Vote for Geography
No matter what happens with this week’s election, the United States will pivot. Four years ago, most people in my life expressed horror, shock, and disgust following the presidential election in the United States. The day after the election, I shared with my husband my apprehensive relief following the results. I’ll explain. I grew-up in…
An Interview with AAG Executive Director Gary Langham (Part 2)
Last month I shared Part 1 of an interview I conducted with AAG's Executive Director Gary Langham to help the membership learn a bit about his perspectives, goals, and personal history that led him to AAG. We met on August 19, close to the one-year anniversary of his first week in this role—half of which…
An Interview with AAG Executive Director Gary Langham (Part 1)
While the AAG membership elects some of its governance ( president, vice president, Council), the temporal constant in leadership is the Executive Director (ED). Historically, his tenure spans multiple presidents and many dozens of councilors. Since COVID-19 has prevented our new ED, Gary Langham, from meeting the membership and vice versa, I decided to interview…
The Invisible and The Silent
I am the parent of an adult child with intellectual and developmental disabilities and have spent the past two decades watching how society (dis)engages with him. People avert their eyes. People pretend not to see him. People give him a wide berth in store aisles. Some adults demonstrate shockingly bad behavior when he makes his…
The Spatial Scale of ‘We’
Every day around my town, I see signs of encouragement, most frequently — “We’re All In This Together.” That statement refers to the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting and assuming that we are all equally engaged in and affected by the pandemic. Similar messaging is delivered via emails, websites, and store speakers. Oregon’s public campaign takes the…