We call poet and author Naomi Shihab Nye a "Preservative." Her latest book, "Going Going" tells the story of how one teenage girl starts her own anti-chain campaign, to preserve Mom & Pop.
We chatted with this Palestinian-American dynamo over some Texas tea and a couple of New York City independent bakery cookies that she had carried back from the Big Apple that same day. She told us about why she thought the world was ready for the activist message of "Going Going." And we talked a bit of politics, despite their political differences, Naomi said she got along famously with George W. Bush -- the Texan governor. Especially after he heard her poem about endangered small town Texas [excerpt from "Mint Snowball" Anhinga Press, reproduced with the kind permission of the author]:
"It's hard to know how well a town is when you only swing through it on suspended Sunday evenings maybe twice a year. Deserted streets. The dusty faces of stores: elderly aunts with clamped mouths. I like to think Monday morning still buzzes and whirls -- rounded black autos roll in from farms, women measure yard goods, boys haul empty bottles to the grocery, jingling their coins. Nothing dries up. I want towns like Poth and Panna Maria and Skidmore to continue forever in the flush, red-cheeked, in love with all the small comings and goings of cotton trucks, haylifts, peaches, squash, the cheerleader's sleek ankles, the young farmer's nicked ear. Because if they don't, what about us in the cities, those gray silhouettes off on the horizon? We're doomed."
George W. Bush, when he was governor, came up to me the day after
hearing that piece and said, "May I tell you about some of the programs
I have to get economic development back into the small towns?" Then he
told me, kindly, with interest, about some of the projects. It touched
me that he took the time.
Clearly, this podcast is a must-listen, and while you're at it, check out "Going Going" (Naomi reads an excerpt near the end of the show).
I just found your podcast and I love it. I haven't shopped at Walmart in years, and I haven't eaten at fast food places in over 2 years. I love helping out the independent places, but even yet today there is bad news for these people. I live in the Kansas City metro and they are putting up this new stadium downtown and there is this great Bar-b-que restaurant that has been there for over 20 years. But the city took imminent domain because they want to put a better looking building. They offered him rent, but he says he can't afford the rent, and plus he OWNS this lot. Also in the town that I live in the city did the same thing to build a Lowes. Citizens were upset, and the city went ahead and did it. Now nobody shops there. We have been going to the local hardware store that is closer, and if they don't have it we will go to Home Depot driving past Lowes.
Also if you want to find good independent hotels go to hotelbook.com. I also make a rule when I go out of town to not eat at places that I can eat out at home. I have been doing this for over 15 years. I think I will have to do this at home.
Posted by: Thelma | February 23, 2007 at 07:14 PM