Skip to main content

In the Picture

You may recall I had some serious reservations about the stock photo used to promote the Columbia Association’s newest outreach to Millennials. Not too old, not too young, not too brown, not too white...and yet all in the very same socio-economic range. Hmm...

Well, here’s a picture to clear your visual palate, as it were. How’d you like to hang out and discuss Columbia with these folks? I would.


Of course I’d want to put some women at the table. But wouldn’t you rather join this bunch? Don’t they look like real people? That’s because they are. They’re in the following post from a relatively new local establishment:

Nourishing Journey Wellness Center & Cafe!! 

The perfect place to stop by and have a delicious Smoothie,Coffee, Snack or Meal. 
After work or school with friends and family! 
Our cafe is the perfect place to bring your computer and lounge while enjoying any of our snacks and treats! 
Stop by with Co-workers to have a laid back meeting. 
We offer same day room rentals! 
Call or Stop by today!
410 - 992 - 3001
8975 Guilford Road #170
Columbia, Maryland, 21046

Truth in advertising: I haven’t been to Nourishing Journey. I can’t endorse their business but I can say this post made me want to visit. When I do I’ll be sure to write about it. If these fellows are there I suspect they’d be friendly enough to let me sit at their table. (If I weren’t too shy to ask, that is.)

I have seen some negative writing recently about young people in Columbia and I am deeply troubled by what looks like piling on and fear-mongering in some corners. Publications like Patch are motivated to put out there whatever will stir you up and make you click. That’s not a model that serves the good of the community. I find that to be deeply disappointing.

When I look at the photo above it brings to mind how beautiful our young people are and how full of possibility and promise. We should be taking every opportunity to lift them up, not write them off.  Repeating rumors that characterize entire groups of people in negative stereotypes harms not in the students but their families and our community. It makes it harder for schools to do their jobs and for students to believe in themselves and each other.

The young men in this photo appear to me to me early college-age? late High School? At any rate, I do hope that CA talks to people like this as they reach out to younger residents. They know things that I don’t. They have experienced things that I haven’t. And they have needs and hopes and desires that are important to Columbia’s future.

Comments are welcome here:

https://www.facebook.com/VillageGreenTownSquared/?ref=bookmarks








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

What Kids Are Thinking

  It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed.  Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings.  And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...