SPORTS TALK: March 2010
By Ray Jay and Young Dex
Sunday January 22, 2010, 9:28 P.M.,
The strings on my heart are being pulled with such force, that I felt compelled to immediately begin writing the March edition of Sports Talk. What I and Dex had just witnessed in the NFC Championship game, our Minnesota Vikings vs. The New Orleans Saints, was nothing short of a triple dosage of DISGUST. Mind you, I go back to the days of the Purple People Eaters, if you know what I mean?
Disgust 1: Our Vikings had, in the past three hours, turned the ball over 5 times; two of those took place in that area of almost guaranteed scoring, deemed the red zone, which resulted in a forfeiture of at least six points, as the Vikings went on to lose this game. A game the Vikings seemed to not want to win and a game the Saints seemed to not be able to win!
Disgust 2: Million dollar quarterback, Brett Favre”'s, decision to throw the ball, instead of running through a hole so large, that even I could have limped through it for 6 or 7 yards, which would have put the Vikings well within kicker Ryan Longwell”'s range to attempt to win the game in regulation time.… Read the rest “SPORTS TALK: March 2010”
1st Anniversary of the Backyard Initiative
Update on the Backyard Initiative
By Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center
1st Anniversary of the Backyard Initiative
Community residents celebrated the first year of the BYI at the Cultural Wellness Center (CWC) on January 30th. Atum Azzahir, CWC Executive Director and facilitator of BYI community meetings, reviewed the progress that has been made:
- A community-authored definition of health
- A set of guiding principles for BYI work in the community
- An understanding of community dynamics before and after engagement
- Attention paid to the history and culture of the people in the Backyard
- The formation and development of Citizen Health Action Teams that have been working on designing projects to improve health
- The work of the Assessment and Analysis Teams that has transformed conventional assessment into a community-owned process, and
- The concept of a Community Commission on Health was developed and the formation of the Commission was approved by community members.
Participants left with a written report on results of the Listening Circles, a process in which community residents developed questions, were trained in facilitation and note-taking, recruited people for the Listening Circles, facilitated the discussion and took the notes, analyzed the notes using qualitative methods, and approved the report.
Since the BYI began, close to 300 residents have been involved in ongoing BYI meetings hosted by the Center.… Read the rest “1st Anniversary of the Backyard Initiative”
