This is a magazine that is published for and sold by the homeless in Charlotte, North Carolina....
V o l u m e O n e I s s u e 2
S T A Y I N F O R M E D . H E L P T H E N E E D Y . G E T I N V O L V E D .
$ 4 . 0 0 U S D
Parkour Flip Fli ps Out In Charlotte
INTERNATIONAL TV Program Exposes Exposes Sex Tracking Tr acking
GRASSROOTS Homeless get Moore
MUSIC John Mark McMillan
Volume 1 Issue 2
Executive Director Matt Shaw Managing Editor Lana Shaw Designer Trey Bates Copy Editor Samantha Reed Business and Community Development Rob Burbank
About Speak Up Me nem que dolum vel et vidis consero vidunt pa de expliqui quo beariorio ex eum ent verum seque nulpa dolutem eum vidustrum enduntotatia id ut alibusam doleseque possit, intem quaectatius, serum ugiaturiame est, et, qui to in re lam, sundus sum inis volum quo oditatur, tota atem quidellabo. Nequae. Aborporerspe laceped ut et utatent ma natum expellabori doloribus, ut viducia ndiandam hil modicaestium earcillo eium repe nam, ommolorem que pliquaspero esto doluptatur, sit aut que velescia num
Administrative Assistant Sue Oxley
Features
Board of Directors Phil Felten, Chairman Troy Felten Bruce Simpson
6
Contributors Don Roosenburg, Christina Felten, Matt Shaw, Emily Simpson, Hollis Johnson, Keia Mastrianni, Rob Burbank
Photographers Dustin Manning, Norman Latva, Emily Simpson, Jenna Trapasso Thomas, Josh Putnam
SPEAK UP is a 501(C)(3) Public Charity 512 E. 15th Street Suite One Charloe, NC 28206
11
Parkour In Charlotte
A photo essay o incredible athletes. John Mark McMillan
An interview with a Charlotte native. FAVORITES
16
Tainted Love
TV Programing that exposes sex traicking.
1
Project 658 Empowered instead of estranged.
4
Meet the Vendor Ruth.
E D T A I N T
LO V VE
22 Soil for the Soul Gardening with your Kids. 25 The Mitch Cooper Story A homeless hero. 27 Needing Moore How the answer to one question became the answer for Charlotte’s chronically homeless.
ON THE WEB: for article supplements additional photos and more go to speakup.com
Letter from the Editor
Urban Pioneers
At Speak Speak Up, we see three three options we see see when when it comes to poverty: poverty: 1) Ignore Ignore it; 2) 2) Give handout handouts; s; 3) Create opportunity. The last one inspires us the most. The magazine you hold in your hands is that opportunity. Whetherr you bought it on the street Whethe street or from from one one of our vendorvendor- spons sponsored ored boxes throug throughout hout the city, you have helped someone in your community make a step out of poverty and into dignity by tangibly tangibly support supporting ing their their small small business business.. You’re You’re few dollar dollarss champion champion hope. hope. Our aspiration is that you not only bought the magazine for the cause, but because you see a quality product. In step with our name, we aim to speak up about issues and stories not often covered. There are countless individuals and organizations doing remarkable things; we think you’ll be moved moved and inspir inspired ed by them. them. Be Be sure to check out how Projec Projectt 658 is transform transforming ing a commucommunity through a basement sewing studio (opposite page),or how locally based Halogen network is raising awareness on human trafcking through the poignant show Tainted Love (pg.16). Producing a magazine is much like birthing a baby; I know because I am a mother. I know the pangs of contractions along the way, and the spike in intensity near the nal stages. The effor t, hard work, focus, faith and co mmitment it required (of many!--see pg. 31) to see this issue through reminded me much of the original birthdays of my kids. Speak Up is growing, we are learning; the last year has been... well, like being pregnant. We had to believe rst before seeing the vision in our hearts realized; and along the way of change, discomfort and being ridiculously stretched, little by little, we are getting there. This issue’s existence is a giant step. What keeps keeps up going going is a belief that that each each one of us, us, even with with our failings failings,, can make make a proprofound difference. What we perceive to be a small difference is often big to someone else. A smile, a few dollars, a kind word, a loving challenge--these things are impetus for change. See how one man’s thoughtful question spurred an entire housing program in Charlotte (Needing Moore, pg. 20), or the riches-to-rags-to-fulllment story of vendor and famed musician Mitch Cooper (Mitch Plays On, pg. 8). At Speak Speak Up we’ve gotten some things things wrong, wrong, but we are determ determined ined to press press on on with zeal. zeal. The words of Abraham Lincoln motivate us: “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusia enthusiasm.” sm.” It’s It’s stories stories like like how one one vendor vendor Angela Angela was able to buy a new new set of teeth teeth with her Speak Up earnings, or how another vendor Chris got off the streets and into an apartment with his, his, that encour encourage age and and enthuse enthuse us. us. When a baby is born, every prior prior cost endured pales pales in comparison comparison to the benet gained. gained. Getting this magazine into our vendors hands and then to yours makes every hurdle, every long night, every setback and difculty worth it. We hope it stirs you to speak up in your circle of inuinu ence, and believe with us that what you do terrically matters.
Words and Pictures by: Emily Simpson
PROJECT 658 15,000 bags made from recycled billboard materials have been created, from these efforts, lives are changing daily, hope is being restored, and dignity is bursting forth.
Sincerely, Lana Shaw
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
1
Letter from the Editor
Urban Pioneers
At Speak Speak Up, we see three three options we see see when when it comes to poverty: poverty: 1) Ignore Ignore it; 2) 2) Give handout handouts; s; 3) Create opportunity. The last one inspires us the most. The magazine you hold in your hands is that opportunity. Whetherr you bought it on the street Whethe street or from from one one of our vendorvendor- spons sponsored ored boxes throug throughout hout the city, you have helped someone in your community make a step out of poverty and into dignity by tangibly tangibly support supporting ing their their small small business business.. You’re You’re few dollar dollarss champion champion hope. hope. Our aspiration is that you not only bought the magazine for the cause, but because you see a quality product. In step with our name, we aim to speak up about issues and stories not often covered. There are countless individuals and organizations doing remarkable things; we think you’ll be moved moved and inspir inspired ed by them. them. Be Be sure to check out how Projec Projectt 658 is transform transforming ing a commucommunity through a basement sewing studio (opposite page),or how locally based Halogen network is raising awareness on human trafcking through the poignant show Tainted Love (pg.16). Producing a magazine is much like birthing a baby; I know because I am a mother. I know the pangs of contractions along the way, and the spike in intensity near the nal stages. The effor t, hard work, focus, faith and co mmitment it required (of many!--see pg. 31) to see this issue through reminded me much of the original birthdays of my kids. Speak Up is growing, we are learning; the last year has been... well, like being pregnant. We had to believe rst before seeing the vision in our hearts realized; and along the way of change, discomfort and being ridiculously stretched, little by little, we are getting there. This issue’s existence is a giant step. What keeps keeps up going going is a belief that that each each one of us, us, even with with our failings failings,, can make make a proprofound difference. What we perceive to be a small difference is often big to someone else. A smile, a few dollars, a kind word, a loving challenge--these things are impetus for change. See how one man’s thoughtful question spurred an entire housing program in Charlotte (Needing Moore, pg. 20), or the riches-to-rags-to-fulllment story of vendor and famed musician Mitch Cooper (Mitch Plays On, pg. 8). At Speak Speak Up we’ve gotten some things things wrong, wrong, but we are determ determined ined to press press on on with zeal. zeal. The words of Abraham Lincoln motivate us: “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusia enthusiasm.” sm.” It’s It’s stories stories like like how one one vendor vendor Angela Angela was able to buy a new new set of teeth teeth with her Speak Up earnings, or how another vendor Chris got off the streets and into an apartment with his, his, that encour encourage age and and enthuse enthuse us. us. When a baby is born, every prior prior cost endured pales pales in comparison comparison to the benet gained. gained. Getting this magazine into our vendors hands and then to yours makes every hurdle, every long night, every setback and difculty worth it. We hope it stirs you to speak up in your circle of inuinu ence, and believe with us that what you do terrically matters.
Words and Pictures by: Emily Simpson
PROJECT 658 15,000 bags made from recycled billboard materials have been created, from these efforts, lives are changing daily, hope is being restored, and dignity is bursting forth.
Sincerely, Lana Shaw
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
Urban Pioneers
Her
Urban Pioneers
warm olive skin tone
1
opportunity to be surrounded unjustly. Yet they keep going for the sake of loving people.” by a commun community ity where these every day, persevering rather As they continu continuee to create women are are empowered empowered rather than being crippled by the tangible programs designed than estranged. unjust circumstances from to support communities, But most importantly which they ed. It’s a beauti beauti-- they hope more lives will be they’re tools to begin relation- ful example of how when ordi- affected positively. ships. Stitching these bags is nary people step out in faith, Sustainability is key. a way for the seven refugee hindrances are removed and Project 658’s sewing studio is women CC Reynol Reynolds ds (sewing connections are made with a perfect example of how comstudio manager) spends each those of multiple nations. passion, geared at equipping week with, to foster friend friend-Through breaking down people for success, can lead ships. Though they may barrie barriers rs of langua language ge and to both restoration and hope, look different, each women’s socio-economic status, Project locally and internationally. “motivation and longings are 658 has effectively begun to Refugees become empowered, the same,” says CC. restore neighborhoods. And rather than estranged. And “God has made us all through their model of doing that is a thing of beauty! the same. Our longings for life alongside the people they Learn more about Project 658 at www.proj purpose are alike, but some employ, transformation is ect658.com. Order an upcycled bag online at www. of us have bigger obstacles to occurring in communities in sportsoutreach.net/store/soi_store.html overcome,” CC shares. Every Charlotte. CC speaks of how refugee has been traumatized Project 658 “meets real needs
contrasts
with her dark pigtail pigtails. s. They swing slightly as Pier, a 21-year-old refugee from Southeast Asia, looks up from her sewing machine at Project 658’s studio, the Charlotte based ministry ministry of Sports Sports Outreach Institute. Deriving their name from John 6:58, “I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die, but will live forever,” Project 658 is tucked along the back hallway of a church off Central Avenue. This grassroots initiative is reaching the many nations represented in Charlotte. They proactively work to empower refugees’ efforts in a new country, rather than allowing them to fade in a culture far different than their own. Project 658’s sewing room is abuzz ve days a week with motion, laught laughter, er, and conversations in several languages. The gracious smiles of Vietnamese and Nepali women invite others in as if they are family members. Fifteen thousand bags made from recycled billboard materials have been created since January. From these efforts, lives are changing daily, hope is being restored, and dignity is bursting forth. On the right side of the sewing room a chalkboard
displays a scripture in English, Jorai, and Nepali. Hanging all around are pictures and names of the women who stitch together together these these ecofriendly bags which are pro viding job-tra job-training ining skills, English classes, personal nances education, and relationship management. Thus making integration into American culture slightly less overwhelming. This fashionable and upcycled product has stirred interest. Partnerships have emerged since the sewing shop began in Charlotte Charlotte in January January of 2011. Plywood People, based out of Atlanta, has been an incredible partner of Project
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
658. They support the vision that it’s possible for “Broken things to be made beautiful again.” This vision aligns with the use of recycled materials and the lovely designs of the bags. To date, date, Project Project 658 has has received their largest order of 5,000 bags from the Passion Conference. Their success has emerged from a group of passionate hearts that believe in a vision to to restore restore hope hope through through teaching, training, and equipping. For some of the refugee women, the bags bags have become their lifeline. The stitches sewn allow them to put food on the table for their families. And provide a fair wage and the
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
3
Urban Pioneers
Her
Urban Pioneers
warm olive skin tone
opportunity to be surrounded unjustly. Yet they keep going for the sake of loving people.” by a commun community ity where these every day, persevering rather As they continu continuee to create women are are empowered empowered rather than being crippled by the tangible programs designed than estranged. unjust circumstances from to support communities, But most importantly which they ed. It’s a beauti beauti-- they hope more lives will be they’re tools to begin relation- ful example of how when ordi- affected positively. ships. Stitching these bags is nary people step out in faith, Sustainability is key. a way for the seven refugee hindrances are removed and Project 658’s sewing studio is women CC Reynol Reynolds ds (sewing connections are made with a perfect example of how comstudio manager) spends each those of multiple nations. passion, geared at equipping week with, to foster friend friend-Through breaking down people for success, can lead ships. Though they may barrie barriers rs of langua language ge and to both restoration and hope, look different, each women’s socio-economic status, Project locally and internationally. “motivation and longings are 658 has effectively begun to Refugees become empowered, the same,” says CC. restore neighborhoods. And rather than estranged. And “God has made us all through their model of doing that is a thing of beauty! the same. Our longings for life alongside the people they Learn more about Project 658 at www.proj purpose are alike, but some employ, transformation is ect658.com. Order an upcycled bag online at www. of us have bigger obstacles to occurring in communities in sportsoutreach.net/store/soi_store.html overcome,” CC shares. Every Charlotte. CC speaks of how refugee has been traumatized Project 658 “meets real needs
contrasts
with her dark pigtail pigtails. s. They swing slightly as Pier, a 21-year-old refugee from Southeast Asia, looks up from her sewing machine at Project 658’s studio, the Charlotte based ministry ministry of Sports Sports Outreach Institute. Deriving their name from John 6:58, “I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die, but will live forever,” Project 658 is tucked along the back hallway of a church off Central Avenue. This grassroots initiative is reaching the many nations represented in Charlotte. They proactively work to empower refugees’ efforts in a new country, rather than allowing them to fade in a culture far different than their own. Project 658’s sewing room is abuzz ve days a week with motion, laught laughter, er, and conversations in several languages. The gracious smiles of Vietnamese and Nepali women invite others in as if they are family members. Fifteen thousand bags made from recycled billboard materials have been created since January. From these efforts, lives are changing daily, hope is being restored, and dignity is bursting forth. On the right side of the sewing room a chalkboard
