Ft. Lauderdale: Another View

Thanks to all of you who continue to write, call and email to discuss my decision not to attend General Assembly; I’ve been both enriched and challenged by the conversations. I also continue to be grateful that, as people of faith, we take seriously the gift of free religion we have been given, and that we struggle with the parameters of that freedom.
My board colleague, Tamara Payne-Alex, recently returned from a trip of several days to the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center; I’ve gotten her permission to post below a brief reflection on her experience there:

I am writing from the airport in Ft. Lauderdale. I
have just spent three days here attending a conference for work. I
stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66 and went in and out of the Convention
Center multiple times each day with a very diverse group of Afterschool
professionals.

In terms of security, I was never once during my stay asked for ID.
I never observed anyone riding shuttles to the convention center from
the hotels asked for ID. Individuals on foot entering the Port were
stopped outside the perimeter by a man in uniform. Security felt casual
and unintrusive when observed from my perspective. A diverse array of
folks seeking to gamble on the day cruise ship moored at the port or
attend the conference chatted and laughed as they passed through the
perimeter checkpoint. These pleasure seekers were dressed in shorts and
flipflops, sported oversized totes, backpacks and body piercings.

The population of Ft. Lauderdale is very diverse and very brown. Coming
from the Bay Area and as a POC, it is for me the most comfortably
diverse environment for a General Assembly that I can recall in recent
history.

I hope all of you here in the District will add this piece of information to your mental files as you continue to make your decision about whether to attend this year’s General Assembly. I know that Tamara’s experience will be helpful for some of you, and will weigh less heavily for others. In the meantime, keep those calls and emails coming! And for those of you who will be in Ft. Lauderdale, I look forward to continuing our conversation there; just meet me outside the security perimeter….