Home again, if only for a little while...

This past week has been amazing! Have you ever had one of those moments when you knew that the events that were unfolding were somehow going to effect you for the rest of your life...? I was fortunate enough to have and recognize 2 events like that this week.

The first started by attending the Rainbow Push Coalition Los Angeles conference. The luncheon keynote speaker was Rev. Jesse Jackson. I was so excited, and I am ever so grateful to Tracy Stanhoff, owner of AdPro and president of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California, for giving me 2 free ticket to the conference.

One of the people that I admire and hold as an incredible role model is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Rev. Jackson was lucky enough to spend time and learn from him while MLK was still alive. When Rev. Jackson got up to speak, I was could hardly believe it, he was so close....I could hear him without the microphone. He started with a prayer that asked for our "scars be turned into stars". I liked that.

Now there is this radio station here in LA that has this game where they play a segment of Jesse speaking, and you have to try to interpret what he is saying. I admit, there were some moments where I thought "what the hell did he just say?". But overall, I was impressed by his message.

My "moment" happened about 1/2 way through his speech when he called for us to "say it with me now". He would say something, and then ask us to repeat what he just said. I thought,"Hey, I like that, I'm gonna use that one...". I do a lot of public speaking and training in ndn country, so I filed that away to use at a later date. Little did I know that I would be calling upon this Jackson skill so quickly.

The second moment that I had this week was a matter not more than 18 hours ago. I was in Reno, NV presenting the findings of 3 small groups that I had worked with the day before. Each small group had Native representatives from all over CA, coming together to talk about how they can establish Community Advisory Boards on their reservations. My last group had a member that said he wanted to establish a board, and he wanted to really help his people, but he couldn't stand the politics. If you are from ndn country, you are well aware that politics is one of the major contributing factors holding us down.

His words stuck with me for the rest of the day and into the evening. I hear that type of complaint all the time. "We want to help, but our own people .....(fill in the blank with either put us down, block us, spread rumors, sabotage us, tell their youth not to support us, etc.) I knew that I had to sum up what all 3 of the small groups said, and each one of them had similar complaint to varying degrees. I went to bed and prayed that Creator would send me the right thing to say in the morning.

It hit me when I was brushing my teeth this morning. I was that simple, make them repeat some type of inspirational saying....something that they could take home with them and say to themselves when things get tough. I quickly started thinking...what could I have them say? My first attempt was "change is possible". But then I thought, well, change is possible, but change is sometimes good and sometimes it's bad. I decided since most of the people that voiced concern seemed to think that things could never really improve; I had to make them believe that things could get better. "Positive change is possible". That was it, short and to the point- positive change is possible!

We had 4 presentations scheduled; I was the 2nd to present. My heart was beating a little quicker than usual, which is not something that happens to me that often. I rarely get nervous before I have to address a crowd. The only thing that kept running through my head was...would they actually respond to my words...? What if they all just look at me like I'm some idiot...? I got up, grabbed the microphone and went to work.

When it came time for me to tell them that I was aware that things aren't always great at home on the rez. That some of our worst enemies are our own people, but we have to keep moving forward. That if only 3 youth show up for your event, focus on those 3, don't get upset, keep going and have faith. If you believe, then you can achieve. I asked them if they believed, I saw a few heads that nodded. I said if you think that things can get better, then repeat after me,"Positive change is possible". I heard a few voices chime in. I said that if we really are going to help make things better for our people, then let me hear "positive change is possible". I heard more people the second time, and I smiled. By the 3rd time, everyone was yelling "positive change is possible" and one woman even stood up and raised her fist over her head. I laughed and asked if I could get an amen, and someone yelled "Amen!" from the back of the room.

When it was all said and done, I sat down and thought back on listening to Rev. Jackson. I thought that there was a reason why Tracy was able to give me those tickets, why I was able to get really good seats so I could hear and understand (most of the time) what he had to say, and why I decided to copy his method.

Now I don't know when I will actually use this whole "say it with me now" thing again, but I sure as heck can recognize that I learned something from one of my generations well known orators. I also now understand why my heart was beating so fast. I was stepping out of my comfort zone.

After the conference was over, I found the man that had complained about his community. I didn't really know what to say to him, but I gave him a copy of the book "The Tiny Warrior", by my friend DJ Vanas. I told him that DJ's book was one of the major building blocks in my foundation. I asked him to read it, and when he's done, to pass it on to one of his youth. I gave him my contact information and asked him to call me and let me know how things go on his rez. He thanked me and said he would keep in touch.

And beyond that....Well I'm happy to report that I'm leaving for Sacramento on Monday to continue the work we started in Reno for this company. I think back to earlier this year when I set my goals of getting out there to be a servant for my people....I think about how I said that I wanted to be able to offer workshops- and this Thurs. marks the graduation of my 2nd entrepreneurship class. Man, can you believe it? I just throw it all back on the Creator and thank Him for all the blessings that He gives me.

Until I talk, chat or see you...Peace and Love!
Thanks for stopping by-
~J
ndnjenjen@yahoo.com