‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Networking: The Mother of All Mixed Blessings
from the series Peace House Community Journal... By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby I recently traveled to Breezy Point, in northern Minnesota, to speak at a conference. Since the trip involved five hours of driving, I made sure I had some audiobooks to pass the time. I started listening to Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert’s Guide to Making Connections That Count by Karen Wickre, and within an hour I had an idea for the next presentation I wanted to give at a conference.As an introvert, the idea of networking doesn’t appeal to me. Imagining myself walking up to strangers at a party to convince them to do something for me makes my skin crawl. Fortunately, the audiobook helped me reframe my thinking, pointing out that “networking” doesn’t just mean convincing others that they want to help you. It can be as simple as asking a friend if they know any good restaurants. In other words, my view of networking was far too narrow.I should have realized this earlier, [...]
We’re Doing Our Best
from the series Peace House Community Journal By MARTI MALTBY It was about forty yards to the gallows. I watched the bare brown back of the prisoner marching in front of me. He walked clumsily with his bound arms, but quite steadily, with that bobbing gait of the Indian who never straightens his knees. At each step his muscles slid neatly into place, the lock of hair on his scalp danced up and down, his feet printed themselves on the wet gravel. And once, in spite of the men who gripped him by each shoulder, he stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path.-George Orwell, 'a hanging' Marti Maltby One of Orwell’s gifts as a writer, in my opinion, was his ability to see the humanity of others, even those who were supposed to be his enemies. In his 20s, Orwell served in the British Imperial Police in Burma, which meant he was part of the oppressive system that generated Britain’s wealth and maintained her empire. He hated it. Where his countrymen saw a dirty and [...]
A Hopeful Sign
from the series Peace House Community - A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby Like many people in this part of Minneapolis, I am continually reminded of the challenges facing our neighborhoods. High crime rates, limited resources, livability, crimes, drug use… you know the list as well as I do. Aside from my personal observations, I hear about the challenges the members at Peace House Community deal with every day. I also attend meetings hosted by the Metro Urban Indian Directors (MUID), which works to combat the homelessness and opioid epidemics in the local Native American community. As you might expect, most of what I hear about conditions on the street and in the encampments is pretty depressing. I realized this week how cynical I have become because of these issues, but it was actually some good news that brought this to my attention. Dawn LaRoque of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center spoke of changes she has started seeing as a result of [...]
