World Changers 2008
July 21, 2008
I've finally "won" something: the opportunity to change the world via writing.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change
the world; indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." – Margaret Mead
The above quote is provided courtesy of the Wizard of Ads, a.k.a. Roy Williams. After reading his Monday Morning Memo that's been emailed to me for several years now, I'll finally get to meet the man himself this week at an intimate gathering of hand-picked writers down in Austin for 3 days. The topics are journalism and racism, and the costs of the course and room and board are provided by his Wizard Academy. It's modestly titled World Changers 2008.
This should be an extraordinary gathering of 2 instructors and about 12 writers who have all submitted writing samples, then been chosen from a pool of possibly millions (or maybe hundreds, or even tens) of applicants and who have agreed to write something on the topic of racism at least once a week for the next two years. I'm one of them (note that I said the gathering, not the writers, would be extraordinary - I'm about as humble about my writing as one could be, and cannot begin to convey how honored and privileged I feel every time I think about this), and I'll provide additional details on the venue where the writings will be featured once I have them!
For practice, I've authored a couple of blog entries dealing with racism that you may have already read here, filed under the Harmony category of Worthreading:
Don't Condone "Harmless" Racist Remarks
Your Personal Endorsement of Slavery
It's gonna be enlightening, it may get ugly, and hopefully, maybe, a vast swath of the world will actually somehow change for the better.
Shefaly, I would say the chances are pretty good that you'd know several bloggers in any particular city, given your rapidly expanding network!
Alas, I don't live in Austin (even though I have the Austin skyline as my blog header). Got my degree in Finance at the University of Texas at Austin and frequently visit there, but I live in Arlington (future home of the Dallas Cowboys, and current home of the Texas Rangers baseball team) and work in downtown Dallas, both of which are about 200 miles/3 hours driving north of Austin.
Posted by: worth | July 21, 2008 at 11:58 AM