displays a scripture in English, Jorai, and Nepali. Hanging all around are pictures and names of the women who stitch together together these these ecofriendly bags which are pro viding job-tra job-training ining skills, English classes, personal nances education, and relationship management. Thus making integration into American culture slightly less overwhelming. This fashionable and upcycled product has stirred interest. Partnerships have emerged since the sewing shop began in Charlotte Charlotte in January January of 2011. Plywood People, based out of Atlanta, has been an incredible partner of Project
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
658. They support the vision that it’s possible for “Broken things to be made beautiful again.” This vision aligns with the use of recycled materials and the lovely designs of the bags. To date, date, Project Project 658 has has received their largest order of 5,000 bags from the Passion Conference. Their success has emerged from a group of passionate hearts that believe in a vision to to restore restore hope hope through through teaching, training, and equipping. For some of the refugee women, the bags bags have become their lifeline. The stitches sewn allow them to put food on the table for their families. And provide a fair wage and the
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
Meet the Vend Vendor or
3
Meet the Vendor
RUTH Words by: Christina Felten Pictures by: Jenna Trapasso Thomas
Ruth is ready to share her past with The amily eventually eventually moved to the world. She spills words o past America in hopes o a “better lie.” struggles, loss, pain. She speaks Ruth was 13 years old. o sinking into oceans o grie Her parents opened a and almost drowning in despair. small grocery store in Lexington, In between her words, tears all Kentucky. Their marriage probas she also conveys the powerul lems only intensied with the hope in recovery. She emphasizes transition into a new culture, and lie’s beauty; “I have my God and Ruth vividly remembers horrible He has blessed me. My amily has incidents o domestic violence. let me, but I have riends who Several times, she called the police mean everything to me. Lie is a when her ather was beating her git and I am thankul.” mother. One time, her sister had Ruth Chia-yin Hsieh was an epileptic seizure brought on by born on July 9, 1968, in Taipei, Taiwan Tai wan.. Her ather was a capt captain ain o a Chinese military merchant ship and her mother was a housewie. Ruth recalls that since early childhood, she did not have a close relationship with her dad, although it was something she really wanted. Because o the nature o his work he would be gone or months, sometimes years, at a time. This put a lot o strain on the the trauma o her dad’s violence. growing amily, causing Ruth’s Ruth remembers her mom being mother to suer rom a mental beaten black and blue. “When he breakdown. She was admitted to beat my mother, he would say, ‘I a psychiatric hospital. you leave me I will take a shotgun Relatives convinced Ruth’s and kill you.’I was so scared ... I was ather to return home and care in trauma.” or his wie and three daughters. During this time, Ruth was He did so begrudgingly amongst attending public high school. continual conict in the house. Already, she was suering rom
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
various mental illnesses, and was an easy target or bullies. As she struggled to learn a new language and adapt to a completely dierent world, her classmates became opponents and she grew more and more isolated. Then, The n, some boys viol violent ently ly assaulted her. They attacked and threw snowballs at her. She suered a traumatic brain injury resulting in a diagnosis o epilepsy. Following this horric incident, her parents enrolled her in a Catholic high school, or which they barely earned enough to pay tuition. Depression hit Ruth. Her grades were poor, and she had learning diculties. She also was unable to make riends. Every aternoon, she worked in the amily store. The amily business struggled or years and eventually her parents declared bankruptcy. Her ather let her mother and he moved back to Taiwan to retire. They neve neverr heard heard rom him agai again. n. Ater graduation Ruth worked at dierent places. She was a tray carrier at a hospital, a waitress, and a nanny. Ater working or several years, Ruth’s struggle with depression and other mental illnesses intensied. She decided to move back home. However, her mother was not understanding o all Ruth was going through, and within months, she kicked her daughter out o the house. Ruth spent the next years living in government housing and on the streets. At 21, her abusive and unsupportive ance let her when
told Ruth was pregnant. Admitted wanted to start ghts with me. to a psychiatric ward, she stayed Racism was hard.” until the birth o her daughter, Finally, due to mental illness Sarah. Social Services arranged or and addictions, Ruth was reerred Ruth’s baby to be adopted as she to a recovery program, where she was deemed incapable o caring currently lives. She’s happy there or Sarah. This separation caused and says this chance or recovery unspeakable pain, and Ruth tried has given her another shot to live. to commit suicide several times in Along the recovery road, Ruth has the months ollowing her daugh- learned a lot. “I’m still in the trauma ter’s birth. “I constantly overdosed sometimes, and it’s hard. Because over the next several years. I you see, it’s like part o your brain. was in and out o the psychiat- The lay layers ers peel o, and it all ric ward. I tried comes back. In to move back those moments, home, but the when the pain domestic violence is intense, I pray. continued and I pray that God our home was will take it away. very unstable.” That He will be Eventually, my miracle and Ruth’s sisters save me rom married and one o them moved my thoughts. with her mother to Charlotte. Her “Lie is not perect. You have sister wanted to help Ruth recover, to grow rom the pain. That’s why so she invited Ruth to live with it’s called growing pains. I used to them. However, there was more want sympathy, but I have learned domestic violence, and Ruth got to be strong on my own and to restraining orders on both her sis- be closer with God. Without God I ters. She hasn’t had contact with could not make it. Really, I should them since. have died a long time ago. Meanwhile, her mom was “By being in ellowship with diagnosed with cancer and died other people, my spiritual realin 2009. This deep loss caused ity is developing. Now, I just take Ruth to have another mental one day at a time and enjoy lie. It breakdown. She was an alcoholic, used to be that people would talk routinely abused her prescription to me and say ‘you’re a nobody’ medications, and tried to com- and it would dene me. Now I can mit suicide sixteen times. During be real on my own. I don’t have to all o this, Ruth was homeless. pretend to be somebody else. I She “lived” “lived” at the Salvation Army used to want to be accepted by a Women’s shelter or years. “It’s not lot o people, but I ound out that a very pleasant place to be. People being unique and dierent is a
very important part o my lie. I am simple, straightorward and honest. I don’t like attery. I just want to be real.” Ruth says that by sharing her story with other people, she hopes it will encourage them to pursue their dreams and believe in a hope that is real. As a Speak Up vendor, Ruth is nding a new sense o purpose and drive. She says that selling magazines gives her courage to stand up and ace lie. It gives her hope and helps her by connecting her with people who have similar struggles. She enjoys the community o Speak Up vendors and is thankul or this unique opportunity. Her avorite place to sell magazines is UNC Charlotte, where she eels God is using her to help students who are struggling with depression. “A lot o the students are not very happy because they don’t know where they are and they’ve lost their identity. But it’s a good thing to go over there, because I can always share my story and be their riend.” Although Ruth’s story is marked with pain and heartache, she has hope or a bright uture. “I can make it i I just trust in God. In His timing, He will answer my prayers at just the right moment and time. It takes patience and commitment. He will direct my steps. God knows everything— time, space and things … He knows everything.”
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
5
Meet the Vend Vendor or
Meet the Vendor
RUTH Words by: Christina Felten Pictures by: Jenna Trapasso Thomas
Ruth is ready to share her past with The amily eventually eventually moved to the world. She spills words o past America in hopes o a “better lie.” struggles, loss, pain. She speaks Ruth was 13 years old. o sinking into oceans o grie Her parents opened a and almost drowning in despair. small grocery store in Lexington, In between her words, tears all Kentucky. Their marriage probas she also conveys the powerul lems only intensied with the hope in recovery. She emphasizes transition into a new culture, and lie’s beauty; “I have my God and Ruth vividly remembers horrible He has blessed me. My amily has incidents o domestic violence. let me, but I have riends who Several times, she called the police mean everything to me. Lie is a when her ather was beating her git and I am thankul.” mother. One time, her sister had Ruth Chia-yin Hsieh was an epileptic seizure brought on by born on July 9, 1968, in Taipei, Taiwan Tai wan.. Her ather was a capt captain ain o a Chinese military merchant ship and her mother was a housewie. Ruth recalls that since early childhood, she did not have a close relationship with her dad, although it was something she really wanted. Because o the nature o his work he would be gone or months, sometimes years, at a time. This put a lot o strain on the the trauma o her dad’s violence. growing amily, causing Ruth’s Ruth remembers her mom being mother to suer rom a mental beaten black and blue. “When he breakdown. She was admitted to beat my mother, he would say, ‘I a psychiatric hospital. you leave me I will take a shotgun Relatives convinced Ruth’s and kill you.’I was so scared ... I was ather to return home and care in trauma.” or his wie and three daughters. During this time, Ruth was He did so begrudgingly amongst attending public high school. continual conict in the house. Already, she was suering rom
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
various mental illnesses, and was an easy target or bullies. As she struggled to learn a new language and adapt to a completely dierent world, her classmates became opponents and she grew more and more isolated. Then, The n, some boys viol violent ently ly assaulted her. They attacked and threw snowballs at her. She suered a traumatic brain injury resulting in a diagnosis o epilepsy. Following this horric incident, her parents enrolled her in a Catholic high school, or which they barely earned enough to pay tuition. Depression hit Ruth. Her grades were poor, and she had learning diculties. She also was unable to make riends. Every aternoon, she worked in the amily store. The amily business struggled or years and eventually her parents declared bankruptcy. Her ather let her mother and he moved back to Taiwan to retire. They neve neverr heard heard rom him agai again. n. Ater graduation Ruth worked at dierent places. She was a tray carrier at a hospital, a waitress, and a nanny. Ater working or several years, Ruth’s struggle with depression and other mental illnesses intensied. She decided to move back home. However, her mother was not understanding o all Ruth was going through, and within months, she kicked her daughter out o the house. Ruth spent the next years living in government housing and on the streets. At 21, her abusive and unsupportive ance let her when
www.speakup.com
told Ruth was pregnant. Admitted wanted to start ghts with me. to a psychiatric ward, she stayed Racism was hard.” until the birth o her daughter, Finally, due to mental illness Sarah. Social Services arranged or and addictions, Ruth was reerred Ruth’s baby to be adopted as she to a recovery program, where she was deemed incapable o caring currently lives. She’s happy there or Sarah. This separation caused and says this chance or recovery unspeakable pain, and Ruth tried has given her another shot to live. to commit suicide several times in Along the recovery road, Ruth has the months ollowing her daugh- learned a lot. “I’m still in the trauma ter’s birth. “I constantly overdosed sometimes, and it’s hard. Because over the next several years. I you see, it’s like part o your brain. was in and out o the psychiat- The lay layers ers peel o, and it all ric ward. I tried comes back. In to move back those moments, home, but the when the pain domestic violence is intense, I pray. continued and I pray that God our home was will take it away. very unstable.” That He will be Eventually, my miracle and Ruth’s sisters save me rom married and one o them moved my thoughts. with her mother to Charlotte. Her “Lie is not perect. You have sister wanted to help Ruth recover, to grow rom the pain. That’s why so she invited Ruth to live with it’s called growing pains. I used to them. However, there was more want sympathy, but I have learned domestic violence, and Ruth got to be strong on my own and to restraining orders on both her sis- be closer with God. Without God I ters. She hasn’t had contact with could not make it. Really, I should them since. have died a long time ago. Meanwhile, her mom was “By being in ellowship with diagnosed with cancer and died other people, my spiritual realin 2009. This deep loss caused ity is developing. Now, I just take Ruth to have another mental one day at a time and enjoy lie. It breakdown. She was an alcoholic, used to be that people would talk routinely abused her prescription to me and say ‘you’re a nobody’ medications, and tried to com- and it would dene me. Now I can mit suicide sixteen times. During be real on my own. I don’t have to all o this, Ruth was homeless. pretend to be somebody else. I She “lived” “lived” at the Salvation Army used to want to be accepted by a Women’s shelter or years. “It’s not lot o people, but I ound out that a very pleasant place to be. People being unique and dierent is a
very important part o my lie. I am simple, straightorward and honest. I don’t like attery. I just want to be real.” Ruth says that by sharing her story with other people, she hopes it will encourage them to pursue their dreams and believe in a hope that is real. As a Speak Up vendor, Ruth is nding a new sense o purpose and drive. She says that selling magazines gives her courage to stand up and ace lie. It gives her hope and helps her by connecting her with people who have similar struggles. She enjoys the community o Speak Up vendors and is thankul or this unique opportunity. Her avorite place to sell magazines is UNC Charlotte, where she eels God is using her to help students who are struggling with depression. “A lot o the students are not very happy because they don’t know where they are and they’ve lost their identity. But it’s a good thing to go over there, because I can always share my story and be their riend.” Although Ruth’s story is marked with pain and heartache, she has hope or a bright uture. “I can make it i I just trust in God. In His timing, He will answer my prayers at just the right moment and time. It takes patience and commitment. He will direct my steps. God knows everything— time, space and things … He knows everything.”
