Salt Lake community writers come together to share personal stories and feelings about civil rights

I love attending community events that give me something to write about. But sometimes, it can be really nerve-wracking. Once, I tried bringing my 1-year-old daughter to a debate, and was greatly embarrassed when we were asked to leave. On another occasion, after attending a civil rights conference, I was chastised by the organization head for not revealing my "journalist" status during registration. She tried to coerce me into not publishing my report on the event. I found it odd that a civil rights org would try to intimidate someone out of their first amendment rights. It's not like I'm discouraged about doing what I do here. But I have developed an edgy gut that finds me when I walk into events I plan to report on.

Community Writing Center exhibit panels set up
in the Sorenson Unity Center lobby 

I entered the Sorenson Unity Center, Thursday, Jan. 12th with that same edgy gut. The SLCC Community Writing Center was hosting a reading of the Utah Freedom Writers publication they recently put out. This is the civil rights writing project I participated in a few months ago. I was pleased to discover that over the course of the evening, my anxiety was easily assuaged, and more than that, I quickly felt admiration and kinship for the other writers, as well as the CWC staff.