“If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.”
~ Thomas A. Edison
Mariette Watts is one of the finest human beings I’ve ever known. She’s gorgeous inside and out. Several years ago, she was the major architect for a week-long training course called Humanity Academy (HA). Each year, participants from faculty, staff, and students are faced with a host of issues relating to diversity, confronting everything from racism to homophobia. The goal is to educate each person to become an agent of positive, inclusive, diverse social change across campus and beyond. It is a sobering, yet wildly enriching week. The course is so cathartic that most in my close circle of Lexington friends are HA grads. Stacy Yelton, Reinette Jones, and Eric Morrow are 2008 graduates. I went through it in 2009 with Heidi Morrow and Annie Bassoni, while Marie Dale and Crystal Heis are from this year’s graduating class. Jerone Farley even gives hugs now, and freely admits an aversion to them before HA. It can be a life altering experience that way. We met for many hours today to brainstorm how to move forward, and as always, it was a beautiful thing.
march 9, 2018 – the outhouse: where art goes
[…] back in 2009 I attended the Humanity Academy (I talked about it in a 2013 post). Every couple of years our fearless leader, Marietta Watts (far left), brings us together for […]