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
5
Sports
Sports
PARKOUR IN CHARLOTTE
Pictures by: Jenna Trapasso Thomas
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
7
Sports
Sports
PARKOUR IN CHARLOTTE
Pictures by: Jenna Trapasso Thomas
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
Sports
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
7
Sports
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
9
Sports
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
Sports
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
9
Music
Sports
An
INTERVIEW with Charlotte’s own
John Mark McMillan Words By: Matt Shaw
Above: The club practices at the athletic center
Speak Up:
Below: Jonathan jumps from wall to wall
As a well-kno wn musician, you’ve got a voice. What do y ou speak up for? John Mark:
I have spoken up for people in Africa who need water, a nd I’ve spoken up for children in developing countries in need. Lots of different things. Those are the two main things that I’ve been involve d wit h. As an artist I hav e a lot o f different things to say within the art itself, but
we’ve d one spec ific th ings wi th those particula r organizations. Speak Up:
You’re an Artist Ambassador for Compass ion, what does that mean ? John Mark:
Basically I help spread the word on what Compassion does. Their model is to find children in developing countries and they connect those children with people who help fund their jourPhotos By: Jenna Thomas
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
11
Music
Sports
An
INTERVIEW with Charlotte’s own
John Mark McMillan Words By: Matt Shaw
Above: The club practices at the athletic center
Speak Up:
Below: Jonathan jumps from wall to wall
As a well-kno wn musician, you’ve got a voice. What do y ou speak up for? John Mark:
I have spoken up for people in Africa who need water, a nd I’ve spoken up for children in developing countries in need. Lots of different things. Those are the two main things that I’ve been involve d wit h. As an artist I hav e a lot o f different things to say within the art itself, but
we’ve d one spec ific th ings wi th those particula r organizations. Speak Up:
You’re an Artist Ambassador for Compass ion, what does that mean ? John Mark:
Basically I help spread the word on what Compassion does. Their model is to find children in developing countries and they connect those children with people who help fund their jourPhotos By: Jenna Thomas
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
Music
Music
how other people live is a good thing. Speak Up:
A couple years ago you were involved in a project called, “I Dreamed There Was a Fountain”that you wrot e the t itle tra ck for. What was that? John Mark:
ney. Their goal is to work with the children children to Speak Up: develop them holistically: economically, educa- You we nt to Uganda a few years ag o with Comtion, socially and spiritually. spiritually. They don’t have passion. Do you think people should take trips one model for every child. They figure out what to the third world like Uganda? this specific kid needs to grow and become a John Mark: responsible adult, and they take your money Absolutel y. I think it’s really import ant that and use it based on the needs of the specific people see the world. Especially because I think child. And they keep unbelievable unbelievable tabs – I’ve more people are living that way. We think the seen huge files they have on these kids. They way we live i s the w ay most people in the world see them on a regular basis, weekly, sometimes live, but it’s actually actually not true. true. I think more daily. people live the way the people I met in Uganda But it’s based around what the child live. needs. I’ve met kids who have gone through the The most shocking thing on that trip was whole syst em and becom e lawyers, and doctors . how unbelievably full of life and joy they were. I’ve met kids who grew up up in the dirt. Liter Liter-- They had nothing and they were very happy ally in the dirt. It’s something that really really has people. I think it’s mostly because because most of them a long-term impact. It’s not a one-time thing. do not know how poor they are. are. I think kids You know? In Uganda they’ve had kids come grow up thinking everyone lives the way they out of the slums through the Compassion pro- do. That’s what blew me away. I expected to see gram and become political leaders in the coun- a bunch of sad, angry people. But they weren’t. try. So they literally have an impact impact on poverty Speak Up: on a whole nation because of working with the Some people give short-term mission trips a children. hard time. They call them “feel good tours” and It’s really unbelievable. unbelievable. And I think the that you should spend your $3,000 differe differently. ntly. most unbelievable thing to me is how cheap John Mark: it is. It’s super cheap. It’s so inexpensive to I think nothing is perfect. Nothing works per– I hate to use the word “change” but there’s fectly. But I think that even if a small chunk of no other way to say it -- to change their lives. that Because really, a lot of them have no chance, tourism results in someone doing something, and for a little teeny bit of American money, you then it’s worth it. So people can give it a hard give them something they could probably never time. And I can can understand, understand, but throwing have. I think we get so consumed with how big money at a problem doesn’t necessarily fix it, the poverty problem is – we don’t realize it’s and that things are more complicated than we very easy to help a few p eople. know. But anything that helps educate us as to
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
11
www.speakup.com
I had some friends that started digging wells in Africa. This friend of mine, Matt Peterson, wanted to end the water crisis in the whole continent of Africa. He did the figures and it’s something like the money spent on one American Christmas would eliminate the water crisis for an entire continent. So he said, “All right, I think we can eliminate this crisis in my lifetime.” Obviously, nothing is so easy – there there are political issues and that. But there is still a lot that can be done. So, they started selling water water – now it’s pretty common. You see it – not their brand – but you see at a Starbucks or places where you buy water and goo ds and everyth ing else. But I wanted to help and I loved the idea of having an product, you sell the produce and you generate – it’s not just a one-tim e give, it generates long-term momentum. So I got with some friends of mine and asked how we could help. We decided to do this album. We found people to donate the mixing and sound mastering. Donate some some studio time. All the artists donated their time. It continues to generate money. They have dug a lot of wells because of it. Speak Up:
How do you describe your music? John Mark:
Man. You know, it’s always always weird when when you have to describe your own music because it’s almost like describing your your own face. What do you look like? I know I’m tall, and I’m white. And I hav e a beard. You know what I m ean? I think we are sometimes folk rock, roots rock. Sometimes just call it rock rock and roll. But there’s definitely a gospel element in what we do. Some people call it worship music. music. Some people call it folk rock. A lot of the songs are written with the fo lk idea in mi nd. Most o f the Economy album was written on an acoustic
guitar, but then it ended up being much more rock-driven songs. Speak Up:
On your blog you referred to a Malcolm Gladwell article that suggests people start smokingcigarettes because it is dangerous. And then you transition into talking about Jesus--implying that you think Jesus is dangerous. John Mark:
He is dangerous! The whole Malcolm Gladwell basically proves, or in an article he appears to prove that the reason people smoke is because it’s bad for you. People continue smoking because of the mental, physical or chemical addiction, but the reason most people start is because of the danger. So my whole take on that and Jesus is that I think that sometimes in the modern church Jesus has become very safe and very palatable, and I think people do that because they want to spread the news of Jesus and reach lots of people. But I feel like sometimes I’m personally turned off by the super safe, feminine boy idea of the schoolteacher schoolteacher of Jesus. That’s wrong – I like schoolteachers. schoolteachers. But no, I’m just saying this sort of perfect, politically perfect hippie Jesus. I don’t know. Of course, I like hippies too too – I’m sort of a hippie myself. I guess what I’m saying is that I think we’ve m ade Jesus safe, b ut he’s not saf e. When He walks into the temple and turned over tables and whipped people with cords, you know, people He loved went to jail, people He loved died because they believed believed in Him. And I think sometimes we want to make Christianity easy and safe. I think some of the very attractive aspects of Christianity is that they are not. I’ve got a buddy of mine who talks about art, and I guess this is what I was really getting at with Jesus and cigarettes. cigarettes. He says that the girls that you fall in love with are not the girls who give it all away. The girls who play hard to get, those are the girls you value, those are the girls you want to marry, those are the girls you want to pursu e. The girl s who wal k around showing their stuff are not nearly as interesting. Because you’ve seen it and you have it and there
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
13
Music
Music
how other people live is a good thing. Speak Up:
A couple years ago you were involved in a project called, “I Dreamed There Was a Fountain”that you wrot e the t itle tra ck for. What was that? John Mark:
ney. Their goal is to work with the children children to Speak Up: develop them holistically: economically, educa- You we nt to Uganda a few years ag o with Comtion, socially and spiritually. spiritually. They don’t have passion. Do you think people should take trips one model for every child. They figure out what to the third world like Uganda? this specific kid needs to grow and become a John Mark: responsible adult, and they take your money Absolutel y. I think it’s really import ant that and use it based on the needs of the specific people see the world. Especially because I think child. And they keep unbelievable unbelievable tabs – I’ve more people are living that way. We think the seen huge files they have on these kids. They way we live i s the w ay most people in the world see them on a regular basis, weekly, sometimes live, but it’s actually actually not true. true. I think more daily. people live the way the people I met in Uganda But it’s based around what the child live. needs. I’ve met kids who have gone through the The most shocking thing on that trip was whole syst em and becom e lawyers, and doctors . how unbelievably full of life and joy they were. I’ve met kids who grew up up in the dirt. Liter Liter-- They had nothing and they were very happy ally in the dirt. It’s something that really really has people. I think it’s mostly because because most of them a long-term impact. It’s not a one-time thing. do not know how poor they are. are. I think kids You know? In Uganda they’ve had kids come grow up thinking everyone lives the way they out of the slums through the Compassion pro- do. That’s what blew me away. I expected to see gram and become political leaders in the coun- a bunch of sad, angry people. But they weren’t. try. So they literally have an impact impact on poverty Speak Up: on a whole nation because of working with the Some people give short-term mission trips a children. hard time. They call them “feel good tours” and It’s really unbelievable. unbelievable. And I think the that you should spend your $3,000 differe differently. ntly. most unbelievable thing to me is how cheap John Mark: it is. It’s super cheap. It’s so inexpensive to I think nothing is perfect. Nothing works per– I hate to use the word “change” but there’s fectly. But I think that even if a small chunk of no other way to say it -- to change their lives. that Because really, a lot of them have no chance, tourism results in someone doing something, and for a little teeny bit of American money, you then it’s worth it. So people can give it a hard give them something they could probably never time. And I can can understand, understand, but throwing have. I think we get so consumed with how big money at a problem doesn’t necessarily fix it, the poverty problem is – we don’t realize it’s and that things are more complicated than we very easy to help a few p eople. know. But anything that helps educate us as to
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
