I love diversity and I love experiencing the culture of other groups and other communities. I guess that's why I spent nearly two decades trying to bring those experiences to children each spring during our Spring Arts Festival. As an Army brat, perhaps it was my early exposure to diversity that led me to want to try to expose my own child and my own community to this beautiful world of color.
Looking back on it, I am still astonished at the resistence our festival committee experienced when trying to bring people from other cultures and traditions to Minden. I remember the year we brought the Houma Nation to Minden to celebrate Native Americans. We had gotten word that one of the churches in town was planning to boycott the festival. We were going to honor the tribe's arrival with a community totem pole with colorful blocks created by area school children that included special messages. We took the news in stride and decided that we would make this a teachable moment not only for the children but for adults as well. I guess it worked. There was no boycott after all.
And I remember the year that we decided to celebrate China. With the olympics to be held that same year, we thought it would be a great idea to honor their country. We invited the Shreveport Chinese Society to share their art and culture with us. They brought beautiful pieces of original Chinese art to the Farm for all to enjoy. I think the most impressive event was when one of our Chinese guests created special calligraphy hangings for festival goers. It was one of the brightest and most colorful festivals we had ever had. We ordered original Chinese costumes from China for many of the children to wear for our mini parade. We had created painted banners bearing special words in Chinese for the children to carry during the parade. We had a young Chinese exchange student sing a Chinese song on stage that brought the crowd to tears. It was a moment when you didn't have to know what the words were to understand the significance and the meaning.
The controversy this time didn't come from our community. It came from the Chinese Society. We shared with them the many photographs we had taken of their visit in Minden. And among the photos was one of a young girl holding one of the banners that read "Liberty" in Chinese. We had taken the suggestion of these painted banners from a page out of a boy scout manual. Unfortunately, our guests thought that we were involved in a conspiracy to disgrace them in their homeland. We did manage to meet with them and reassure them that everything we did was honorable and certainly not meant to harm them in any way. We were very apologetic. We did manage to smooth things over with them, thank goodness.
We have in our backyard another culture that deserves our respect and attention. And that is of our African American neighbors. My own life experiences have colored my world with such wonderful memories. From Arley James to Mr. Moore to the Thornton sisters, their friendships have given me such joy. And during this Black History Month celebration I honor their memories and their friendships. And I hope that we can continue to keep our minds and hearts open to experiencing and understanding the cultures and traditions of others even our own.
With all the turmoil and unrest on our planet today, I think its going to take more sensitivity, respect and understanding to get us through these tough times. Our cultures and traditions may be different. Our skin may be different. Our religions and politics may be different. But we are all still part of the same race....the human race!
There is color in my world, I hope there is color in yours!
Looking back on it, I am still astonished at the resistence our festival committee experienced when trying to bring people from other cultures and traditions to Minden. I remember the year we brought the Houma Nation to Minden to celebrate Native Americans. We had gotten word that one of the churches in town was planning to boycott the festival. We were going to honor the tribe's arrival with a community totem pole with colorful blocks created by area school children that included special messages. We took the news in stride and decided that we would make this a teachable moment not only for the children but for adults as well. I guess it worked. There was no boycott after all.
The controversy this time didn't come from our community. It came from the Chinese Society. We shared with them the many photographs we had taken of their visit in Minden. And among the photos was one of a young girl holding one of the banners that read "Liberty" in Chinese. We had taken the suggestion of these painted banners from a page out of a boy scout manual. Unfortunately, our guests thought that we were involved in a conspiracy to disgrace them in their homeland. We did manage to meet with them and reassure them that everything we did was honorable and certainly not meant to harm them in any way. We were very apologetic. We did manage to smooth things over with them, thank goodness.
We have in our backyard another culture that deserves our respect and attention. And that is of our African American neighbors. My own life experiences have colored my world with such wonderful memories. From Arley James to Mr. Moore to the Thornton sisters, their friendships have given me such joy. And during this Black History Month celebration I honor their memories and their friendships. And I hope that we can continue to keep our minds and hearts open to experiencing and understanding the cultures and traditions of others even our own.
With all the turmoil and unrest on our planet today, I think its going to take more sensitivity, respect and understanding to get us through these tough times. Our cultures and traditions may be different. Our skin may be different. Our religions and politics may be different. But we are all still part of the same race....the human race!
There is color in my world, I hope there is color in yours!
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