All things Southern.

To everyone who has faithfully tuned in to Spiritually Speaking for the last three years, I want to say a heartfelt thank you. I also want to invite you to read a new blog about all things Southern. I have grown increasingly weary of the way Southerners are portrayed in the media--think Honey Boo Boo, Duck Dynasty, and Paula Dean here. Even movies that I have loved, like A Time to Kill, The Blind Side, and The Help, have been mostly stories of hatred and enmity. And, while our history includes that dark aspect, all along the way there have been decent, everyday, salt-of-earth people, both black and white and Native, who have lived together in peace and community. Their stories have never been told. 

It seems the national appetite for anything to do with the South must be true to the stereotypes of Southerns as ignorant, bigoted, antisemitic and lazy. I do not deny that some of us fit the stereotype, but there are many who don't. My experience of the South is that it is filled with people of all races who are energetic, creative, dynamic, and intelligent.  We also have crafts and foods and music that are native to the region and have nothing to do with butter, bacon, grits, banjos or Jesus, though all those figure deeply in our roots. Most of the people that I know personally, people of all races, are educated, articulate, and thoughtful while still being deeply Southern and rooted in our shared history. I want to introduce them to you, bring their stories, their art, recipes and beliefs to light. In so doing, I hope to show a side of the South you may not know. 

I hope you will tune in. And I hope you will let me know how you feel about what you see here. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Jane