I had some friends that started digging wells in Africa. This friend of mine, Matt Peterson, wanted to end the water crisis in the whole continent of Africa. He did the figures and it’s something like the money spent on one American Christmas would eliminate the water crisis for an entire continent. So he said, “All right, I think we can eliminate this crisis in my lifetime.” Obviously, nothing is so easy – there there are political issues and that. But there is still a lot that can be done. So, they started selling water water – now it’s pretty common. You see it – not their brand – but you see at a Starbucks or places where you buy water and goo ds and everyth ing else. But I wanted to help and I loved the idea of having an product, you sell the produce and you generate – it’s not just a one-tim e give, it generates long-term momentum. So I got with some friends of mine and asked how we could help. We decided to do this album. We found people to donate the mixing and sound mastering. Donate some some studio time. All the artists donated their time. It continues to generate money. They have dug a lot of wells because of it. Speak Up:
How do you describe your music? John Mark:
Man. You know, it’s always always weird when when you have to describe your own music because it’s almost like describing your your own face. What do you look like? I know I’m tall, and I’m white. And I hav e a beard. You know what I m ean? I think we are sometimes folk rock, roots rock. Sometimes just call it rock rock and roll. But there’s definitely a gospel element in what we do. Some people call it worship music. music. Some people call it folk rock. A lot of the songs are written with the fo lk idea in mi nd. Most o f the Economy album was written on an acoustic
guitar, but then it ended up being much more rock-driven songs. Speak Up:
On your blog you referred to a Malcolm Gladwell article that suggests people start smokingcigarettes because it is dangerous. And then you transition into talking about Jesus--implying that you think Jesus is dangerous. John Mark:
He is dangerous! The whole Malcolm Gladwell basically proves, or in an article he appears to prove that the reason people smoke is because it’s bad for you. People continue smoking because of the mental, physical or chemical addiction, but the reason most people start is because of the danger. So my whole take on that and Jesus is that I think that sometimes in the modern church Jesus has become very safe and very palatable, and I think people do that because they want to spread the news of Jesus and reach lots of people. But I feel like sometimes I’m personally turned off by the super safe, feminine boy idea of the schoolteacher schoolteacher of Jesus. That’s wrong – I like schoolteachers. schoolteachers. But no, I’m just saying this sort of perfect, politically perfect hippie Jesus. I don’t know. Of course, I like hippies too too – I’m sort of a hippie myself. I guess what I’m saying is that I think we’ve m ade Jesus safe, b ut he’s not saf e. When He walks into the temple and turned over tables and whipped people with cords, you know, people He loved went to jail, people He loved died because they believed believed in Him. And I think sometimes we want to make Christianity easy and safe. I think some of the very attractive aspects of Christianity is that they are not. I’ve got a buddy of mine who talks about art, and I guess this is what I was really getting at with Jesus and cigarettes. cigarettes. He says that the girls that you fall in love with are not the girls who give it all away. The girls who play hard to get, those are the girls you value, those are the girls you want to marry, those are the girls you want to pursu e. The girl s who wal k around showing their stuff are not nearly as interesting. Because you’ve seen it and you have it and there
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
Music
Music
it is. No mystery. It’s just right there there in front of you. But the girls yo u pursue, the gi rls you want to experience life with, are the girls you have to chase. Those are the girls that that are really sexy. The girls that don’t give all their secrets away. Art is the same way – if you give it all away, then you give the listener or the viewer no opportunity to join in the conversation. You give it to them, they have it, they are done – fast food. Hamburger, roll in and roll roll out, it’s done. But if you give them just a little bit and make things a little difficult, you give them the opportunity to pursue, to come further. I think lots of times in church we want to have every answer laid out on a platter. People walk in, take it and leave. But I think that sometimes sometimes it might help the Christian community at large not to have all the answers. You know what I mean? I think it might help Christians to only have a few answers. I think that God is a mysterious thing for a reason. He is mysterious. Christ is a mystery.
grow up seeing something, it is almost like it’s not there. You know? If you grow up seeing poverty, you don’t see it. You know? You probably see people every day. So in that case blood is life, I’m wide awake and there’s blood on the promenade, which is basically saying, “I’m here, I’m alive, I see it. I’m wide awake.”
broken hearts and counterf eit currency. ” And the album ends with “You have called us loved and You have called us wanted / One time we were bruised, we w ere ba nkrupt and ha unted.” Basically, to me a lot of the hope is the Christian hope of believing there is something more for us. At least, that’s what what it was for me.
Speak Up:
Speak Up:
So you are proclaiming that you’re awake and see the blood of injustice...
Have you told those people that you were thinking of their situation?
John Mark:
John Mark:
Exactly. I’m here. I see it. It exists. There is injustice. For me, it was a relational relational injustice when I wrote it, but it could be across the board. You k now? I gues s it could a lso m ean that everybody has been hurt. There’s blood on the promenade, there’s blood blood in the street. It’s pretty depressing if you think about it. But then there’s, “we’ve got a blood, we’ve got a love th at will break the flo od.” Blood represents life. We have strength, we have the ability to make it through this thing that we’re dealing with. And then there’s the blood of the Speak Up: You sing a lot about blood. Th e majorit y of your Son, or blood of a son – reference to Jesus just songs on your last few albums refer to blood as He suffered for us. us. So blood represents life explicitly. and all its different contexts. And the spilling of it is death. So you have the blood which which can John Mark: Yes. You know, it’s funny that a l ot of people speak to life and death. It’s life-giving blood, or refer to the same pictures in their writing. writing. Look the lack thereof. at Springsteen – he’s always singing about the Speak Up: road, the street. street. Singing about cars, buses, In the video promo for “Economy” before the transportation. And later on Springsteen said album was released you said, ‘We’ve have close it was because he was scared to settle down. He friends pass away, we’ve seen divorce and some found comfort in not having to be in one place. of us have had miscarriages.’ Then later you And you’ll hear Ryan Adams singing about said, ‘We’re kind of crushed but not destroyed houses. So for some reason, for me, I get conand there’s a lot of hope on this album.’ Can you nected to blood and bones and stuff like that. tell about a track that you see as hopeful? But for me blood represents life. It represents John Mark: life. So I would say across the board board my records Almost every song on the album was written are about life. And especially the songs that with a pe rson in mind. A pe rson I kn ow. Not have the Christian association. association. There’s the that it’s written for them, like I’m singing to blood of J esus, w hich I believe is lif e, or repre- them, as much as I was looking at their situsents the life available. ation and thinking, “How I could I sing from But other situations like “blood on the their perspective.” So I think there’s there’s hope on promenade,” speaks of injustice, and we all the album. The hope, for me, is the Christian see it. It’s like it’s so clear that that it’s invisible. hope. The album begins with a kind of tongueThere’s blood on the promenade, and when you in-cheek thing, “The Devil’s dealing dirty in
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
13
www.speakup.com
No. Some of them tell me their favorite song and I’ll think, “I know that’s your favorite song, because I wrote i t for you.” But I do n’t say that yet. I don’t think an y of t hem know . Speak Up:
root for the Panthers, but if the Panthers play the team from where they are from, they turn against the Panthers. Charlotte has has loyalty issues to Charlotte. Charlotte. But you know, I’d love love to see people really get behind Charlotte and take pride in ownership in Charlotte, and see an identity develop. And I would like to see Charlott e become a place where we are excited about who we are as a community, as a people. Support each other and root for each other. Not just in sports, but in every area. Speak Up:
If someone were to come to Charlotte for the weekend, and yo u were their tour g uide, where would you take them ?
Many people may sing a song of yours that have John Mark: never even heard of of you. “How He Loves” is Where would I take them? I w ould take them one. What’s the origin origin of that? to eat food at Zada Jane’s for breakfast. Or take John Mark: them to The Diamond diner. diner. It depends on I wrote that song right after a friend of mine where they are fr om. A lot of p eople from out passed away in a car accident. accident. I was just sort West w ill n ot eat fried pickles. They can’t take of, obviously, out of my mind. mind. I’ve always dealt the fried food. Or Pinky’s--I love Pinky’s. with my issues through song. And so I had a What el se do we do ? I hav en’t been out couple lines in a journal and thought it sounded and about so much since we had had kids. There’s like something I wanted to sing. So I took those good music at the Gin Mill, we go out there once lines and I sat down and wrote most of the song in a while to hear people play play and sing. That’s the day after he died. It’s interesting how that always a lot of fun. What else is fun to do do in song became such a popular popular song. Written out Charlotte? Freedom Park is great. of a bad situation. Speak Up: Speak Up: And where would yo u take th em to ch urch? You’re from Charlott e an d y ou live here. What John Mark: hopes do you have for the city? I go to church at Queen City Church on Sunday nights at the Visualite Theater, where my dad is John Mark: When I was in high scho ol we w ould joke about the pastor. I’d bring them there since those are how there is no music in Charlotte. Charlotte. And that my people and the people I have relationships seems to be changing a lot. There’s a lot – not with. I know their stories and I feel welcome like Atlanta, not like even Orlando – but there’s and accepted there. I walk in there and I know good music coming into Charlotte. And it’s people’s stories. Sometimes I don’t want to say growing. And the culture in Charlotte is grow- their stories-ing. I’d love to see see Charlotte develop develop some- Speak Up: thing. I’d love to see Charlotte have an identity. --“that’s the guy I wrote ‘Economy’ for.” Charlotte is very much – and I can only say that John Mark: because I love Charlott e and I have been here *laugh* Exactly. I love it because because it feels like my whole life – Charlotte is very much a city home to me. Just down home. without an ident ity. You know ? Most peo ple here weren’t born in Charlotte. They might go
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
15
Music
Music
it is. No mystery. It’s just right there there in front of you. But the girls yo u pursue, the gi rls you want to experience life with, are the girls you have to chase. Those are the girls that that are really sexy. The girls that don’t give all their secrets away. Art is the same way – if you give it all away, then you give the listener or the viewer no opportunity to join in the conversation. You give it to them, they have it, they are done – fast food. Hamburger, roll in and roll roll out, it’s done. But if you give them just a little bit and make things a little difficult, you give them the opportunity to pursue, to come further. I think lots of times in church we want to have every answer laid out on a platter. People walk in, take it and leave. But I think that sometimes sometimes it might help the Christian community at large not to have all the answers. You know what I mean? I think it might help Christians to only have a few answers. I think that God is a mysterious thing for a reason. He is mysterious. Christ is a mystery.
grow up seeing something, it is almost like it’s not there. You know? If you grow up seeing poverty, you don’t see it. You know? You probably see people every day. So in that case blood is life, I’m wide awake and there’s blood on the promenade, which is basically saying, “I’m here, I’m alive, I see it. I’m wide awake.”
broken hearts and counterf eit currency. ” And the album ends with “You have called us loved and You have called us wanted / One time we were bruised, we w ere ba nkrupt and ha unted.” Basically, to me a lot of the hope is the Christian hope of believing there is something more for us. At least, that’s what what it was for me.
Speak Up:
Speak Up:
So you are proclaiming that you’re awake and see the blood of injustice...
Have you told those people that you were thinking of their situation?
