Helping the Poor Should be an Ordinary Thing

It's time for another Toastmaster's speach. Here's a draft of #4. I've still got a day to clean it up:

Project #4 How to Say It

Helping the Poor Should be an Ordinary Thing
June 21, 2006

I. Helping the poor should be an ordinary thing.
a. It shouldn’t be a political soapbox.
b. It shouldn’t be the job of the few, the brave.
c. It shouldn’t be the subject of a startling speech.

II. “In the depths of darkest Raleigh . . .”
a. Wrong. The poor in Raleigh are our neighbors
i. The difference between a poor neighborhood and a trendy neighborhood can be just around a corner or opposite ends of a street.
1. Example – West South Street to Boylan Avenue
2. Example – North Bloodworth Street to South Bloodworth Street
3. Example – Oakwood Neighborhood to Boyer Street
ii. Especially in Raleigh, the lines between the Rich and Poor neighborhoods are blurred – we drive through these communities every day.

III. “They’re people with needs we can’t understand.”
a. Wrong. Their needs are the same as ours.
i. Progress Energy electric bills, efficient housing, safe neighborhoods, transportation to jobs, local education
b. They have the same beliefs – we never debate theology;
c. The same priorities – caring for their children.
d. Difference in the number of economic choices.

IV. “Only a few brave souls can reach them.”
a. Wrong. Anyone can help another person.
b. It takes listening
i. What are the real needs?
ii. What need can you help now?
iii. How can you address the causes?
c. It takes matching resources
i. What can you give to match what they need?
1. Can you give Money? Leadership? Expertise?

V. “So, you’re saying poverty is easy to solve?”
a. No. It’s generations deep, but we can still help each other.
b. Don’t forget the big issues –
i. Education reform – equal education without busing,
ii. Property incentives – for wealth building
iii. Good policing and speedy justice – for safe communities

VI. Stop thinking it’s Us and Them. It’s all Us
a. Start by lending tools to your neighbor
b. Join an organization that helps people who you wouldn’t get to meet.
c. Then, when you get a chance, try out the soap box or the startling speech.

Good Art Isn't Safe - Take 2

My Toastmasters mentor said my speech didn't quite make sense yet. Here's the final draft:


Project #2 Get to the Point
Good Art Isn’t Safe

I. Introduction
a. Good art isn’t safe. Good art changes things. Good art can leave a lasting impact.
b. You’ve seen safe art – décor in hotel rooms, music in elevators. It matches the furniture. It doesn’t make you uncomfortable. It doesn’t need a second glance.
c. My goal is to highlight several forms of good art and describe its effects.

II. Literature
a. First time I was affected by good art was Senior year of High School - “The Stranger” by Albert Camus
b. A book about a character dealing with his place in the world
c. I was a lonely kid who thought the world was irrelevant – discovered I’m not alone being lonely and that I am a part of the world. This introduced me to existentialism – have been wondering if I’m an existentialist ever since!

III. Sculpture
a. One of the most famous sculptural icons is Auguste Rodin’s “thinker.”
b. You’ve seen him in commercials, cartoons, imitated by friends. Saw a store that had a foam “Thinker” on a stick, very safe.
c. Saw the work at the NC Museum of Art in context. The thinker is part of a much larger piece, a huge black door call the “Gates of Hell”
d. The character is thinking about his eternity – certainly not a safe question!

IV. Painting
a. Abstract painting can be safe if you don’t understand it – Picasso – “interesting”
b. Saw “Guernica” in Spain, about the Spanish Civil War
c. Unlike what you see in books, this was 25’ x 11’, fills the room, black, sprawling forms, a lightbulb, a flower on the ground, a broken sword
d. I’m a Republican, generally in support of just war, but the piece made me realize the atrocity of war in a more personal way than ever before.

V. Architecture
a. We are surrounded by architecture – we live in it, work in it, drive by it. Form follows function. It has to be safe, by code.
b. First year in college – Glass House by Philip Johnson
c. A shoebox of glass and steel
d. The definition of perfect proportions. Perfect placement of minimal elements – furniture, kitchen counter
e. Coincidence of indoor and outdoor – experience of nature blending with experience of being indoors
f. I found out what architecture could be and have fought with that in my profession.

VI. Music
a. Music is very familiar – especially for me – I grew up around it, I like it.
b. We had free tickets to the symphony recently on a Friday night
i. We were tired from work, had a hard week, considered staying home
ii. Classical music can be boring, especially when it’s unfamiliar
c. The piece was “Resurrection” by Gustav Mahler
i. The opening chords filled the hall, broke through my shell
ii. Wide range of emotions and experiences through the piece
iii. Still wondering about the meaning of the piece and how it could have been so powerful.

VII. Conclusion
a. Good art isn’t safe. It can affect you for years to come. It can affect whole cultures, across generations. Think twice before you visit a museum or put in that CD. You might get changed.