Village Green/Town²

  Today is Juneteenth. Freedom Day. JUNETEENTH FREEDOM DAY We commemorate Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865, when enslaved peoples of African descent in Texas finally gained their freedom. We remember them. We honor their memory. We celebrate freedom for all. What kind of freedom? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . - - Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence  Is this freedom? Mississippi officer put on leave after killing baby in car outside Walmart , Marina Dunbar, The Guardian Is this freedom? Trump facing pressure to condemn UFC fighter for disparaging Michelle Obama , David Smith, The Guardian Is this freedom? Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list , Richard Luscombe, Joseph Gedeon and Aram Roston What kind of freedom is that?  Hold ...

  Things I didn’t know: The Restore is closing. My initial response: oh, that’s sad. The Restore, an initiative of Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, supports their mission of providing safe, affordable homes for those who are in need of stable housing. The Restore also helps reduce waste by keeping otherwise usable home furnishings out of landfills. Learn more here: Restore A friend posted that this week is their last week. I checked out their website and found - - whew! - - that it’s not as final as all that. They are moving, so will be closed for a while. I believe this is their second move. Didn’t they used to be around the corner? In the meantime,  they are having a big sale!  Columbia, Maryland Restore  You know what else I didn’t know? I had no idea that the Dancel Y in Ellicott City has an enormous outdoor pool. Did you? No? That’s because they don’t. I went to their website to double-check. But they are running multiple adverts right now that would def...

Everybody smiles for the cameras. A ribbon is cut, the story runs across multiple media outlets. Some people heave a sigh of relief or say, begrudgingly, “It’s about time!”  I am sad.  Columbia police open new satellite office at the Mall in Columbia after fatal shootings, WBAL  TV 11 Our community has been ablaze with hateful and unsubstantiated rumours about a project to create a community center for young people. But everybody smiles about more police at the Mall.  Why?  I’d smile if they were opening a special hub for teens at the Mall. Let me know when they do that. This is how we spend our money. This is how we think we can address complicated problems. What are we calling it these days? Crime prevention? Rapid response? Investment in public safety? Crime prevention is meeting the unmet needs that cause suffering and put people into a continuous cycle of crisis and failure. Rapid response is truly paying attention, in real time, to vulnerable and distres...

Yesterday was a rare, low-humidity day in June - - shocking! I took this as a sign. After several days of false starts I managed to get myself into the car and head over to St. John Baptist Church for early voting. I don’t know if you remember, but there was a bit of an uproar when St. John Baptist built their new church on the corner of Tamar and 175. Some people seemed to suggest that James Rouse had forbidden church buildings as a part of the Columbia Plan. Since then I’ve observed so many ways that this congregation has connected with the community and opened its doors to educate and to serve. I wonder if the naysayers have noticed? A few things. Something yellow caught my eye in the parking lot. What office is the duck running for? I’m serious. That’s a duck. Apparently it’s associated with Linfeng Chen, whose enormous sign you can see in the center of the photo. I don’t know if there are any electioneering rules which expressly forbid duck signs. But what would happen if every c...

 Image you see the following signs. What’s the difference? We probably think of “adult books” as ones containing overtly sexual content. The kind that we generally limit to “special stores” away from children.  Then what’s an adult book fair? A book fair with naughty books? I’ve found myself pondering this as two of our local indie bookstores have hosted adult book fair events: Queen Takes Book, and The Novel Refuge. Despite any initial giggle I might have had, I was pretty sure these were book fairs for adults, not book fairs selling Adult Books. There’s been quite a bit of online discussion in recent years about nostalgic memories of childhood book fairs - - largely the Scholastic ones. For example: Those rosy-hued reminiscences have grown into a full-blown phenomenon. The events in our own community are a part of a national trend. Just one thing, though. I’ve noticed something about the use of the word adult in many of these events. It often means more than simply “adults ...

CELEBRATING OUR CULTURE  CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITY CENTERING OUR STORIES.   Coming up next Saturday - - Howard County’s Juneteenth Community Day & Block Party. Here’s a brief promotional video created by HoCoLocal filmmaker Gavin Lampasone: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZc3yfHRkUK/?igsh=YzcwejdhNHJtdDZp Lampasone is a recent graduate of Atholton High School, where he participated in theatre department productions in all four years in addition to pursuing his love of filmmaking. About the event: Mark your calendars for our Howard County Juneteenth Community Day & Block Party on Saturday, June 20th from 10am-3pm! Register at bit.ly/HoCoJuneteenth26 to receive a full program and make sure you don't miss out on any of the incredible workshops, classes, and activities we'll have on offer. Head to the Lois Wooten Library between 1-3pm to participate in a filmed interview series with filmmaker and recent Howard County high school graduate Gavin Lampasone exploring the richne...