John Mark:
John Mark:
Exactly. I’m here. I see it. It exists. There is injustice. For me, it was a relational relational injustice when I wrote it, but it could be across the board. You k now? I gues s it could a lso m ean that everybody has been hurt. There’s blood on the promenade, there’s blood blood in the street. It’s pretty depressing if you think about it. But then there’s, “we’ve got a blood, we’ve got a love th at will break the flo od.” Blood represents life. We have strength, we have the ability to make it through this thing that we’re dealing with. And then there’s the blood of the Speak Up: You sing a lot about blood. Th e majorit y of your Son, or blood of a son – reference to Jesus just songs on your last few albums refer to blood as He suffered for us. us. So blood represents life explicitly. and all its different contexts. And the spilling of it is death. So you have the blood which which can John Mark: Yes. You know, it’s funny that a l ot of people speak to life and death. It’s life-giving blood, or refer to the same pictures in their writing. writing. Look the lack thereof. at Springsteen – he’s always singing about the Speak Up: road, the street. street. Singing about cars, buses, In the video promo for “Economy” before the transportation. And later on Springsteen said album was released you said, ‘We’ve have close it was because he was scared to settle down. He friends pass away, we’ve seen divorce and some found comfort in not having to be in one place. of us have had miscarriages.’ Then later you And you’ll hear Ryan Adams singing about said, ‘We’re kind of crushed but not destroyed houses. So for some reason, for me, I get conand there’s a lot of hope on this album.’ Can you nected to blood and bones and stuff like that. tell about a track that you see as hopeful? But for me blood represents life. It represents John Mark: life. So I would say across the board board my records Almost every song on the album was written are about life. And especially the songs that with a pe rson in mind. A pe rson I kn ow. Not have the Christian association. association. There’s the that it’s written for them, like I’m singing to blood of J esus, w hich I believe is lif e, or repre- them, as much as I was looking at their situsents the life available. ation and thinking, “How I could I sing from But other situations like “blood on the their perspective.” So I think there’s there’s hope on promenade,” speaks of injustice, and we all the album. The hope, for me, is the Christian see it. It’s like it’s so clear that that it’s invisible. hope. The album begins with a kind of tongueThere’s blood on the promenade, and when you in-cheek thing, “The Devil’s dealing dirty in
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
No. Some of them tell me their favorite song and I’ll think, “I know that’s your favorite song, because I wrote i t for you.” But I do n’t say that yet. I don’t think an y of t hem know . Speak Up:
root for the Panthers, but if the Panthers play the team from where they are from, they turn against the Panthers. Charlotte has has loyalty issues to Charlotte. Charlotte. But you know, I’d love love to see people really get behind Charlotte and take pride in ownership in Charlotte, and see an identity develop. And I would like to see Charlott e become a place where we are excited about who we are as a community, as a people. Support each other and root for each other. Not just in sports, but in every area. Speak Up:
If someone were to come to Charlotte for the weekend, and yo u were their tour g uide, where would you take them ?
Many people may sing a song of yours that have John Mark: never even heard of of you. “How He Loves” is Where would I take them? I w ould take them one. What’s the origin origin of that? to eat food at Zada Jane’s for breakfast. Or take John Mark: them to The Diamond diner. diner. It depends on I wrote that song right after a friend of mine where they are fr om. A lot of p eople from out passed away in a car accident. accident. I was just sort West w ill n ot eat fried pickles. They can’t take of, obviously, out of my mind. mind. I’ve always dealt the fried food. Or Pinky’s--I love Pinky’s. with my issues through song. And so I had a What el se do we do ? I hav en’t been out couple lines in a journal and thought it sounded and about so much since we had had kids. There’s like something I wanted to sing. So I took those good music at the Gin Mill, we go out there once lines and I sat down and wrote most of the song in a while to hear people play play and sing. That’s the day after he died. It’s interesting how that always a lot of fun. What else is fun to do do in song became such a popular popular song. Written out Charlotte? Freedom Park is great. of a bad situation. Speak Up: Speak Up: And where would yo u take th em to ch urch? You’re from Charlott e an d y ou live here. What John Mark: hopes do you have for the city? I go to church at Queen City Church on Sunday nights at the Visualite Theater, where my dad is John Mark: When I was in high scho ol we w ould joke about the pastor. I’d bring them there since those are how there is no music in Charlotte. Charlotte. And that my people and the people I have relationships seems to be changing a lot. There’s a lot – not with. I know their stories and I feel welcome like Atlanta, not like even Orlando – but there’s and accepted there. I walk in there and I know good music coming into Charlotte. And it’s people’s stories. Sometimes I don’t want to say growing. And the culture in Charlotte is grow- their stories-ing. I’d love to see see Charlotte develop develop some- Speak Up: thing. I’d love to see Charlotte have an identity. --“that’s the guy I wrote ‘Economy’ for.” Charlotte is very much – and I can only say that John Mark: because I love Charlott e and I have been here *laugh* Exactly. I love it because because it feels like my whole life – Charlotte is very much a city home to me. Just down home. without an ident ity. You know ? Most peo ple here weren’t born in Charlotte. They might go
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
International
15
International
D E T T A I N
LO V VE E
Words By: Hollis Johnson
TV Prog Programing raming that Exposes Sex Traffic Traff icking king At the age of nine years old, it all began for me. I would leave my family’s house in the the evenings before my father came home from work, and would go to my pimp. pimp . There I would be used sexually, maybe 2-3 times a week. When it was over for the night, I would bring the money back to my family, never letting my father find out the truth. My grandmother and aunt knew, they were the ones who sold me…
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
In a village outside o Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this little girl’s nightmare was also her reality. She says that at the time this was happening to her, about 99 percent o the children in her village were being sexually exploited. She has since been rescued, and is currently regaining her lie back with the aid o an organization specically designed to help victims o sex tracking. Though the number number o child victims in her her village has slightly decreased, she shares sadly that her
older sister is still trapped in this industry. While it is shocking to hear, the United Nations crime ghting oce recently released a statement in USA Today, stating that “2.4 million people across the globe are victims o human tracking at any one time, and 80 percent o them are being exploited as sexual slaves…only one out o 100 victims o tracking is ever rescued.” According to the US Department o Health and Human Services, the denition o sex
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
17
International
International
D E T N T A I
LO V VE E
Words By: Hollis Johnson
TV Prog Programing raming that Exposes Sex Traffic Traff icking king At the age of nine years old, it all began for me. I would leave my family’s house in the the evenings before my father came home from work, and would go to my pimp. pimp . There I would be used sexually, maybe 2-3 times a week. When it was over for the night, I would bring the money back to my family, never letting my father find out the truth. My grandmother and aunt knew, they were the ones who sold me…
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
In a village outside o Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this little girl’s nightmare was also her reality. She says that at the time this was happening to her, about 99 percent o the children in her village were being sexually exploited. She has since been rescued, and is currently regaining her lie back with the aid o an organization specically designed to help victims o sex tracking. Though the number number o child victims in her her village has slightly decreased, she shares sadly that her
www.speakup.com
older sister is still trapped in this industry. While it is shocking to hear, the United Nations crime ghting oce recently released a statement in USA Today, stating that “2.4 million people across the globe are victims o human tracking at any one time, and 80 percent o them are being exploited as sexual slaves…only one out o 100 victims o tracking is ever rescued.” According to the US Department o Health and Human Services, the denition o sex
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
International
17
International
tracking is considered to be this, “a modernday orm o slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by orce, raud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perorm such an act is under the age o 18 years.” To put it more simply, sex slavery. So the question then begs to be asked, what can be done about this? Hearing the cries or social justice, one television network has stepped up to the plate reusing mediocrity and mindless
audience, these halogens must stay connected to survive, are unique and diverse, and one o the chemicals in the group has yet to be discovered. Halogen TV regards its viewers on those same three principles, and believes in a powerul generation not ully realized. With intentional programming, Halogen TV aims to be a sort o lter or their viewers, with so much inormation and opportunity out there it is hard to gure out who to help and how. So at
meant to expose the realities o sex tracking on both a domestic and international level. Through interviews with survivors, experts, and NGO workers, their stories tell the tale o an atrocity that is happening to young boys and girls everywhere. Even right here in Charlotte, NC, victims o sexual exploitation can be ound. Tainted Love was given the rare opportunity to interview a young woman brave enough to share her story about what happened to her in our very city.
dierent. According to an undercover investigator interviewed on the series, it is estimated that about 60 percent o male oreigners visiting Thailand are actually sex tourists, and that this industry provides a large prot or many in the country. Despite the act that prostitution is illegal in Thailand, it is hard to miss the beautiul women and neon lights that come out at night in this big city. There are reportedly several dierent red-light districts in Bangkok, each one
entertainment. Founded three years ago by EVP and General Manager Becky Henderson, Halogen TV is a socially-conscious entertainment network network that encourages and motivates individuals to “be the change” they want to see in the world. Be the change. Powerul in its simplicity, the Charlotte based network got its name rom a group o chemicals on the periodic table called halogens. Similar to the network’s target
Halogen TV, they provide the latest and best news o positive social change around the globe and give you the inside track on how to get involved. Broadcasting both acquired programming and original shows; audiences can get a broader scope o what is happening around the world.As a ront-runner in socially conscious entertainment programming, Halogen TV has created an original series, Tainted Love, which is
While the series has been lmed in various locations around the US, it has also been shot in international locations as well. On a recent shoot to Thailand and Cambodia, Tainted Love was oered a much deeper look inside this horric industry. Arriving rst in Bangkok, Thailand, the Tainted Love crew blended in with the many tourists, some just there to see the sights while others were there or something entirely
known or something dierent. There are streets or locals, and then or curious tourists, one or Arican and Arab men, one that showcases Thai women, or European women, or ladyboys (young men dressed up as women), whatever the customer wants, the customer gets, essentially. While in Bangkok, Tainted Love was able to interview some great organizations ghting against the sexual exploitation o these women,
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
19
International
International
tracking is considered to be this, “a modernday orm o slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by orce, raud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perorm such an act is under the age o 18 years.” To put it more simply, sex slavery. So the question then begs to be asked, what can be done about this? Hearing the cries or social justice, one television network has stepped up to the plate reusing mediocrity and mindless
audience, these halogens must stay connected to survive, are unique and diverse, and one o the chemicals in the group has yet to be discovered. Halogen TV regards its viewers on those same three principles, and believes in a powerul generation not ully realized. With intentional programming, Halogen TV aims to be a sort o lter or their viewers, with so much inormation and opportunity out there it is hard to gure out who to help and how. So at
meant to expose the realities o sex tracking on both a domestic and international level. Through interviews with survivors, experts, and NGO workers, their stories tell the tale o an atrocity that is happening to young boys and girls everywhere. Even right here in Charlotte, NC, victims o sexual exploitation can be ound. Tainted Love was given the rare opportunity to interview a young woman brave enough to share her story about what happened to her in our very city.
