Happy election results! Let's hear it for the rainbow!!! And the women who are a part of that rainbow. It's about time politics looked different. As this NY Times Article explores, the women "marched, they ran, and on Election Day, they won." Way to do it ladies, of both parties!
Shana's calling in from the road on her 2018 Fall Tour, and today she and Theresa thanked all of those who volunteered and canvassed and worked so hard against the odds to get their candidates elected. Congratulations to Antonio Delgado, Juan Figueroa, and Jen Metzger with the big wins in our region. We discussed the type of perseverance it takes to run a political campaign. Shana shared how she felt a resurgence of hope in her own musical career in seeing people win their races after so much hard work. Similarly, Theresa admits her own tendencies to give up if it's not easy and wonders what she's missing as a result of following the path of least resistance. Food for thought for all of us, and encouragement to everyone chasing their dreams!
Our first guest is Donna Costello, choreographer and dance educator at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC. She's been a dancer her whole life, and managed to move quite quickly into her success in NYC. She calls herself a 'process junkie' and she gets into how to create a free and honest atmosphere when working in a group so that there can be a good work flow and creative feedback. She loves teaching but she also loves collaborating, and recently created Jitterbug and the Aftermath, a movement theater duet. This work was presented in 2018 at the Estrogenius Festival in the East Village and at Definitive Figures, A FemFest of Performance, a festival that Donna and Jenny Sargent conceived & produced together in New Orleans holding space for over 10 inspiring femme and female-identifying artists of mixed disciplines. This interview really dives into the world of dance expression and artistry.
Our second guest is Reverend Jordan Scruggs, Deacon and Community of Ministries Director at Saint James United Methodist Church in Kingston, NY. In her role at the Church Jordan is broadly focused on the alleviation of poverty which translates into some truly beautiful community building activities like "Waffle Church" and the transformation of a neighboring Church building into a community driven center open to all regardless of faith. Jordan shares thoughts on how the Church can move through the 21st century in a more inclusive way by learning how to value all life versus the selective approach some religious communities have chosen. She quotes Martin Luther King Jr., "The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, But It Bends Toward Justice," when asked about how we overcome the conflicts we are experiencing politically and spiritually in our country. She hopes that we will learn to celebrate diversity rather than pretend our differences don't exist, and when asked about how she reconciles the role women have historically played or rather not played in religion, she sums it up with her impression that God is your Mother. Amen to that!
On next week's show we have special guests Valeria Gheorghiu, attorney with a deep commitment to cooperative law and restorative justice, and Que Sera, DJ, mother, musician, performer, educator and free thinker. Until next week, love yourself and uplift one another.