Cheryl Strayed, adventurer and author of "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" writes, "Writing is hard for every last one of us... Coal mining is harder. Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? They do not. They simply dig." So, I will dig in and I will write about growing in Greensboro.
Earlier this month I traveled to Greensboro, Alabama with my martial arts school - Revolution Martial Fitness - as part of a small, alternative martial arts convention called Alabama Martial Arts Build-Vention (Build-Vention). While there we partnered with Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization (HERO), a non-profit community development organization, to work on community improvement projects. In this rural town of approximately 2,400 people in one of the most impoverished parts of the state known as the Alabama Black Belt, I found a richness of space, warmth, trust, and hope in the projects and the people associated with HERO, the Build-Vention, and RMF.
Pam Dorr & HERO (Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization)
The force behind HERO is community activist Pam Dorr. After leaving a designer job at Victoria's Secret 12 years ago, Pam moved to Greensboro to study with architect Samuel Mockbee who emphasized the importance of social responsibility in architecture, especially in poor, rural areas. Pam is now the Executive Director of HERO.
I recently read Pam described as "Mr. T + Mother Teresa = Pam Dorr. A force of nature and a rural innovator." After only spending a small amount of time with her, I agree! She is most often seen with a smile and thoughtful expression on her face or, with sweet tears in her eyes if she's speaking about her gratitude and the work of HERO. She always seems to be truly listening to what you have to say. She makes you feel valuable and capable. And she gets it done - whatever IT is - and inspires you to get it done too!
I thought we had come to Greensboro to just help HERO build an outdoor bread oven - a microbusiness to empower residents with new skills, to provide a community gathering place, and to help fund the work of HERO. I quickly learned how expansive and deep the work of HERO and Pam is. On our first night in Greensboro, Pam spoke about the efforts to build apartments for the elderly and those with mental illness, and affordable, single-family homes; to provide GED and work training programs for students who drop out of high school; to support other microbusinesses such as a thrift store, the Pie Lab and HERObike (They make bikes out of local bamboo!); to build The Helium School where HERO will host community meals, after school programs, and workshops; and so much more. There is a lot of good going on in Greensboro under the direction of Pam and I was grateful to play a small part in it, along with others from RMF at the Build-Vention (Read more about what we worked on below.). You can hear more of Pam's rich, emotional story of homelessness, loss, family, home, art and inspiration in this TED Talk "How Nature Can Nurture a Town".
Tom Callos & Alabama Martial Arts Build-Vention
Tom Callos started Build-Vention ten years ago as a way to take the positive values learned in the martial arts dojo (e.g., kindness, community service, patience, persistence) out into the world, and as a way of elevating the character of martial artists. As he writes, this is a "good story" and you can read more about it here.
The Build-Vention gathers martial artists, families and activists to sleep, train, learn, cook, eat and clean together in the Greensboro Baptist Church, and to work together on HERO's community improvement projects. Approximately 75 people joined this year's Build-Vention. It was a good experience to share and hold space with this community of people who are attempting to give something back to the world. Two of the activists who joined us this year were environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill and community activist Keshia Thomas. Julia is best known for living in a 180 foot, 1,500 year old California Redwood tree on a 6 foot by 4 foot platform for two years to prevent a logging company from cutting it down. Keshia, an African American woman, is best known for protectively placing her body on top of a white man alleged to be a Ku Klux Klan supporter while he was being beaten. Both of these warm, engaging women talked about listening to and honoring your true voice, and finding and acting on an issue that inspires you. It was an honor to serve with and learn from these inspiring women. I urge you to learn more about their stories and work, or just come to next year's Build-Vention and get to know them in person! You might find yourself making delicious vegan dishes with Julia, walking in Selma with Keshia, or hanging out with them in the church's youth group "cave!"
The Youth & Revolution Martial Fitness
Finally, I want to write about the RMF youth with whom I was fortunate to share this adventure and about some of the work we did and experiences we had while in Greensboro.
Sensei Paul, my boss, friend and Sensei, asked me to go on this trip as the RMF Program Director and as one of three adult chaperons to 10 adolescent students. Before we left, we raised $6,000, which was almost half of all the money raised for the Build-Vention and went directly to HERO! The majority of that $6,000 was raised by the students in various efforts throughout the year.
We worked on a variety of projects involving saws, hammers, drills, wheelbarrows, shovels, paint brushes and more, and benefited from many different experiences during our three days and four nights in Greensboro, including
- building the brick patio for HERO's outdoor bread oven,
- making outdoor furniture from pallets,
- working with Mr. Greg and two young, confident women from HERO to make repairs on the outside of Mr. Henry's house - the first house built by HERO ten years ago,
- organizing boxes for a jewelry project with a fabulous AmeriCorps NCCC volunteer,
- making and delivering lunch with Julia,
- helping to load 2,300 bricks onto Mr. Greg's truck for use in a downtown building renovation,
- redesigning the front windows of the downtown HERO thrift shop,
- cleaning out a fire-damaged home,
- eating dinner (fried catfish, cheese grits, coleslaw, jalapeno hush puppies and homemade ice cream!) and playing volleyball with the local Mennonite congregation,
- visiting the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail with Keshia,
- training with martial artists from around the United States and Canada, and
- eating a lot of pie and drinking a lot of sweet tea at the Pie Lab!
It was a gift to witness these youth stepping out of their comfort zones, and diving into the shallow and deep ends of community service work. Some were making their third trip to the Build-Vention, others were making their first trip, and some were literally getting their hands truly dirty for the first time. They brought different strengths to the work and engaged with the experience in unique ways. I truly enjoyed working with them, getting to know them better, and solidifying my role as their "dojo mom" with my good-night hugs :) You can see pictures from our journey HERE.
I left Greensboro believing in myself, that I can do a little something to make the world just a little bit better. I left with my heart and mind more open. The experiences, and the familiar people, voices and spaces grounded me, returned a piece of me and my Oklahoma-Kansas home to myself. For all this I am blessed and grateful. Thank you Greensboro! I hope to return next year!
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