dierent. According to an undercover investigator interviewed on the series, it is estimated that about 60 percent o male oreigners visiting Thailand are actually sex tourists, and that this industry provides a large prot or many in the country. Despite the act that prostitution is illegal in Thailand, it is hard to miss the beautiul women and neon lights that come out at night in this big city. There are reportedly several dierent red-light districts in Bangkok, each one
entertainment. Founded three years ago by EVP and General Manager Becky Henderson, Halogen TV is a socially-conscious entertainment network network that encourages and motivates individuals to “be the change” they want to see in the world. Be the change. Powerul in its simplicity, the Charlotte based network got its name rom a group o chemicals on the periodic table called halogens. Similar to the network’s target
Halogen TV, they provide the latest and best news o positive social change around the globe and give you the inside track on how to get involved. Broadcasting both acquired programming and original shows; audiences can get a broader scope o what is happening around the world.As a ront-runner in socially conscious entertainment programming, Halogen TV has created an original series, Tainted Love, which is
While the series has been lmed in various locations around the US, it has also been shot in international locations as well. On a recent shoot to Thailand and Cambodia, Tainted Love was oered a much deeper look inside this horric industry. Arriving rst in Bangkok, Thailand, the Tainted Love crew blended in with the many tourists, some just there to see the sights while others were there or something entirely
known or something dierent. There are streets or locals, and then or curious tourists, one or Arican and Arab men, one that showcases Thai women, or European women, or ladyboys (young men dressed up as women), whatever the customer wants, the customer gets, essentially. While in Bangkok, Tainted Love was able to interview some great organizations ghting against the sexual exploitation o these women,
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
International
International
NightLight being one o them. The organization has oces in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Bangkok, all ocusing on the rescue and recovery o women trapped in the sex trade. At NightLight, the women learn many valuable tools to help them reintegrate into society. One o the ways they can gain back their independence is by learning to make jewelry and bags that the organization sells, giving them back all o the prot. Another organization Tainted Love met up with is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, who works with a specic group targeted by sexual exploitation. The victims in this case, are young boys. During a visit to Thailand a ew years ago to learn more about sex tracking, a young woman rom the US was shocked to learn that no one was helping these boys. Shortly ater her trip, she ounded Urban Light with the goal to show these boys real love and help them nd another way to live. The organization has a center where the boys can come during the day, eel sae and cared or,
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
19
www.speakup.com
and are given a new hope or their uture. Although these boys are victims o sexual exploitation, they did not come to the red-light district in chains. Most o the boys come rom surrounding villages, sent to the city to make money or their amilies. It is a hard concept to grasp, but the duty and responsibility to provide or their amily will drive one i not all siblings to prostitution. It is a stark contrast to watch these boys during the day, many around the age o 16, playing and laughing and teasing one another as i they had not a care in the world, only to see them later in the night trying to sell themselves to men 3-4 times their age at the bars. One courageous young man who shared his story, conded that even now that he is out o the bars, he still eels the weight o providing or his amily, and it is hard to bare. The ounder mentioned that when she took him back to his home village to bring money to his amily, money gained not rom prostituting himsel, his mother only said,
“that’s it, that’s all you have to give us?” Sadly, it seems that the amount o money matters much more than the means o getting it. One common theme across Thailand and Cambodia, which kept being repeated in interviews with Tainted Love, was the plight o the boys. There just aren’t enough people helping them, and unortunately the demand or them is increasing. There is also the local perspective that boys are too resilient and strong to be victims, thereore leading many to believe that there is then no need to help them. And while there are many wonderul organizations in place helping the girls and women, the rescue and recovery looks so dierent or boys and is, consequently, quite another matter in itsel. This is not to say that no one is doing anything, and Tainted Love was able to interview some brave individuals willing to take this risk on. One such organization in Cambodia, seeming to do it all is Agape International Missions. With a variety o programs, Agape oers recovery to survivo rs through their Restoration Center, reaches out to trackers/pimps through the Lord’s Gym, and helps rebuild communities through Rahab’s House, among many other ongoing and uture projects. Several o their buildings are strategically located in a village outside o Phnom Penh, known or its child sex slaves and a destination or pedophiles worldwide. Two more organizations also ghting or change in Cambodia, and reaching out to both boy and girl victims to sex tracking, are Hagar International and Love146. As devastating as this problem is, Tainted Love has also discovered along the way that there are so many willing to try and stop it. Stories o victory and hope are shared on this emotional series, and ways that viewers like you and me can actually help. Tainted Love producer, Tamara Park, encourages audiences to stay inormed on what is happening and that, “many o these organizations have stateside
stores where they [viewers] can use their purchasing power to help support the dignity o those women and children who have come out o sexual exploitation.” True to Halogen TV’s motto, Tainted Love powerully expresses that we must be the change. We, the suppliers and the demanders and the victims, have the power to put this multi-billion dollar industry to rest.
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
21
International
International
NightLight being one o them. The organization has oces in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Bangkok, all ocusing on the rescue and recovery o women trapped in the sex trade. At NightLight, the women learn many valuable tools to help them reintegrate into society. One o the ways they can gain back their independence is by learning to make jewelry and bags that the organization sells, giving them back all o the prot. Another organization Tainted Love met up with is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, who works with a specic group targeted by sexual exploitation. The victims in this case, are young boys. During a visit to Thailand a ew years ago to learn more about sex tracking, a young woman rom the US was shocked to learn that no one was helping these boys. Shortly ater her trip, she ounded Urban Light with the goal to show these boys real love and help them nd another way to live. The organization has a center where the boys can come during the day, eel sae and cared or,
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
and are given a new hope or their uture. Although these boys are victims o sexual exploitation, they did not come to the red-light district in chains. Most o the boys come rom surrounding villages, sent to the city to make money or their amilies. It is a hard concept to grasp, but the duty and responsibility to provide or their amily will drive one i not all siblings to prostitution. It is a stark contrast to watch these boys during the day, many around the age o 16, playing and laughing and teasing one another as i they had not a care in the world, only to see them later in the night trying to sell themselves to men 3-4 times their age at the bars. One courageous young man who shared his story, conded that even now that he is out o the bars, he still eels the weight o providing or his amily, and it is hard to bare. The ounder mentioned that when she took him back to his home village to bring money to his amily, money gained not rom prostituting himsel, his mother only said,
“that’s it, that’s all you have to give us?” Sadly, it seems that the amount o money matters much more than the means o getting it. One common theme across Thailand and Cambodia, which kept being repeated in interviews with Tainted Love, was the plight o the boys. There just aren’t enough people helping them, and unortunately the demand or them is increasing. There is also the local perspective that boys are too resilient and strong to be victims, thereore leading many to believe that there is then no need to help them. And while there are many wonderul organizations in place helping the girls and women, the rescue and recovery looks so dierent or boys and is, consequently, quite another matter in itsel. This is not to say that no one is doing anything, and Tainted Love was able to interview some brave individuals willing to take this risk on. One such organization in Cambodia, seeming to do it all is Agape International Missions. With a variety o programs, Agape oers recovery to survivo rs through their Restoration Center, reaches out to trackers/pimps through the Lord’s Gym, and helps rebuild communities through Rahab’s House, among many other ongoing and uture projects. Several o their buildings are strategically located in a village outside o Phnom Penh, known or its child sex slaves and a destination or pedophiles worldwide. Two more organizations also ghting or change in Cambodia, and reaching out to both boy and girl victims to sex tracking, are Hagar International and Love146. As devastating as this problem is, Tainted Love has also discovered along the way that there are so many willing to try and stop it. Stories o victory and hope are shared on this emotional series, and ways that viewers like you and me can actually help. Tainted Love producer, Tamara Park, encourages audiences to stay inormed on what is happening and that, “many o these organizations have stateside
stores where they [viewers] can use their purchasing power to help support the dignity o those women and children who have come out o sexual exploitation.” True to Halogen TV’s motto, Tainted Love powerully expresses that we must be the change. We, the suppliers and the demanders and the victims, have the power to put this multi-billion dollar industry to rest.
www.speakup.com
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
Trash To Treasure
Trash To Treasure
Words by: Don Roosenberg Photos by: Sarah Moore
Soil So il for the So Soul ul
appreciation or quality ood and experience rsthand the payo o responsibility. The key is to make garGardening with Your Kids dening easy. Instead o an We live in an era where we great way to do this. It provides in-ground garden that takes have to ght to instill character an opportunity to bond with hours o digging, tilling and in our kids (and ourselves). The your kids, as together you work weeding, build a simple raised values o hard work, responsi- at something and watch the bed using the clearance scrap bility, exercise, healthy eating soil yield the literal ruit o your wood at your local hardware and quality relationships don’t labor. Everyone wants their chil- store (i you have a hammer come automatically, especially dren to eat healthy ood, and and nails, you can do this!) and in this electronic age where gardening makes this a more ll it with ready potting mix. Do video games, TV and Internet realistic goal. Your child will be a quick search online to see dican swallow up time and erode excited to taste that tomato erent models and choose what the soul. We have to be inten- he took part in growing. Plus, works best or your amily. Buy a tional to tip the scales in avor resh veggies taste much bet- house brand potting mix witho quality and bring motivation ter than anything at the store. out the ertilizer and add your to our children. By getting your kids involved in own, a slow release organic Having a vegetable gar- a garden they’ll get lots o resh ertilizer such as Plant-Tone. den in your back yard is one air, learn about nature, build an Synthetic ertilizers kill the lie
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
21
www.speakup.com
in your soil and can burn your plants in hot weather. Let your kids help mix the soil; get them a ew o their own tools so they eel legit (or plastic spoons rom your kitchen will do just ne). Start small. Make a list o 5-10 things you’d like to grow. Research each thing to nd the proper planting times and how many plants you’ll need or a “Goldilocks harvest”--not too much and not too little. Keep in mind it doesn’t have to be perect! Don’t worry i your rows aren’t straight or even i all the conditions aren’t adding up perectly. Just give it a go and see what happens; there’s always the handy riend ‘Google’ or troubleshooting or i you have
questions along the way. The process is the most un, and it opens the door or you and your kids to learn together. March, April and May are good planting times or many things in your summer garden, but i you miss out on those times you can plant later in the summer or a all crop. Some crops such as carrots, have tiny seeds and need adult supervision to plant. But even small children can cover the seeds with soil and pat them down. Other summer crops--squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and beans--are grown rom large seeds that are just the right size or children to plant. Use the “push, pinch and pat” method.
Lay them all out in a line, push them into the soil, pinch the soil together and pat them down or good soil contact. Ater planting have your child help water daily with her own watering can. You won’t have to worry about weeds very much with the raised beds, but i need be you can make even the weeding a un game, challenging your child to spot and pull them each week beore you do. There’s so much more your children can learn and benet rom gardening, whether they’re toddlers or teens:
Shadows and Light Keep a chart o the sun’s progress in a day to determine the best spot or your garden. Where does the sun rise and set? Do a scale drawing o your back yard and have your child mark the shadow lines each hour. A south-acing garden with six or more hours o sunlight is best.
Layers in the Soil Head out to a nearby wooded area and bring a shovel. Show your child the layers you can nd there: leaves on top as natural mulch (or covering or the soil), rotting leaves beneath as compost (ertilizing and conditioning the soil) and the soil below that is dark and rich. Dig
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
23
Trash To Treasure
Trash To Treasure
Words by: Don Roosenberg Photos by: Sarah Moore
Soil So il for the So Soul ul
appreciation or quality ood and experience rsthand the payo o responsibility. The key is to make garGardening with Your Kids dening easy. Instead o an We live in an era where we great way to do this. It provides in-ground garden that takes have to ght to instill character an opportunity to bond with hours o digging, tilling and in our kids (and ourselves). The your kids, as together you work weeding, build a simple raised values o hard work, responsi- at something and watch the bed using the clearance scrap bility, exercise, healthy eating soil yield the literal ruit o your wood at your local hardware and quality relationships don’t labor. Everyone wants their chil- store (i you have a hammer come automatically, especially dren to eat healthy ood, and and nails, you can do this!) and in this electronic age where gardening makes this a more ll it with ready potting mix. Do video games, TV and Internet realistic goal. Your child will be a quick search online to see dican swallow up time and erode excited to taste that tomato erent models and choose what the soul. We have to be inten- he took part in growing. Plus, works best or your amily. Buy a tional to tip the scales in avor resh veggies taste much bet- house brand potting mix witho quality and bring motivation ter than anything at the store. out the ertilizer and add your to our children. By getting your kids involved in own, a slow release organic Having a vegetable gar- a garden they’ll get lots o resh ertilizer such as Plant-Tone. den in your back yard is one air, learn about nature, build an Synthetic ertilizers kill the lie
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
in your soil and can burn your plants in hot weather. Let your kids help mix the soil; get them a ew o their own tools so they eel legit (or plastic spoons rom your kitchen will do just ne). Start small. Make a list o 5-10 things you’d like to grow. Research each thing to nd the proper planting times and how many plants you’ll need or a “Goldilocks harvest”--not too much and not too little. Keep in mind it doesn’t have to be perect! Don’t worry i your rows aren’t straight or even i all the conditions aren’t adding up perectly. Just give it a go and see what happens; there’s always the handy riend ‘Google’ or troubleshooting or i you have
www.speakup.com
questions along the way. The process is the most un, and it opens the door or you and your kids to learn together. March, April and May are good planting times or many things in your summer garden, but i you miss out on those times you can plant later in the summer or a all crop. Some crops such as carrots, have tiny seeds and need adult supervision to plant. But even small children can cover the seeds with soil and pat them down. Other summer crops--squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and beans--are grown rom large seeds that are just the right size or children to plant. Use the “push, pinch and pat” method.
