IC What's Up!

JANUARY 2021
THIS MONTH
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OTT on Poverty and Living Wage
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IncluCity gets a glow up for 2021
UPCOMING
Feb 23 - Omaha Table Talk on Reparations
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IncluCity goes virtual for the first time!
AWARENESS
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Virtual Events:
January 18


January 28
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January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
WORDS FROM MAGGIE WOOD
How do we call upon our courage?
Happy New-ish Year. I thought we said goodbye to 2020, instead it kinda feels like we're somewhere around December 439th 2020. A lot has happened in such a short time.

A leadership lesson I’ve learned is that we owe it to ourselves and our fellow people to summon the courage to be held accountable and to hold others accountable. Furthermore, how do we summon that courage everyday? Also, how do we hold ourselves and our friends accountable in a way that sparks positive lasting change? How do we address the scale of disruption that has provided us with a glaring opportunity to push for equity in our polarized society? 

The attempted coup by armed rioters at the Capitol on January 6th was an affront to the democratic ideals of our nation. And when we bring that down from the lofty level of patriotism and ideology, to the level of our psyches, our humanity, and our base sense of identity as a people, it is a wound to us all. We have all suffered this wound of white supremacy, this trauma of seeing those events unfold in real time, and feeling that vulnerability.

In this moment though, we also see brave people coming to the forefront. We see the heroes of the day who led the congresspeople to safety. The journalists who remained in the fray to report what they were seeing. The aides and staffers who barricaded themselves into offices and quite possibly rewrote the speeches for their congresspeople while fearing for their lives. And then we see how our elected officials returned to the desecrated chamber to continue the business of the people and to uphold their duty to us all.

Martin Luther King Jr. talks about this kind of courage, and his wisdom remains glaringly relevant as we pick up the pieces from that day and persevere:

“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience ask the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”
YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE...OUR VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR
Our virtual book tour is coming up this Saturday!! That's January 23, 2021 at 5:45pm.

We'll be celebrating Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar's new release You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism.

You might recognize Amber from the Late Night with Seth Meyers show or her own show that recently premiered on Peacock. Her sister Lacey lives here in Omaha and all her stories relate to her experiences right here. They're just as horrifying as they are hilariously told.

There's still time to get tickets, and some ticket options even come with a copy of the book supplied by The Bookworm and a snack and drink provided by the Naughty Buddha Burger Bar.

The Zoom link for entry will be sent via email one hour before start time.
Next Up on Omaha Table Talk

February 23, 2021 at 6:00 pm CST. Don't miss our discussion on Reparations with:

  • A'Jamal Byndon
  • Colette Yellow Robe
  • Paul Feilmann

The discussion will be moderated by Barry Thomas.
Previously on Omaha Table Talk
Omaha Table Talk | Poverty, Living Wage
We Need Your Help!
This year we'll be modernizing the Inclusive Communities website. We'd love to hear the ways that you think we can improve to make it easier for you to find the information that you need in a layout that you like. Please complete the brief survey to let us know your thoughts.
NewYear, New Look
We gave our IncluCity logo a glow up for the new year and we're super excited about it. Jonah Hill screaming gif excited, Shaq shaking his shoulders excited. Yeah...that excited.

We're also excited for our first virtual camp that's coming up in February. And while we look forward to bringing back in-person camps when we can do it safely, we know that this will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with new delegates and see some of our awesome volunteers again.
Shoutout to Leni + Lou
The awesome folks over at Leni + Lou surprised us by running a promotion on their "Love Everyone" tee that directs a portion of the proceeds to Inclusive Communities.

Leni + Lou is an Elkhorn based clothing store that offers "clothes that do good." They offer custom items made locally and always direct a part of their sales to community organizations.

We're honored to be recognized for this promotion.
INCLUThink
Dangerously Unselfish (Letting go of the soda can)
By Cammy Watkins

I was recently listening to this podcast called "White Picket Fences" sent to me by my friend Naomi. As I listened to this final episode I had this revelation. We have to let go of something so we can gain something else. I envisioned this to be like the hand stuck in the fence to get the Soda Can. You can't get your hand out while you continue to hold onto the Can. But the reluctance to let go comes from the belief that you lose that temporary joy you were seeking. In holding on, you are stuck. You cannot move forward or backward you are just stuck holding a Can. A Can you cannot use. So why not let go? Let go of the Can. Let go of the idea that this is the only option. Let go and free yourself from the immobility of clinging to an idea, that has never really materialized actual success.

Yes, letting go will feel like failure, but failure is not an ending. Failure is an opportunity to start over to do something different and perhaps better. And yes, you may not know when or where you will find that next Can, but you do know it exists. And the moment you stop just seeking to fulfill your own thirst, but instead practice what MLK said in his Mountain top speech "Dangerous Unselfishness" and take the leap to try and fulfill everyone's thirst -- only then will you experience what it means to thrive. Surviving isn't thriving, it's just staying alive. Too many of us have just been staying alive or surviving. We all deserve to thrive and the only way any of us can thrive is if we all do.

When I hear people comment that a focus on equity and inclusion is nice, but will not address the "real" or "practical" issues, I know it is because these individuals are still holding a Can. They are still existing under the illusion that prosperity and poverty are not linked, that taxes and people are separate entities. We for far too long have relegated our belief sets to the idea that the "bad" is in no way connected to the "good." This is simply not so. As Matthew Desmond so beautifully detailed in his recent book, poverty is in a relationship with wealth. The two are not separate, but are inextricably connected. We cannot address poverty without also addressing the development of wealth. And we will not be able to even start having real conversations about either until we let go of the notion that we can maintain our current caste system of supremacy AND eliminate racial disparities or other inequities. We can not have both, we either maintain our caste system in America or we let go of the Can and get up and really start the work of building equity.

We as a community have been stuck. Stuck in a holding pattern in which maintaining the comfort of whiteness (and the status quo) has not allowed us to be better. We fear what change will bring and we fear the discomfort of letting go. I cannot say why that fear often is tacked to people that look like me. That is a question you have to answer for yourself. Why do we fear the "other?" More importantly, why do we fear the "other's" power?

I often say we or us or all and when I say we I mean WE, that's you, me, them, all of us. I don't see a need for the constructed hierarchies or caste systems we've been trained to accept. I choose to see the world through the lens of abundance. The current systems we live (not thrive) in have taught us to look through a lens of scarcity if we are of a certain caste. We don't have to continue to do this. We can change these systems we just have to be brave enough to let go of the Can. Radical change doesn't have to mean a recycling of the old ways to just a new thing that sucks the same way but looks different. It can also mean deconstructing something that only worked for a few and reconstructing it into something that works for all of us. We have to get real and acknowledge that ALL hasn't always meant ALL, but it can. Only if we are willing to stop being afraid, let go of the Can, get up and become dangerously unselfish.

If you wish to listen to the Podcast that inspired this blog check it out here.
Cammy Watkins, Deputy Director at Inclusive Communities
Inclusive Communities | 6400 University Drive N, CEC 122, Omaha, Nebraska 68182-0868 | www.inclusive-communities.org