Amba Mshamba meets the city

I developed the nickname of "Amba Mshamba" (like "Amber the hick") among my travel mates as we zipped from life in the highland village to the metropolitan cities of Europe. I'm still enjoying the dance with new neighborhoods and communities and people here. Indeed, the connections sometimes are uncanny. I've met community leaders and coffee house owners, defenders of the marginalized and neighborhood initiators, internationals (indeed, even a few Swahili speakers!), teachers and students of education, activists, lovers, movers and shakers. I've met people digging into neighborhoods all over Cincinnati (Norwood, Price Hill, Clifton, Over the Rhine, Walnut Hills) who really care and are making impacts in neighborhood saftey, public school education and simply the way people treat each other. I've even had the unexpected privelege of meeting with a couple people who've through their speaking and writing about justice have had a profound influence on my path and my current obsession with loving through living community.

Thanks you, all of you, the Brown House, CCDA folks and community leaders I met there, the Mackins, the Westwoods, Rohs Street cafe frequenters, ELS students, BLOC, Oyler teachers... for what you do and for the time you've set aside to share with me.

Next month I'm going to New York City (1st week in February... anyone want to join me?) to check out the Teachers College there and chum around with some everyday folks to the same stuff up there as those that I've been chumming with down here. It seems there's so much action- and so much need for action. Like walking into one of our ginormous supermarkets and dizzyingly gaping at the plethora of options on the endless shelves. Amba Mshamba is dizzingly, gratefully, excitedly walking the aisles.