Georgia's Trenton Arts Council is sponsoring an event on September 11th called “Happenings.”  Developing a multicultural event like “Happenings” is a more ambitious project than we’ve ever attempted.

One of the richest adventures I’ve had in my adult life is working as a resident chaplain in an urban setting.  I worked for two years for a major hospital system in Houston, Texas.  This hospital system had a mission statement of serving its diverse community and offering appropriate pastoral care.  What I came to understand from this work experience was the incredible ethnic diversity as well as its diversity of faith traditions represented by patients in the hospital.  I learned this as I made my rounds through the ER, ICU, Ambulatory Care, and other surgical units.

When happiness really finds us

And sweet tranquility fills our minds,

When cupids arrow does pierce our hearts

True love does never die…

Amidst the nation's outcry for universal health care reform to provide adequate health insurance for every citizen in the nation, a group of individuals in the country remain silent as they continue to face limited access to health care because of their limited English proficiency (LEP).

Ardena Garth is the first African American woman public defender in Tennessee’s Hamilton County. The State of Tennessee created the office of public defenders 18 years ago. It was originally an appointed position by the Governor. Ardena was the only applicant with both defense and prosecutorial experience. Of the 27 initially appointed public defenders, only two were black women. When the office became an elected one in order to assure local accountability, she ran for office and won. Tennessee’s first elected black female public defender has been re-elected several times.