Beth Kallastad noted that she and her son submitted a video to a call from International Rotary about ‘How I am fixing the planet’ on #ESRAG. They submitted a short video about our club’s help with EV Stations in Northfield. Please find and vote for our video!
Charlie Cogan showed a photo of hand washing stations we helped fund for the schools in Togo from our Rainy Day Fund, along with our financial support for delivering rice, oil and other food stuffs to communities near Togo.
Vicki shared Dave Brown’s notes that International Rotary has a Share the Love campaign. For every $100 donated you will receive 2 points toward a Paul Harris award, only during the month of February. Vicki will share this info again.
The 2021 IR Convention in Taiwan will be virtual, which means the entire club can sign up and attend this convention! Get your slippers on, cozy up to the computer, and be transported!
Todd Thompson, as VP, is leading the Strategic Planning meeting via Zoom. All members who would like to participate please sign up. This planning meeting will navigate our club for the next five years. Your voice is important!
If anyone has extra furniture to donate to a returning Exchange Student and his family, please contact Vicki asap.
HAPPY NEWS
Scott Richardson reports that we received excellent coverage on his article about our $50,000 donation to the community. It was also carried by KYMN Radio as well. We thank Scott for running with this story for us.
We all wish Vicki well as she has her knee surgery on Monday. She hopes to be coherent on our Thursday meeting next week.
Beth Kallestad, Let's Get UNcomfortable!
Beth Kallsestad is our club leader for the Racial Diversity group. Today’s conversation is entitled, Let’s Get UNcomfortable based on the presentation of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (YouTube). Most of the club indicated that they had at least watched he Episode 1 video. But it was not necessary in order to participate in the group discussion. Before starting, Beth asked the club to take a short inhale and exhale and ground themselves to the conversation coming. She quoted that racism is a virus of the mind, and the ‘fix’ is to begin these uncomfortable conversations.
Episode 1 of the film began with host Emmanuel Acho
Episode 2 of the film is with Matthew McConnaughey – White Allergies / My responsibility
Episode 3 of the film is with Chip and Joanna Gains & Children – Color blindness and Hope for the future.
Please finish viewing as you are able. There are several other episodes you can view on your own as well. Some of the questions Beth posed for conversation were (I didn’t get them all written down):
What was what you heard that surprised you?
Can you give examples of blind spots in your own life?
How will you learn more about racism?
What was uncomfortable for you?
What is your hope for the future?
We broke into 8 groups of 5 members, and offered some starting questions led by a group discussion leader.
I led group 6 through a short 15 minute ‘pop up’ feedback on what they were doing, reading, thinking around this subject:
Jan S – She and her husband have been reading about this history for years and are deeply involved in Civil War History. She has a realization of great sadness – like being in a ‘concentration camp’. She notes the power that the Census takers had during those years yielded great power if they categorized you as ‘black’, or not. Your life depended on what they put down. Noted that history books were / are written in ‘Confederate’ Texas.
Jim H – retired teacher is in a book club that has focused on black reparations, anti-racism, and caste. He remembers being trained as a young school teacher regarding race in the Minneapolis school system. He heard that more is ‘caught’ than ‘taught’ in schools. He asks, ‘where have we failed?” How do we root out racism?
Jesse S – His family is very bi-racial with cousins and in-laws both white and black – which was normal for him. Yet he has a cousin in Chicago who is being harassed based on their being a black store owner, period. His challenge is “as being part of the problem, how do I fix it?”
Jean W – My family adopted and raised 3 Blackfeet Indian sisters – who now live back on the Reservation. They were one of the first Indian children enrolled in our school, which was ‘5 blocks” from the boarder of the Blackfoot Indian Nation Reservation. Our schooling never included any information about our Indian History in any class or book. Ignoring the issue was the way it was dealt with in my neck of the woods.
Jayne HD – She is outraged when Covid hit our community and shut down the packing plants that employ Mexican and Somali neighbors. The community outcry was for the poor animals that had to be wasted, and not for the workers affected.
Time’s Up! Beth led us back to a ‘chat-fall’ of comments in the Chat Room. John Sinning will capture our 1-2 sentence wrap up from each group presenting. Robert Craig noted that this is the first time, and ‘about time’ that our club has ever openly discussed racism in our club. Beth called for a show of hands of members who would like to participate in a Rotary Book Club focused on this subject. The hands carried and members were asked to jot their names in the Chat column to be contacted later.
Our guest speaker on March 11 Sam Ouk, school counselor in the Faribault School System. He will continue the subject of racism in his own life and of the students in school. Not to be missed. Sam is a powerful and educating speaker.
COMING UP
