Here is a recent photo I took of Susan Ferguson, aka "Faith" in Montana.
Susan is widely recognized as one of the best teachers in one of the toughest schools in South Central. She teaches courses in history and conflict resolution. She has put herself between fighting gangsters to break up fights, and during the race riots at her school, she made her classroom a safe place, running out into the fighting to grab kids, so that she could pull them back into her classroom and keep protect them from the danger outside her door. Those experiences are emblematic of what she does, whether leading the GSA or simply being the kind of teacher a kid can turn to when a loved one gets murdered in the streets -- in a tough and violent world, she makes safe places where people can contemplate life for a minute without having to watch their back.
At BYU Susan was a president of VOICE, the women's advocacy club. While I was at grad school she worked teaching adult literacy.
She is one of the kindest, best people I know, and she is the great love of my life. I am blessed to have her as a companion in life.
I had hoped, as my most sincere and honest attempt to contribute to the building of this community, to introduce you all to Susan. I know that her unique voice and life experience could have enriched this forum greatly. But at the end of the day, it was really only a blind date. She had the courtesy to take my invite seriously, but she just wasn't interested in taking things to the next level. I think we can all understand and respect that choice.
Being her first real exposure to a chat board, the suggestions that she wasn't really herself bothered her more than they should have. If anyone has any doubt that "Faith" was anyone other than the woman I just described, you are welcome to ask her yourself:
susan.ferguson@gmail.com or 323.253.7768
Cheers.
R.