CETA 2020: Our first 2 emojis (of hundreds)

CETA 2020: Our first 2 emojis (of hundreds)
Created January 6, 2020

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Questions & Comments for our conversation with Merlene Rodgers on Wed, Feb 13

After reading the 4 articles sent to us by our next visitor, please write a paragraph-long question or comment based on one or more of them.
Posted by at

9 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 12, 2019 at 5:29 AM

    The article I chose to comment on was by Merlene Davis: The Lyric is what community feels like. I’ve been welcomed into The Lyric quite a few times. My first time was in elementary school, I can’t remember what for but it was inspiring seeing people like me host a successful event. I’ve also performed there during The Roots, and the crowd was very diverse. The Lyric has a unique sense to it. You don’t feel intimidated but welcomed and you feel like you belong. Once you experience it feels like home.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EmilyFebruary 12, 2019 at 7:40 PM

    A clear recurring theme through the articles was the importance of community. I myself am excited for retirement to be able to do things like the Eldercrafters (it sounds so fun!). The things they do benefit themselves as a community, giving them people to rely on and convene with, but it also benefits the greater community around them. My question is kind of big, but as someone who wants to go into politics, how can I ensure whatever group of people I serve has space to create community? I don't think it can be formulated by some people sitting in an office apart from the community itself, but it seems so obvious to me these little communities like the Eldercrafters and the Lyric and the Charles Young have so many benefits for so many people they touch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2019 at 4:11 PM

      This is an interesting question. When I read about the Eldercrafters, my first reaction was to feel irritated that people had used so much time weaving blankets and pillows that they could have just bought more efficiently. But then I realized that was goofy - making something for somebody conveys love. Buying someone a plain black sleeping bag from Walmart, even if you attach a nice note, does not convey love, but pity.

      Maybe this is part of an answer to your question - that the way to create community is to treat people like they really, really matter.

      Delete
  3. Kremena TodorovaFebruary 12, 2019 at 9:11 PM

    Both the article about the renovated Lyric Theater and the one about the grand reopening of Charles Young Center detail aspects of local African American history that are amazing and impressive. For example, Rodgers writes that Charles Young Center was “named for Mays Lick native Col. Charles Young, who was the third African-American to graduate from West Point, the first to attain the rank of colonel, and the highest-ranking black officer in the military at the time of his death in 1922. Young died in Africa, where he served as an attaché. His body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery a year later, and his eulogy was delivered by author and civil rights leader W.E.B. DuBois.” I am curious if there was information Rodgers learned that she knew she couldn’t include in her Herald-Leader articles. Conversely, did people often talk to her about the articles she published and about the light they shed on the lives of African Americans? Reading these two pieces, I kept thinking that there must be so much more to Lexington’s history—specifically African American history—that I am unaware of, that I would really like to know much more about it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marissa PriceFebruary 13, 2019 at 10:32 AM

    I, too, noticed the theme of community, and I found it interesting that the Lyric had once been renovated and that it helped contribute to the community. I was also particularly interested in the one about the Eldercrafters. I believe getting people together to work on crafts is already a really great thing to do for a community, but I love the added layer that they were working on sleeping mats for the homeless, furthering their ability to give back to their community.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2019 at 12:06 PM

    It's clear to me from the from the articles Rodgers has written that she has been an active member and faithful reporter for East End for several years. The reopening of the Lyric Theater and the Charles Young Center, as well as groups like the Eldercrafters, appears to have bolstered the community's spirits. I'm curious as to what ways she has seen the East End community change throughout her time as a reporter, and even after she retired?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2019 at 1:16 PM

    I love the idea of retired women coming together and doing good things for the community. They are having fun doing it as well as helping others. I think this is empowering the see because they are all older and aren't as able to do some of these things due to arthritis, yet they are pushing through and doing them. It is inspiring how much they care about the community.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2019 at 4:23 PM

    My experience with (student) journalism was very frustrating; I felt often that my perspective as a queer trans woman was pushed aside in favor of "objectivity," which really meant ignoring issues privilege and power, treating perspectives as morally equivalent that weren't. Although Mrs. Davis was a columnist, I wonder if she feels that the Herald-Leader's news department's coverage of local issues is fair to marginalized groups, and whether what issues the newspaper covers reflect the priorities of everyone in the city.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)