Wednesday, 16 Oct 2002

ROXBURY, Mass.

Some days just don’t turn out as planned. This morning’s meeting of the steering committee of our pro bono environmental justice assistance network was cancelled because so many people called or emailed at the last minute to say they would not be able to make it. I rushed out of the house to be here by 8:15 and get ready for the meeting, so I was a little irritated, but I can roll with it. It’s an opportunity to get other things done this morning.

Yesterday’s mantra was: “We will not panic, we will not panic.” In the middle of the day, we got word that all of the rooms at the hotel where we wanted to stay for the Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit were booked. That was a problem, since we need rooms for approximately 18 people. We researched other housing options, but Plan A was to get in touch with the summit office and let them deal with it.

Happily, by this morning the situation had worked itself out. Apparently, this has been a recurring problem. When our environmental justice networks coordinator called the summit office, the response was, “Not again!” Some reservations clerks apparently have been telling people that there are no rooms. Solution? Get a manager on the phone. There are rooms available and ours will get booked today.

We finally did a headcount of the people who we think will be on the bus to the summit with us. According to Greyhound, the bus holds 45-47 people comfortably. What that really means is unclear. It’s approximately a 10-hour drive to D.C., so comfortable is important. Our count so far: 45 people. That does not include the six or so that haven’t made up their minds and it assumes that when we stop in Hartford, the only additional people to get on will be the 11 that we’re expecting. In other words, there is no margin for error. So now we have to decide whether we will rent another bus, rent a van and have one of us drive it, or squish everyone onto one bus. No one wants to drive the van, so we may just have to squish. “We will not panic, we will not panic.”

On a positive note, people have started to confirm that they are interested in participating in the workshop I’m planning. I need to finalize the list of participants by the end of this week, if possible. Now comes the hard part, which is designing a workshop around my topic: “Community-Led/Community Based EJ Legal Strategies.” I have a number of ideas. I hope to include ACE’s Operating Principles for working with community groups as well. I think the idea of the pro bono assistance network would be useful to other communities as well. See? No reason to panic.

In family news, my mother-in-law is off today to Minnesota to visit her relatives there, on her way back to Seattle. I think she had a good time, in spite of the windy, rainy weather and all the walking. I know she’s been amused by this journal.

Let’s hope tomorrow’s mantra will be, “I’m glad I didn’t panic.”