Hush Harbors: Virtual and Physical

The image you see here is from a post that I (Courtney) wrote on my personal blog yesterday. *I prefer to use that platform because it's much more robust and easier for me to navigate than the platform used here for AOW.

This post Keepsakes and Forts is part two of a previous post (The Irony of Life, Change, and the Church) and I invite you to take a look.

Much of the work I do is about education and empowerment -- and a lot of that includes transparency -- which makes many uncomfortable.

But -- we're never alone. I've always felt that shame is the biggest prison for humans. It's something that I believe is a social construct to keep people imprisoned and enslaved. It makes people feel like they are the only one.

...and how sad is it that one person can feel like they're the only one going through something -- out of millions of people all over the world?

...but I also believe in walking the talk.

In the process of trying to get "the church" open, I've learned so much. It's not been stressful -- just a lot -- a lot that could have been avoided -- and some of it was impossible to avoid (only requiring the "right" connections and deeper pockets).

...but it's been fun, and interesting, and we've all learned -- so now we teach/share/laugh...write/right the books!

...and teaching and empowering is something we've always done -- particularly the women who have been by my side since the launch of The Porch in 2017 then the Vanguard Mystery School -- and then the Assembly On Washington. However, with our other projects, they were always virtual. I've always taught (held workshops, etc.) but that was solo).

...working with people virtually who are located all over the world, has it's challenges but it's nothing compared to trying to get a physical space open and having to navigate through all the state and local rules.

I'm going to get into all of this more -- but it won't be on this site. If you'd like to learn more and/or keep up with all the happenings around what I've learned not only in New Smyrna Beach, but across the country -- as it relates to all of the "hoops" and historical restrictions that prevent communities like the Westside of NSB from actually growing, head over to HistoricNSBWestside.com and find the contact button. I'll be updating the blog with some findings, resources, and tools.

• The first will be a post about what are known as TheBottoms/Flats and how the Westside of NSB is no different than these other communities that were built in flood zone areas to "put" people of color. I came from The Bottoms and have been researching it for many years.

• The second post will go into the racial history of zoning -- which many -- many now who hate it, know nothing about.

...I didn't end up in NSB by accident and this isn't my first rodeo -- and I'm a child of Hush Harbors!

Regards,

cc