A New York State of Mind

We have had so much fun this past week! It definitely has been one of those (prolonged) moments that make you proud to live in such a wonderful city.

On Wednesday, a friend from school and I went down to Pace University to hear a speech from Dr. Bernice King, the last-surviving daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a great way to start Black History Month. I was on some serious CP time (colored people time=at least half an hour late), but luckily so were they, so we got to hear most of the speech. Dr. King was five years old when her father died, so she doesn't actually remember too much about him--in fact, she shared a story about not warming up to him as a toddler!--but she devoted her life to following in his footsteps during her teenage years.

Most of her speech talked about how America was in decline because its people have become selfish or apathetic, instead of looking outward to help others. She quoted her father, saying, "We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'people-oriented' society." I remember when I first moved to the city, I was still able to carry on casual conversations with strangers I met (until, of course, I learned that not everyone's intentions were the best); now, you can barely catch a sidewards glance from someone, let alone have a dialogue with people while their heads are buried and their ears stuffed with headphones. Sure, technology is wonderful, but are we so eager to get the newest and fastest things that we miss the personal connections that these very things were meant to facilitate?

During the question and answer session, someone asked her to share some of the lessons that she learned from her parents. While she did impart some gems (e.g., Her father's quote that "true peace is not the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice"; or her mother's constant admonition that she refrain from making decisions in anger), she said that the most profound influence on her was the fact that every moment in the King household was a teaching moment, and that her parents truly practiced what they preached in the public sphere. I can only hope to leave as lasting a legacy that is full of integrity--notwithstanding some personal allegations to Rev. Dr. King's character...

There is so much more I could share from what she said; she spoke of forgiveness, of reaching across the table, of the dangers of pride, of the changing role of the church, of reforming education, and even of Occupy Wall Street. I think the best thing that came from the event, though, was the conversation my school friend and I had on the car ride back up to Washington Heights. I guess people can speak with glasses half-empty and think of all the progress that needs to be made, but the fact that a Black Mormon and a 2nd generation American Jew can sit in the same car and talk about social justice just shows you that maybe we're doing okay, on the whole.

Friday started out great right from the start, since I found a parking spot on Thursday that I wouldn't have to move from for street cleaning (which is a BIG DEAL, non-New Yorkers!). It left me free to venture down to Columbia for the Mormonism and American Politics Conference. I recognized a few of the names, but apparently having so many scholars of Mormonism together in the same room was also a BIG DEAL. Like, parking space on steroids. It was big enough to warrant its own Twitter hashtag (#mapconf, for the social media savvy of our three readers). I missed most of the lecture that I wanted to see because of a very important phone call, but I did face my fears and speak to the presenter afterwards! But there were a lot of highlights to the event:

• After giving his lecture on the Mormon race problem (which, sadly, is the one I missed), Max Mueller asked the audience if they felt that Mitt Romney should be responsible for addressing race in an Obama-esque speech. One woman in the audience stepped up to the challenge, openly expressing her fears that such an event would further cement the Mormon=conservative myth, which makes it harder for liberal Mormons like her to feel at peace. Personally, I feel that asking Mitt to do something that no one in the Church can explain effectively (due to lack of education? lack of awareness?) is just another way of trying to goad him into egging his own face. I mean, we've seen his word vomit when people bring up how much money he makes...
• David Campbell presented many interesting statistics comparing LDS to other religious and ethnic groups in America. The most surprising to the (non-Mormon) audience? A study showed that the opinion of LDS people can shift upon hearing explicit instruction from church headquarters on which stance to take. What can we say? We follow the prophet--even if we don't agree. Other statistics showed that while Mormons are more likely to be against legalizing gay marriage, they are also more likely than other religious groups to support civil unions.
• Claudia Bushman collected some amazing oral histories of California women during Prop 8. Her stories beautifully captured the ambiguity that plagued many church members. One woman, trying to balance the spiritual fidelity to her church with her moral responsibility to love and care for her gay son, said, "It's a good thing I have two hands." Joanna Brooks followed up with more Prop 8 talk, suggesting that the church's history of polygamy and past threats to temple marriage informed their "underground" action in support of the proposition. She used the term "outed" to describe church members' surprise at the negative public reactions, which I don't think some people in the audience responded well to. She also said that polygamy was to LDS history as slavery is to American history, which I did not respond well to.
• The editors of a new documentary, "Religious Test," showed a lengthy and well-produced trailer. The overwhelming response of the public was that the interviews were a little too "vanilla." The editors countered that they're limited by their Utah population. Fair enough. They interviewed me for the movie (at the suggestion of a very nice AA Mormonophile), so we'll see if I get my 15 seconds of fame.

The conference was two days, which meant two trips to Kitchenette. I did not take any pictures because my food was gone before I knew it... But please, PLEASE do yourself a favor and go to this restaurant. So good. How can you go wrong at a place that sells crisp, grilled cornbread and a mac n' cheese BLT?

(and, ya know, when this greets you at the door... can't argue too much.)

The first day I had a turkey meatloaf sandwich with a side of mashed butternut squash (!!!). The next day, I had turkey chipotle hash with two perfectly overeasy eggs and a grilled biscuit, while Matt had some tasty creme brulee French Toast, which he washed down with a Peanut Butter Blondie milkshake. It was pretty crowded on both days (perhaps if it was a kitchen, it would be less crowded... *rim shot*), but still gave off a cool vibe with its mismatched chairs and repurposed polka-dot doors for tables. They even serve the drinks in Mason jars! I can't decide if that's a little overwrought, or over-fab.

Probably my favorite thing about the weekend (besides church, of course) was our free Night at the Apollo. Amateur Night is on a Wednesday, so there was no booing involved, but not that you would need it--the Apollo (and Target) was hosting a Community Sing with TAKE 6! Which, if you don't know, is pretty much the most epic a capella group ever:

I mean, really. Just look them up.

It was really a fun time, and my feet were keeping time with every beat. The boys tried their best, but there wasn't too much community singing going on with their music (the arrangements were too hard!), so they ended the concert with a EWF/Stevie Wonder/Michael Jackson montage... any of those artists would be able to stand on their own for a finale, but all four??? Wow. My little heart almost couldn't take it. If only I could have recorded it! It was a concert I would have paid good money for, but we got to go for free!

This week I'm gearing up for school work, interviews, and housekeeping, and Matt's got his hands tied with his school's quality review. Suffice it to say, we won't be partying so much this week. Hopefully the good times we had this week will tide us over!