Lay them all out in a line, push them into the soil, pinch the soil together and pat them down or good soil contact. Ater planting have your child help water daily with her own watering can. You won’t have to worry about weeds very much with the raised beds, but i need be you can make even the weeding a un game, challenging your child to spot and pull them each week beore you do. There’s so much more your children can learn and benet rom gardening, whether they’re toddlers or teens:
Shadows and Light Keep a chart o the sun’s progress in a day to determine the best spot or your garden. Where does the sun rise and set? Do a scale drawing o your back yard and have your child mark the shadow lines each hour. A south-acing garden with six or more hours o sunlight is best.
Layers in the Soil Head out to a nearby wooded area and bring a shovel. Show your child the layers you can nd there: leaves on top as natural mulch (or covering or the soil), rotting leaves beneath as compost (ertilizing and conditioning the soil) and the soil below that is dark and rich. Dig
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
23
Homeless Heroes
Trash To Treasure
even deeper to nd the inevitable Carolina red clay subsoil. Use the same technique o compost mulch, rich soil and clay subsoil in your own garden. Just add more organic ertilizer at the end o the season and some more compost as mulch on top and you’ll never have to till again.
Problem-Solving I a plant isn’t doing well it’s easy to throw on some astacting ertilizer. But this results in spindly, weak growth making it susceptible to diseases and insects. When you apply pesticides they end up killing more benecial insects than bad ones and hurting the microbial activity in the soil. The best solution is to stay organic: start with quality soil, which encourages healthy, disease-and-bug-resistant plants. There are also plenty o natural pesticide alternatives that you can make at home. It takes more time to research, but this provides a chance or you and your child to solve the problem together. It As denitely worth the eort--both or your child and your garden.
and gardening denitely helps instill it back into the soul.
Responsibility Allow your child to take ownership over something; give her one or two plants, perhaps in a pot, that is entirely hers to look ater. Let her choose what that will be. Help get her started but have her be in charge o making sure it gets proper light and water everyday. Something that is your child’s very own to nurture will motivate her to be a caring responsible child.
Accepting What is Imperfect Not everything in the garden is going to work the way you planned it. Plants die, crops ail. It’s all part o the experience, and good gardeners learn rom their mistakes and try to x them next year. Failure is okay--it shouldn’t stop you or your child. Show your children this principle rsthand in your gardening, and it will stay with them their enitre lie.
Patience Growing vegetables in the garden takes time. It may take two weeks or a seed to sprout and much longer or a harvest. This is a good thing in our world o ast ood, entertainment, communication and news. Patience has become a lost art,
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
Don Rosenberg is owner of Instant Organic Garden and author of “No Green Thumb Required! Organic Family Gardening Made Easy.” He builds back yard vegetable gardens for families through out the greater Charloe, NC area and talks to lo cal groups on how to make gardening easy. His business is expanding across the United States. For more information, visit www.instantorganicgarden. com. 704-910-6498
[email protected]
The
Mitch Cooper Story Words by: Rob Burbank Burbank Pictures by: Josh Putnam
My days are different. A good day is no longer dened the same as it was just a short time ago. In fact, if you would have told me a year ago I would be sitting in a coffee house on an early Spring morning listening to the life story of a formerly homeless, recovering addict I would have called you crazy. But, here I am. With heart in hand hand and eyes and and ears wide open… here I am. I am blessed to soak soak up the incredible incredible experiences of a gifted musician who has been down more roads, roads, in front of more crowds, and faced more challenges in the rst 47 years of his life than most of us ever will. His denition of a good day is radically different now. These days every day seems to be a good day for Mitch Cooper. After hearing his story over a cup of my favorite dark roast, it was evident that this wasn’t always the case. case. With the long gray hair, that has weathered life’s storms with him, Mitch’s words mark the milestone milestoness in his life that bring him to where he now sits. He has a rich history of music in his family..it’s in his blood. He carries that rhythm his father had playing for Buddy Holly in the 50’s to and through
each of his memories. He got his more gigs, being signed by Fox rst guitar when he was 12. He Records, the parties, the worldsoon traded a guitar for drums wide tours tours with the likes of Blues Blues and found his calling. Mitch and Traveler, Grand Funk Railroad, a friend formed a band. He soon solo gigs and so much more. moved on and spent the next Mitch humbly says “I made nice few years playing with some well amounts of money.” He is also known local bands. Then, in the equally real, but more specic, mid 80’s he and another buddy about the one constant through started The Inn. It was then that much of these years. The drugs. the ‘fun’ really began. More and “My heroin habit was immense.
SPEAK UP MAGAZINE
25
Homeless Heroes
Trash To Treasure
even deeper to nd the inevitable Carolina red clay subsoil. Use the same technique o compost mulch, rich soil and clay subsoil in your own garden. Just add more organic ertilizer at the end o the season and some more compost as mulch on top and you’ll never have to till again.
Problem-Solving I a plant isn’t doing well it’s easy to throw on some astacting ertilizer. But this results in spindly, weak growth making it susceptible to diseases and insects. When you apply pesticides they end up killing more benecial insects than bad ones and hurting the microbial activity in the soil. The best solution is to stay organic: start with quality soil, which encourages healthy, disease-and-bug-resistant plants. There are also plenty o natural pesticide alternatives that you can make at home. It takes more time to research, but this provides a chance or you and your child to solve the problem together. It As denitely worth the eort--both or your child and your garden.
and gardening denitely helps instill it back into the soul.
Responsibility Allow your child to take ownership over something; give her one or two plants, perhaps in a pot, that is entirely hers to look ater. Let her choose what that will be. Help get her started but have her be in charge o making sure it gets proper light and water everyday. Something that is your child’s very own to nurture will motivate her to be a caring responsible child.
Accepting What is Imperfect Not everything in the garden is going to work the way you planned it. Plants die, crops ail. It’s all part o the experience, and good gardeners learn rom their mistakes and try to x them next year. Failure is okay--it shouldn’t stop you or your child. Show your children this principle rsthand in your gardening, and it will stay with them their enitre lie.
Patience Growing vegetables in the garden takes time. It may take two weeks or a seed to sprout and much longer or a harvest. This is a good thing in our world o ast ood, entertainment, communication and news. Patience has become a lost art,
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
Don Rosenberg is owner of Instant Organic Garden and author of “No Green Thumb Required! Organic Family Gardening Made Easy.” He builds back yard vegetable gardens for families through out the greater Charloe, NC area and talks to lo cal groups on how to make gardening easy. His business is expanding across the United States. For more information, visit www.instantorganicgarden. com. 704-910-6498
[email protected]
The
Mitch Cooper Story Words by: Rob Burbank Burbank Pictures by: Josh Putnam
My days are different. A good day is no longer dened the same as it was just a short time ago. In fact, if you would have told me a year ago I would be sitting in a coffee house on an early Spring morning listening to the life story of a formerly homeless, recovering addict I would have called you crazy. But, here I am. With heart in hand hand and eyes and and ears wide open… here I am. I am blessed to soak soak up the incredible incredible experiences of a gifted musician who has been down more roads, roads, in front of more crowds, and faced more challenges in the rst 47 years of his life than most of us ever will. His denition of a good day is radically different now. These days every day seems to be a good day for Mitch Cooper. After hearing his story over a cup of my favorite dark roast, it was evident that this wasn’t always the case. case. With the long gray hair, that has weathered life’s storms with him, Mitch’s words mark the milestone milestoness in his life that bring him to where he now sits. He has a rich history of music in his family..it’s in his blood. He carries that rhythm his father had playing for Buddy Holly in the 50’s to and through
each of his memories. He got his more gigs, being signed by Fox rst guitar when he was 12. He Records, the parties, the worldsoon traded a guitar for drums wide tours tours with the likes of Blues Blues and found his calling. Mitch and Traveler, Grand Funk Railroad, a friend formed a band. He soon solo gigs and so much more. moved on and spent the next Mitch humbly says “I made nice few years playing with some well amounts of money.” He is also known local bands. Then, in the equally real, but more specic, mid 80’s he and another buddy about the one constant through started The Inn. It was then that much of these years. The drugs. the ‘fun’ really began. More and “My heroin habit was immense.
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Homeless Heroes
Grassroots Charlotte
It was up to $600 a day.” “It was homeless and sleeping in the that was is nowhere to be found. ridiculous…it was crazy.” rain,” Cooper smiles “I ended Sitting in front of me was a man who through hell and back has Fast forwarding through up sleeping in a bed. this tumultuous life we move in So what’s next chapter of found his peace and his place. and around the blur of successes Cooper’s life look like? Back to His words reinforce his contentand challenges in the music busimusic it is. In addition to Open ment. “I have an apartment, a ness, even other not so fruitful Mic nights, the gifted musician jam box, a TV, a guitar, some ventures outside of that brutal looks to be booking at venues acrylic paints and a pad….I’m set. industry, and we end up in 2005. all over the area. But, there is I have a great girlfriend, I’m set.” How does Mitch want to Mitch is sharing an apartment something different. The passion remembered? He muses, muses, “As in Uptown. He has an argu- lights up in his eyes as he says, be remembered? ment with his roommate. Locks “I just want to live simply…I just a guy that’s in a position to give back to people are changed, he doesn’t a restraining know. I would order is placed like a stranger on him and he to become my has nowhere to friend.” With go. “Like overoverhumility he night I became concludes, homeless. “I want to be I had no remembered money. My as a guy that drug habit was set up a place out of control. that made I was sick…it Charlotte 0% was horrible.” horrible.” homeless. H i s That’s my goal friend Steve with my music. Davis saved his And hopefully life and got him people, when checked into they come to a Methadone see me, they clinic. He got clean, but lost his address and want to give back. I feel more know they’re supporting the everything else he had. successful now that I did when I homeless more than my back Mitch spent the next four was making making lots of money. And, I pocket.” Mitch you’ve turned years sleeping in shelters shelters,, the feel more together. Money is not occasional friend’s house and important to me anymore…..only another stranger into and friend bouncing in and out of mental what itcan do.” do.” Mitch Mitch pauses pauses and and have helped me to continue hospitals and clinics. Finally then in a very satised tone nn - redening what it means to have he caught a break. This home- ishes, “Everything’s good man…. a good day... less musician got accepted into everything’s good.” a program that gave him a place Things that used to be That Saturday was a good to live and get his live started important to Mitch aren’t. Life’s again. “After 4 years of being radically different. The stress day…..a very good day.
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“You mean to tell me, you do all this good in the day and you lock them out to the bad at night? Does that make any sense to you?”
Needing Moore
How the answer to one question became the answer for Charlotte’s chronically homel homeless. ess. “You mean to tell me, you do all this good in the day and you lock them out to the bad at night? Does that make any sense to you?” Kathy Izard, Urban Ministry Center volunteer and ormer board member, vividly remembers the day Denver Moore spoke these words. It was a question she had never
asked hersel in 15 years o volunteering and it was the one that would, subsequently, help create a housing project never beore seen in the Queen City. This January, eighty-v eighty-ve e o Charlotte’s chronically homeless will call Moore Place home. A true collaboration o community, Moore Place is, at its core,
the answer to one very simple question. One Thursday morning over coee, I met with Kathy Izard to talk about the conversation that changed her lie.”Meeting Denver Moore changed my path in ways I never saw coming” says Izard. It started with a book.
