Nikki N. - Everything That Rises Must Converge

Everything that rises must converge. Yes, I'm stealing Flannery O'Conner's words, but this is the phrase that keeps coming to mind when I think about what is happening with V-Day in Atlanta after V to the 10th. We had such an incredible group of people attend, a richly diverse group, and our experiences in New Orleans were all unique. But our worlds all collided, and our community here felt just a little closer-knit, and now we have so many opportunities to work together here in our city. We rise, we come together, we can go even higher.

One of the coolest stories from New Orleans was from Mitchell Anderson, Richie Arpino, Wendy Babchin and Randi Layne. They stayed an extra day after V to the 10th to tour the 9th ward, and ended up meeting a couple working to rebuild there whose children are in college in Atlanta, one of them who traveled with us from Atlanta to New Orleans, and the other who would be graduating the next week. Mitchell opened the doors of his restaurant, Metrofresh, and they threw the most beautiful graduation lunch for the family this weekend. It was an absolutely glorious day in Atlanta on Saturday, perfect for a graduation lunch. It is a small, small world. This is one of the things I take away from New Orleans - that we are all so very interconnected.

I also wanted to share a couple of photographs from the reception we had for V-Day Atlanta while we were in New Orleans. We are fortunate to have an amazing artist, Gail Foster, in Atlanta, who painted a series of portraits called Faces of Vagina Warriors. Her art was at a gallery in New Orleans called Lyon and Lyon Fine Art, and they graciously opened their doors to us. We were joined by the team from Swimming Upstream following their incredible production at the dome. Thank you to Gail and the other artists who joined us, to Tom Swanston, Mina Porell, and the hosts of the reception - George and Ginair McKerrow, Holli Hines Easton, Lewis Perkins, and Wendy Babchin.