The first sentence I wrote down: “Indifference is injustice’s incubator.”

I’m pretty sure that emcee Wade Herring said that, but I didn’t even write the speaker’s name in my notes. (UPDATE: Confirmed that Wade Herring said that.)

Whoever said it, it’s an elegant and pithy four words.

Citizen advocacy here and in other cities has a pretty straightforward mission: pairing citizen advocates with “proteges” whose lives have been impacted by developmental disability and who are at risk of being pushed into the hidden corners of our society.

Largely because of the work of longtime director Tom Kohler, citizen advocacy has had many successes here in Savannah. The annual suppers, which typically attract over 300 to Savannah Station, are visual evidence of success. It would be hard to find a more diverse gathering in Savannah, ever, in terms of age, race, religion, disability, and so on.

As part of the program, Ashley O’Brien — who has worked in the office for many years — and I read an abbreviated version of “Voices of Advocacy”, a spoken word piece that I wrote in 2002 piecing together excerpts by and about various protege-advocate relationships. The piece was written for three voices, but I thought it worked OK in a shorter version and with only two. (I’ll check with Tom and Ashley about the appropriateness of publishing a version of the text here on Savannah Unplugged.)

I took my camera. Last year, I got some pretty nice photos. But when I dismounted from my bicycle, I found that I did not have a battery in the camera. Oh well, there were plenty of others taking photos, including a couple of pros who undoubtedly got some great images that I can link soon.

“Tonight, we’re in technicolor,” Tom Kohler said in his culminating remarks, just before the meeting adjourned. Tom talked about the typical “black and white patterns” of our lives, and the vibrancy of our gathering, where literally everyone in Savannah is welcome.

Here’s a shot from my phone during the singing of “Imagine”:

The centerpiece of those shows is Journey to the Beloved Community: Story Quilts by Beth Mount. You can read more about that show and related ones on the Telfair website and the Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy website.

In my column today, I mention some of the content of artist Beth Mount’s recent talk at TEDxCreativeCoast. I’m embedding that talk here — it’s well worth a watch and a listen.

One of Beth Mount’s story quilts

I Am The Beloved Community: Story Quilts of Our Savannah

August 10-December 16 / JC / Second Floor Gallery

Organized by Loop It Up Savannah of West Broad Street, this exhibition is a collection of neighborhood story quilts made by the children of the West Broad Street YMCA, Boys and Girls Club of the Coastal Empire and the seniors of the City of Savannah Hudson Hill Golden Age Center and documented by international students from the Savannah College of Art and Design English as a Second Language Department

Artist and activist Beth Mount at the 34th Annual Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy Covered Dish Supper

Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community Program

September 27 / 6 pm / JC

Lecture will feature Beth Mount, Tom Kohler, and Susan Earl. Free and open to the public.

Eye to Eye: The Making of We

Opening reception Friday, September 28 / 7 pm

September 28 – October 24 / Indigo Sky Gallery, 915 Waters Avenue

Coordinated by Jerome Meadows, five Savannah artists exhibit original art created in response to the interplay and personal dynamics that exist between people involved in collaboration with Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy.

Here’s Beth Mount at TEDxCreativeCoast:

I’ve been involved with the local Citizen Advocacy office in a variety of capacities for over a decade, and I’m fortunate to count its 3 core employees — Tom Kohler, Robin Gunn, and Ashley O’Brien — among my friends.

While Citizen Advocacy has always been a movement emphasizing freely chosen, one-to-one commitments between advocates and proteges with developmental disabilities, the organization occasionally takes the public stage.

And that’s certainly the case beginning in July, when Beth Mount’s exhibit Story Quilts opens at the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center here in Savannah. A few of the lush and colorful quilts were on display at last week’s big potluck dinner (you can see them in my photos at the above link), and you can obviously read a snippet about them on the rack card embedded here.

Also on July 19th, we’ll celebrate the Jepson opening of Seeing Savannah: Lyn Bonham’s View of Citizen Advocacy. Lyn has been capturing advocates and proteges for over a decade.

In August, an exhibit of story quilts created by local children will open. I Am The Beloved Community: Story Quilts of Our Savannah is being organized by Loop It Up Savannah of the West Broad YMCA. You can read more about that on the rack card here — it’s a project that boasts some impressive collaboration.

Susan Earl and Tom Kohler will talk about their book Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community at the Jepson on September 27th.

There will also be an exhibit this fall at Jerome Meadows’ Indigo Sky Gallery: Eye-to-Eye: The Making of We.

So mark your calendars now for all these exhibits and events showcasing the Savannah community at its most inclusive.

Citizen advocacy is built on one-to-one, freely-given personal relationships between two people. One is a person with a disability who has been excluded from typical community life and the other is a person living a good, ordinary life here in our community. Friendship, spokesmanship, social support, and social change can all emerge from these intentional relationships.

I’ve been involved with Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy in various capacities for over a decade, including now as a member of the program committee

On Thursday night, CSCA hosted its 34th Annual Covered Dish Supper with something over 300 guests — surely one of the biggest potlucks you’ll find anywhere. For a number of years now, the event has been at Savannah Station.

As usual, the evening’s focus was on community. There was music by Soap beforehand, and the supper itself was bookended as usual by group singings of “Imagine” and “Lean On Me”.

After dinner, four citizen advocates and two of their proteges shared a little of their stories.

Coincidentally, one of the most compelling stories to come out of the local Citizen Advocacy office will be premiered on stage later today (Saturday). Click here for a little bit about the Cincinnati production of Welcome Home, the story of Waddie Welcome.

I took my camera on Thursday. I haven’t taken the time to identify all the people in the following pics, but this is a case where the names are less important than the visuals. You’ll see here the band Soap, as well as photos that include the following: Tom Kohler, Robin Gunn, Stephanie and Garner Mobley, David Acuff and Jerome Meadows, Ariel Janzen, Zim, Lyle Mackenzie and Brad Baugh, Carmela Aliffi, Beth Mount, Wade Herring, Boston Derst, Ann Curry and Enoch Hendry, Tom Lamar and Preston Hodges, Jamie Marie Smith, Delores Wilson and Richard Lane, Regina Thomas, plus other assorted people and group shots during the singing. There were a couple of official photographers there too, so I’m sure there are a lot of great images on the way.

This is what our community looks like when everyone is welcome.