That’s What I Like…

…About You

You really know how to dance. When you go up, down, jump around, think about true romance. Yeah. For those of you too young to remember the Romantics song from 1980, you can check it out here. You’re welcome! You know you will be singing it for the rest of the day.

Today I thought I would share some of the things I discovered that I am really liking. (Disclaimer: none of these items have sponsored me. This is just me sharing some really cool things with you.)

As a blogger, I am a fair writer, but a terrible photographer. In an effort to improve my photography skills, I am taking on a year-long photography challenge. Dogwood 52 Week Photography Challenge provides aspiring photographers a new assignment each week, which are posted to a Facebook page, here. The weekly assignments and information about the challenge can be viewed here.

The first assignment was to take a photo representing the real you without showing your face. The second, my attempt is shown above, was to show motion in the photo using the Rule of Thirds (Google it if you don’t know it).

I am in the process of joining a Facebook group called Be the Bridge to Racial Unity. The goal of the group is to form a “community of people who share a common goal of creating healthy dialogue about race and racialization in the U.S., with an emphasis on promoting understanding about racial disparities and injustices.”

Unlike most FB groups, joining this group is a months-long procedure. You can submit a request to join and be admitted to the group on a three-month trial basis. During those three months, you have some homework to do. There are articles to read, videos to view, podcasts to listen to, and rules to familiarize yourself with. You are not allowed to post or comment during those three provisional months, but you may “like” others’ posts.

At the end of the three months, each applicant is equipped to be an ambassador of racial reconciliation in their community. The group is predicated on the premise of the sentiment expressed in 1 Corinthians 12: 12. “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” This topic is vitally important in America today.

A few months ago, I listened to a program on NPR’s Fresh Air that featured an interview by Terry Gross, the host of the program, with Derek Black, a former white nationalist. Eli Saslow, a reporter at the Washington Post wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rising Out of Hatred about Derek’s remarkable story.

The interview was captivating and I meant to buy the book, but life happened and I forgot. Fast-forward to Christmas Day. When I opened a present from my son and daughter-in-law, it was the book I had been meaning to get for myself.

This captivating book, which I read in a few days, follows the life of Derek Black, son of the founder of the website Stormfront, a white nationalist, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, hate-filled website. Derek is the godson of David Duke, probably the most well-known white supremacist in the US.

As a teenager, Derek organized white nationalist conferences, designed white nationist websites and had his own radio program where he promoted the white supremacist agenda. Then he went to a liberal arts college, where he befriended people with diverse racial, ethnic, political, and religious backgrounds.

When his classmates became aware of his identity, most of them ostracized Derek. A core group of friends, however, opened their hearts and began a dialogue intending to open Derek’s mind. They showed him love in the face of his despicable views and eventually convinced him to reconsider his opinions on race.

Derek went further than just repudiating white nationalism. He set about to undo the damage he did from spreading his hateful gospel.

Spoiler alert – this story has a happy ending!

Finally,  for anyone reading this post who runs races, I would like to recommend Race Advisors as a really helpful service. I prefer to read race reviews before forking out big bucks for registration fees.

On Race Advisors website, run by the friendly and inspiring athlete Lauren Pearce Brueckner, you can search their database of races to read reviews written by runners. Or cyclists, swimmers, triathletes, or duathletes.

You can find Race Advisors’ website here. They also have Facebook and Twitter pages.

For those of you who post race reviews on your blog, you can apply to submit those reviews to Race Advisor. Not only does posting them on this website give your reviews more exposure, you will also be helping other runners find races they really like.

I hope you find my finds useful. Do you have any discoveries you would like to share?

 

I am linking up with Shank You Very Much for Dream Team and Global Blogging, Random-osity for The Good, The Random, The Fun, Mary-andering Creatively for LMM, Purposeful Faith for RaRa link up, Meghan Weyerbacher for Tea and Word, Mary Geisen Tell His Story, Deb’s Random Writings for Keeping It Real, Bethere2day for Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday, and Hooks and Dragons for Mix It Up.