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a t a v a L n a m r o N & g n i n n a M n i t s u D : y b s e r u t c i P i n n a i r t s a M a i e K : y b s d r o W
Homeless Heroes
Grassroots Charlotte
It was up to $600 a day.” “It was homeless and sleeping in the that was is nowhere to be found. ridiculous…it was crazy.” rain,” Cooper smiles “I ended Sitting in front of me was a man who through hell and back has Fast forwarding through up sleeping in a bed. this tumultuous life we move in So what’s next chapter of found his peace and his place. and around the blur of successes Cooper’s life look like? Back to His words reinforce his contentand challenges in the music busimusic it is. In addition to Open ment. “I have an apartment, a ness, even other not so fruitful Mic nights, the gifted musician jam box, a TV, a guitar, some ventures outside of that brutal looks to be booking at venues acrylic paints and a pad….I’m set. industry, and we end up in 2005. all over the area. But, there is I have a great girlfriend, I’m set.” How does Mitch want to Mitch is sharing an apartment something different. The passion remembered? He muses, muses, “As in Uptown. He has an argu- lights up in his eyes as he says, be remembered? ment with his roommate. Locks “I just want to live simply…I just a guy that’s in a position to give back to people are changed, he doesn’t a restraining know. I would order is placed like a stranger on him and he to become my has nowhere to friend.” With go. “Like overoverhumility he night I became concludes, homeless. “I want to be I had no remembered money. My as a guy that drug habit was set up a place out of control. that made I was sick…it Charlotte 0% was horrible.” horrible.” homeless. H i s That’s my goal friend Steve with my music. Davis saved his And hopefully life and got him people, when checked into they come to a Methadone see me, they clinic. He got clean, but lost his address and want to give back. I feel more know they’re supporting the everything else he had. successful now that I did when I homeless more than my back Mitch spent the next four was making making lots of money. And, I pocket.” Mitch you’ve turned years sleeping in shelters shelters,, the feel more together. Money is not occasional friend’s house and important to me anymore…..only another stranger into and friend bouncing in and out of mental what itcan do.” do.” Mitch Mitch pauses pauses and and have helped me to continue hospitals and clinics. Finally then in a very satised tone nn - redening what it means to have he caught a break. This home- ishes, “Everything’s good man…. a good day... less musician got accepted into everything’s good.” a program that gave him a place Things that used to be That Saturday was a good to live and get his live started important to Mitch aren’t. Life’s again. “After 4 years of being radically different. The stress day…..a very good day.
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
a t a v a L n a m r o
“You mean to tell me, you do all this good in the day and you lock them out to the bad at night? Does that make any sense to you?”
Needing Moore
How the answer to one question became the answer for Charlotte’s chronically homel homeless. ess. “You mean to tell me, you do all this good in the day and you lock them out to the bad at night? Does that make any sense to you?” Kathy Izard, Urban Ministry Center volunteer and ormer board member, vividly remembers the day Denver Moore spoke these words. It was a question she had never
asked hersel in 15 years o volunteering and it was the one that would, subsequently, help create a housing project never beore seen in the Queen City. This January, eighty-v eighty-ve e o Charlotte’s chronically homeless will call Moore Place home. A true collaboration o community, Moore Place is, at its core,
www.speakup.com
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Grassroots Charlotte
Kathy was urged by her mother to read, The Same Kind o Dierent as Me, authored by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It told the unlikely story o a riendship between Hall, an afuent art collector, and Moore, a chronically homeless man at the time. “That book starting haunting me,” said Izard, who had been volunteering at the Urban Ministry Center since 1995. “I kept thinking about it,” she said. As Kathy tells it, the book kept her awake at night until, one day, she sent an email to Ron Hall asking him and Denver Moore to speak at the Urban Ministry Center. It was a shot in the dark. To her surprise, Hall returned her email and agreed to a speaking engagement, engagement, one that had yet to be created. “There was no speaking engagement,” laughs Izard.”It was just an idea I hadn’t told anyone about including Dale Mullennix.” Mullennix is the
the answer to one very simple question. One Thursday morning over coee, I met with Kathy Izard to talk about the conversation that changed her lie.”Meeting Denver Moore changed my path in ways I never saw coming” says Izard. It started with a book.
27
Grassroots Charlotte
Executive Director at the Urban Then, the inamous quesMinistry Center. tion. “You mean to tell me, you What ollowed was the do all this good in the day and very rst True Blessings lun- you lock them out to the bad cheon on November 16, 2007. at night? Does that make any The day beore the the event, Kathy sense to you?Flabbergasted, took Denver on a tour, showcas- Kathy shook her head no. ing the wonderul programs and Denver asked, “Are you going to services oered by the Urban do something about it?” Ministry Center including the Admittedly, Kathy didn’t soup kitchen, the Artworks pro- know. She was a volunteer. gram and Community Garden. The event she worked on with She describes Moore as a riends was somewhat o a man o ew words. “He doesn’t phenomenon, created by hapspeak much but, when he does, penstance as a result o a “pie it seems to come rom an oth- in the sky” email to Ron Hall. erworldly place.” During the As they let the Center, Moore obligatory tour, Denver kept his looked at Kathy and reassured hands in his pockets, staying her, “You don’t have to be scared.” silent. Finally, he spoke. “Where “About what?” She assumed he are the beds?” he asked. was reerring to the audience o Kathy explained that 1100 people that were attendthere were no beds. The Urban ing True Blessings the next day. Ministry Center provides a “About building the beds,” wealth o supportive services said Denver. “They already know to Charlotte’s homeless popula- they are coming” Unsure o what tion, but beds and shelter were Denver was saying, Kathy asked, not one o them. “Who?” She pauses and repeats Denver’s words to her, “The people who are going to help you.” That moment, Kathy says, changed her lie. It also became the impetus or the development o Moore Place. That same year, the Charlotte Observer published an op-ed piece by Liz ClasenKelly, Urban Ministry Center employee, which discussed the benets o Housing First, a progressive housing model which
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
had garnered signicant pos- test the concept. itive outcomes in cities such In May 2008, Homeless to as Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake Homes (H2H) was launched as City and New York. Those cit- a result o a generous donation ies reported a remarkable provided by Jon and Pat Moore. reduction in homelessness and The pilot project moved its rst signicant savings in tax-payer our residents into apartment assisted services such as emer- units scattered throughout gency room visits, jail stays and Charlotte and has since added temporary shelters. twenty more. Joann Markley, That Observer article case manager or Homeless caught the attention o local phi- to Homes recorded impreslanthropists Jon and Pat Moore. sive results within the rst ew Consequently, the Moore’s had months. also seen a recent television Immediately ollowing piece on the show 60 Minutes the successul implementation about Common Ground, a New o H2H, the Urban Ministry York based non-prot that pio- Center along with key individneered Housing First programs, uals within the community got most notably in Times Square. . to work on Moore Place. A vul The subject impacted nerability index was conducted the couple enough to warrant in 2010 to count Charlotte’s a phone to their riend Dale chronically homeless. The Mullennix, Executive Director Urban Ministry Center recruited o the Urban Ministry Center. Common Ground to assist. They asked about the possibil- Representing the New York nonity o Housing First solutions in prot was Caroline Chambre, Charlotte. The simple answer who served as technical advisor to that question, Mullennix to the survey. explained, was a pilot project to Chambre came bearing
extensive experience, having managed a permanent supportive housing building in Times Square that singlehandedly reduced homelessness within a 20-block radius by 87 percent. Turns out, this was the same building eatured on 60 Minutes the day that Jon and Pat Moore were watching. Chambre, a native Charlottean, returned soon ater completing the vulnerability index to become the Director o Housing Programs or the Urban Ministry Center. The opportunity to contribute to bringing a Housing First model to her hometown was an opportunity she could not miss. Since then, Chambre along with the time and talent o many Charlotteans have nurtured the housing development to ruition. “Moore Place is an opportunity or Charlotte to say that homelessness is a solvable problem,” says Chambre. “It is a just, compassionate way to approach the housing dilemma.” To Chambre, Moore Place is a viable beginning, something that can be replicated. So ar, it is a clear message that the community problem o homelessness can and is being solved by the collaboration o a just and caring community. What was once a thought-provoking question has become a new housing rontier in Charlotte.
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29
N & g n i n n a M n i t s u D : y b s e r u t c i P i n n a i r t s a M a i e K : y b s d r o W
Grassroots Charlotte
Kathy was urged by her mother to read, The Same Kind o Dierent as Me, authored by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It told the unlikely story o a riendship between Hall, an afuent art collector, and Moore, a chronically homeless man at the time. “That book starting haunting me,” said Izard, who had been volunteering at the Urban Ministry Center since 1995. “I kept thinking about it,” she said. As Kathy tells it, the book kept her awake at night until, one day, she sent an email to Ron Hall asking him and Denver Moore to speak at the Urban Ministry Center. It was a shot in the dark. To her surprise, Hall returned her email and agreed to a speaking engagement, engagement, one that had yet to be created. “There was no speaking engagement,” laughs Izard.”It was just an idea I hadn’t told anyone about including Dale Mullennix.” Mullennix is the
Grassroots Charlotte
Executive Director at the Urban Then, the inamous quesMinistry Center. tion. “You mean to tell me, you What ollowed was the do all this good in the day and very rst True Blessings lun- you lock them out to the bad cheon on November 16, 2007. at night? Does that make any The day beore the the event, Kathy sense to you?Flabbergasted, took Denver on a tour, showcas- Kathy shook her head no. ing the wonderul programs and Denver asked, “Are you going to services oered by the Urban do something about it?” Ministry Center including the Admittedly, Kathy didn’t soup kitchen, the Artworks pro- know. She was a volunteer. gram and Community Garden. The event she worked on with She describes Moore as a riends was somewhat o a man o ew words. “He doesn’t phenomenon, created by hapspeak much but, when he does, penstance as a result o a “pie it seems to come rom an oth- in the sky” email to Ron Hall. erworldly place.” During the As they let the Center, Moore obligatory tour, Denver kept his looked at Kathy and reassured hands in his pockets, staying her, “You don’t have to be scared.” silent. Finally, he spoke. “Where “About what?” She assumed he are the beds?” he asked. was reerring to the audience o Kathy explained that 1100 people that were attendthere were no beds. The Urban ing True Blessings the next day. Ministry Center provides a “About building the beds,” wealth o supportive services said Denver. “They already know to Charlotte’s homeless popula- they are coming” Unsure o what tion, but beds and shelter were Denver was saying, Kathy asked, not one o them. “Who?” She pauses and repeats Denver’s words to her, “The people who are going to help you.” That moment, Kathy says, changed her lie. It also became the impetus or the development o Moore Place. That same year, the Charlotte Observer published an op-ed piece by Liz ClasenKelly, Urban Ministry Center employee, which discussed the benets o Housing First, a progressive housing model which
STAY INFORMED, HELP THE NEEDY, GET INVOLVED.
www.speakup.com
had garnered signicant pos- test the concept. itive outcomes in cities such In May 2008, Homeless to as Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake Homes (H2H) was launched as City and New York. Those cit- a result o a generous donation ies reported a remarkable provided by Jon and Pat Moore. reduction in homelessness and The pilot project moved its rst signicant savings in tax-payer our residents into apartment assisted services such as emer- units scattered throughout gency room visits, jail stays and Charlotte and has since added temporary shelters. twenty more. Joann Markley, That Observer article case manager or Homeless caught the attention o local phi- to Homes recorded impreslanthropists Jon and Pat Moore. sive results within the rst ew Consequently, the Moore’s had months. also seen a recent television Immediately ollowing piece on the show 60 Minutes the successul implementation about Common Ground, a New o H2H, the Urban Ministry York based non-prot that pio- Center along with key individneered Housing First programs, uals within the community got most notably in Times Square. . to work on Moore Place. A vul The subject impacted nerability index was conducted the couple enough to warrant in 2010 to count Charlotte’s a phone to their riend Dale chronically homeless. The Mullennix, Executive Director Urban Ministry Center recruited o the Urban Ministry Center. Common Ground to assist. They asked about the possibil- Representing the New York nonity o Housing First solutions in prot was Caroline Chambre, Charlotte. The simple answer who served as technical advisor to that question, Mullennix to the survey. explained, was a pilot project to Chambre came bearing
extensive experience, having managed a permanent supportive housing building in Times Square that singlehandedly reduced homelessness within a 20-block radius by 87 percent. Turns out, this was the same building eatured on 60 Minutes the day that Jon and Pat Moore were watching. Chambre, a native Charlottean, returned soon ater completing the vulnerability index to become the Director o Housing Programs or the Urban Ministry Center. The opportunity to contribute to bringing a Housing First model to her hometown was an opportunity she could not miss. Since then, Chambre along with the time and talent o many Charlotteans have nurtured the housing development to ruition. “Moore Place is an opportunity or Charlotte to say that homelessness is a solvable problem,” says Chambre. “It is a just, compassionate way to approach the housing dilemma.” To Chambre, Moore Place is a viable beginning, something that can be replicated. So ar, it is a clear message that the community problem o homelessness can and is being solved by the collaboration o a just and caring community. What was once a thought-provoking question has become a new housing rontier in Charlotte.
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DIGNITY
29
DIGNITY POVERTY
