltop and that's when I got my first lessons in being frequently under attack... because I was black. I kid you not. I who knew nothing (that's .0000000 to infinity)about civil rights/open housing/interracial dating/guns and drugs and corruption... found myself way, way over my head.
I remember one time coming to a meeting of the Human Rights Commission and watching one of the folks from a local station that loved to label folks Commies and revolutionaries who needed to either start loving their country or going back where they came from was putting various bits of broadcasting paraphenalia away. As he bent over, his suit coat raised up just high enough for me to focus in on a big, black pistol he had in his back pocket.
Believe me, by the time I got ready to move on for future studies, I had gotten labeled "troublemaker," "Commie," (to this very hour I really don't get what Karl Marx was trying to say... more than that, I never read more than three pages of anything he wrote, so I am not about to get in a big critique of Marxism, Sputnik, Kruscheov, "tear these walls down," or Putin ) by that radio station.
And the principal of Bellarmine at that time, my friend, Justin Seipp, let me listen to a blistering afternoon phone call as some man I did not know went on and on about how I should not be permitted to teach one more class and should be fired immediately... So, here in Tacoma, because of my love for the people of Hilltop, I got my first lesson in the old proverb, "if you're black, get back."
Tuesday I decided to take a late morning walk on the Top and this is what I saw: The creativity of this wonderful garden, the various items there just held my attention
And I wondered about the laughter and sadness, the dreams crushed and the hopes fullfilled that had been experienced by the people who took time to welcome others into their world with this garden.
The power of the faithful who, day after day, came to this church, to give praise to God together.
One of the great sadnesses of so many urban churches are the number of funerals of young people who have been cruelly killed take place each year. I caught myself recalling moments of wonder and awe and sorrow I had experienced in different churches over the years. I am so thankful for the sincere hard working women and men who keep keeping on.
I recalled the welcoming smiles and the wonderful dishes I had seen the last time I came to this vegetarian restaurant.
I found myself hoping that the restaurant was daily crowded to overflowing by hungry people. Restaurant business is one tough work and the only way one succeeds in it is by cheerfully and consistently supporting people in feeling accepted and respected.
Any of you know Mr. Tom Dixon? He and Justin Seipp are two of the people who got me through 68-69. Justin kept inviting me to come and spend time with his friends... cool, cool, determined people who wanted to make Tacoma a loving place for everyone.
Tom freed me up when he was director of the Urban League-- gave me a notebook and a pin and told me to go knock on doors and ask people what they needed
Thank you Justin; thank you Tom...
Then I decided to just stand on the corner of one of the busy streets there and let things happen. It was a bright, chilly morning... I was shivering and smiling and laughing and crying and thanking God for all the people who helped me to grow during my first hard years walking the streets of Hilltop...
I shall come here again and again. This is a good place for me and so many other people to just be ourselves. I hope you find some time to wander the Hilltop. Lots of good people here, who would welcome you to their churches, their shops, and hopefully, into their lives..
Ah... Martin King and 15th on a chilly spring day... JUST ABSOLUTELY LOVELY
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Our regulars
Stephanie Frieze …has always liked to write. Her experience includes three years at the University Washington School of Communications studying journalism. She had a stint at the Chinook Observer in Long Beach. Raised in Bellevue, she’s lived in Gig Harbor for nearly 18 years. She and her husband have a home in Ilwaco, where they spend as much time as possible. This mother of four loves books, spending time with family and the color purple. Contact her at dbandstefery@comcast.net.
Lorraine Hart …was born a nomadic mutt. She spent her life observing, writing and making music. She’s an unabashed carrier of the titles “hippie,” “feminist” and “liberal.” She’s resided in the South Sound since 1996 and is currently living above Joe’s Bay in Home. She juggles her time between being a caregiver, a writer, an artist, a musician, a minister, a wife, a mother, an advocate, a friend and a pilgrim – not necessarily in that order. Contact her at matlox@cablespeed.com.
Jaynie Jones …is a Tacoma resident with diverse career tracks in broadcasting, journalism, teaching, health care, desktop publishing, floral design, special event planning and photography. She’s best known as long-time KOMO radio personality Jaynie Dillon and was once a familiar voice on Tacoma stations KTAC, KBRD-FM, KTNT and KNBQ-FM. Formerly a resident of Tacoma’s East Side, she’s volunteered in the Eastside Substation and with Safe Streets. Contact her at jaynie.jones@gmail.com .
Tracy Lebenzon ...is a blog contributor from Greenwater. Greenwater is the last stop before Crystal Mountain, Mount Rainier and the surrounding wilderness areas. When not exploring the next mountain peak or forest trail, Tracy also contributes to the Greenwater Community Council and the Explore-Greenwater.com web site. He writes about topics ranging from favorite foot, bike, and snow trails to community events, local merchants and politics. Contact him at dmountains@explore-greenwater.com.
Joseph McGowan …is a chaplain who supports patients, families, friends, nurses and doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Being 67, he’s learned this about living: Meet people on their own ground and you will discover that this Earth is our special place to meet and support each other. His motto: Live now. Share yourself now. Every living thing you experience is a pure gift. Love all life unconditionally. Contact him at mcg9940@yahoo.com.
Mizu Sugimura …is a third-generation Japanese American living in Federal Way. She’s married and a parent of one adult child. A lifelong resident of the Puget Sound area, she graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Washington School of Communications. and served on Federal Way’s Diversity and Art Commissions. Her interests are politics, art, the history of minorities in Washington and family history. She’s written a self-published family history about her paternal grandfather. Contact her at mizusugi@yahoo.com.
Kim Thompson …is a Grit City native who was born and raised in Tacoma’s Old Town neighborhood by the gulch. She boasts that she’s a former Lowell Leopard, Mason Mustang and Wilson Ram, a short-time PLU Lute and a longtime UW Husky. This former corporate businesswoman is a wife, a mom, a school volunteer, a substitute teaching assistant, a writer and a born-again distance runner. She has convinced friends from Bellevue that Tacoma is worth the drive. Contact her at kimricksy@comcast.net.
ugi@yahoo.com.
