Issue #12 -- When Access Meets Opportunity
The final stop on our tour of third places is a simple one, but can be the hardest to find. Public parks, public pools, dog parks, community gardens, and libraries are all examples of free, publicly funded third places. Unlike restaurants or Facebook groups, parks and other public spaces allow for community building without financial barriers.
We’re also re-visiting past third places to expose existing barriers and think about how we can improve accessibility. When anyone is excluded from community spaces, we miss out on their value – and they could Be The One!
What barriers have you broken down?
One action, when you only have
One minute:
Step outside and soak in some sunshine while connecting with your senses! Take a mindfulness moment outdoors and reflect on one thing you can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch.
One hour:
One third place that many of us love to visit in the summer is the beach, but beach access has a complicated history in the US. Listen to this episode of The Sum of Us podcast that explores the history of Manhattan Beach, CA, land reparations for a Black couple who helped found the community, and what we all lose when we try to exclude people from public spaces:
https://shows.acast.com/654bdc7efb9dbf0012d373ef/episodes/654bdc841111a400127e9c83
Stay engaged and learn how to take action by Discovering your Activist Style with this quiz from Color of Change.
One Story
Picture this: you’re 500 feet underwater, living in a submarine with about 100 other people, and an alarm starts blaring in the early hours of the morning, waking you from a light sleep on a stiff bunk – what do you do next? While most of us would immediately want to panic, Monica Helms would know to confidently take decisive action from her eight years of experience in the US Navy, including serving on two submarines. The self-sufficiency Monica learned through naval service would support her throughout the rest of her life as an outspoken advocate for trans rights. Growing up in Arizona, five-year-old Monica prayed to God to be turned into a girl. However, even though there was a supportive trans community in Phoenix, the US in general was just starting to reckon with LGBTQ rights – the term transgender didn’t exist then as it does now and wouldn’t be commonly used for another two decades. Despite the lack of cultural representation, Monica knew herself and could only be true to that identity in private for more than 40 years. After leaving the Navy, Helms began transitioning in the early 1990s and became involved in trans activism after moving to Georgia. By 2004 Monica was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and was the first transwoman elected to a DNC convention from Georgia. Helms and her friend Angela Brightfeather founded the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) in 2003 to engage with advocates, government agencies, and policymakers. After nine years of advocacy work by TAVA and others, the US Department of Veteran Affairs issued a directive showing how to treat trans veterans in 2013. Monica Helms considered this success to be her proudest moment. Before achieving national success with TAVA, Monica gained international acclaim as the creator of the trangender pride flag. In 1999, Monica and Mike Page, the creator of the bisexual pride flag, were having dinner and he suggested that the trans community needed a symbol to rally around. A few nights later, the idea came to Monica in a dream. The transgender pride flag is composed of blue and pink stripes (to represent the traditional colors associated with boys and girls) with a white stripe for transitioning, intersex people, and those who don’t have a defined gender. In 2014, Monica donated the original flag to the Smithsonian and it was displayed at the White House in 2016. The transgender pride flag has been seen on every continent, including Antarctica, and Monica has a bucket-list wish that it will one day make it to the International Space Station. Today, trans people are under attack both physically and legislatively, but Monica Helms remains optimistic about the future. She wrote in an article in 2022, “In the face of hate and extremism, we have no choice but to stand proud in our identity and our history. And when we emerge from the struggle, our flag might be tattered, but it will not stop waving proudly.” We all have the power to Be The One and stand up for equal rights. By proudly waving our flags in support we can show solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
One Recipe
Sometimes you order a dish just for the name, right? This week’s recipe falls into that category and backs up the name and packs a punch of Italian flavors. Plus it pairs perfectly with my favorite wine, a refreshing Italian Pinot Grigio!
Fish in Crazy Water
A legendary culinary ambassador for Italian cuisine, Marcella Hazan was an expert at seizing unexpected opportunities. Growing up in Italy, Marcella fully embraced the abundance of delicious food around her until the arrival of World War II drastically changed her access to everyday pleasures. Food went from an indulgent escape to a matter of pure survival. After the war, Marcella was once again surrounded by the spoils of Italian cuisine, but she also prioritized her education and earned dual doctorates in natural sciences and biology.
In 1955, Hazan experienced massive culture shock when she and her partner moved to New York City. Not only did this new country lack the familiar produce and meals of her home, but she also now had to adapt to new technology like a TV and a refrigerator in her house! Once again, Marcella’s relationship to food became one of survival but thankfully without the threats of air raids and fascism. In an unfamiliar place, Marcella Hazan fed her soul by cooking tastes of home.
Over the next six decades, Hazan’s influence on Italian cuisine in America grew from hosting small cooking classes out of her apartment to receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation in 2000. Her multiple cookbooks, all co-written with her husband Victor Hazan, taught generations of Americans the rich diversity and regionality in Italian cooking. Due to Marcella’s incredible influence, the landscape of Italian cuisine in the US flourished. At each turn in her life, Marcella was willing to embrace what she had access to – during WWII she made do with the meager meals her family could scrape together and later in America she adapted unfamiliar ingredients into comforting flavors of her homeland. When the opportunity arose, she collaborated with her husband to write down her recipes despite her limited proficiency with English. Marcella was a woman who trusted the path life put her on and embraced any challenges with passion.
Next time you’re craving a saucy pasta, but feeling low on motivation, thank Marcella Hazan for creating the most fuss-free tomato sauce – you don’t even have to slice the onion! Prego who?
“I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”
~ Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s education activist
Featured Story: Building Community Through Accessibility
By now, we’re familiar with what makes a good third place. We want spaces that encourage conversation and play as paths to community building. We want people to feel welcome in new spaces and comfortable enough to connect with others. There are plenty of places that fulfill these ideals, but what we haven’t addressed as much is how easy it is to access inclusive spaces.
To wrap up our exploration of third places we’re going to examine the barriers to access for each type of space we’ve talked about over the past few weeks. We’ll also think about how the third places we have access to impact our environment.
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