Local Culture

Tom Johnson
Tim Johnson 3 min read , ,

Influencers for a Kinder World

It is fair to say that Carl Benston, AKA, Mr. Positive, never thought of himself as an influencer, at least not by the standards of those who are able to use their influence as a source of income through social media. How could you possibly expect a person living with savant syndrome disability to be an influencer? Like others who live in or frequent the West 7th Community, I often saw Carl on his creatively outfitted bike. I never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Positive in person, but thanks to the wonderful memorial in the January Community Reporter and the writings of Tim Rumsey, I almost feel like I did. I certainly have known folks like Carl, people who somehow manage the art of being, without pretense or gilded effort to showcase themselves for profit or otherwise. 

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Tom Johnson
Tim Johnson 3 min read ,

Grace, Beauty and Courage

On a sub-zero day, something more than anger is needed to get one to leave the warm comfort of home and join hundreds of protesters standing together by the steps of the State Capitol. Billed as a National Protest, with gatherings in all 50 states, this President’s Day event was both a rejection of the perceived authoritarianism of recent Presidential executive orders and an embrace of constitutional democracy. In his book, “Dare We Speak of Hope?,” Allan Boesak, South African theologian and a leader of the anti-apartheid movement, offers a quote from St. Augustine who said, “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the same.”

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