CivicActions

We've risen and breakfasted and are starting the offsite now. I'll probably post later about my epic trip to New Orleans from Oakland yesterday (short version - "Don't Ever Fly American Airlines"). There are 16 of here this morning (2 more arriving later today) and we've split into work groups and are working on upgrading our website.

We made the decision to come to New Orleans because it just seemed right. I think that the minimum will be that we get to see for ourselves what is (and is not) happening here and communicate that back to our families, friends and communities. I'm tired now - so the prospect of touring around seems a little - much - but I'm sure I'll rally later on.

One thing I realized this morning is that I've actually been immersed in the South for the last couple of weeks. I've been reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is a biography of Lincoln focussing on his political history. I'm blown away by the story, the history and Kearns ability to pull it all together. I don't think I've spent much time thinking and reading about this period in American history since the 7th grade. I had some pretty well established conceptions about this period and the political motivations of the folks in the North and South at this time. Very black and white if you will. While Kearns is clearly points out the various shades of grey that surround the events leading up to the Civil War, she is also clearly pointing out the committment, vision and moral perspective of the politicians of the day. In a sea of giants Lincoln stands out as almost a different species. Many of the great figures of the day argued passionately about the moral responsibility of citizens to challenge slavery. Lincoln did as well but he also articulated that the white people of the North and South were no different morally and that if the Southeners lived in the North and the Northerners in the South - we would have been in exactly the same sitution.

I'm also reading Huckleberry Finn to my son. Since I never read it in school it is a double treat. It brings home slowly but powerfully the mindset, effect and human elements surrounding Slavery - but in a larger context of human experience that trancends that particular time and place. Huck and Jim float down the river, moving through a timeless, fog bound landscape from one moral adventure to another.

This morning as we started our fifth offsite I was struck by the journey we are on together. Moving through a landscape we have never seen before, not quite sure of what the day will bring. I'm not sure how all of this fits - but Twain seems to be saying that is ok. Somehow I've been transported to the South - and I expect I'll figure out why later.