Love Trumps Hate

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On June 12, 2019 families of the fallen, survivors and members of the community gathered at Pulse to remember the 49 lives lost in a horrific act of violence. It was a chance to honor loved ones, to show support for the survivors and to honor first responders. It was 195 days since Orlando as a city changed.Orlando as a community continues to rise.

The sun was setting as Pam Schwartz and I arrived at the memorial ceremony. She branched off to make sure families were seated and I began to document the evening with a sketch. I had my own art stool and I sat in among the families leaning back against a tree. Several of the Angel Action Wings were in the crowd.

Several rows ahead of me I could see the father of Cory James Connell with his baseball cap and number 7 jersey. Cory was shot and killed on June 12, 2016 at Pulse. Later that year the family was blessed with the birth of a baby boy who they decided to name Cory as well. I sketched young Cory several times when the family spoke about their journey after the loss of their son. Now young Cory was a young three year old with wild hair and plenty of attitude.

During one of the songs a mother cried inconsolably to my right. Around me people turned and pointed their cameras towards the horizon. A large rainbow had formed as if an sign of the love and acceptance being honored. Barbara Poma offered a few remarks as did Buddy Dyer and Jerry Demmings. A sign language interpreter signed every comment of love and acceptance.  Then the names of the 49 were read. Unfortunately a few names were mispronounced.

Heather Martin a survivor of the Columbine shooting spoke candidly of her long road to recovery following that shooting. She talked about how loud sounds like fireworks could act as triggers. As she was talking an ambulance rushed by with it’s siren blaring which is another sound that triggers memories of that night at Pulse. “This unfortunate bond of tragedy has born incredible friendships, friendships that have kept me going when I struggle.” she said. Sharing her battle, her struggle helps overshadow the dark times with hope and love.

Plans are in the works for a permanent memorial and museum on the Pulse Nightclub site. Architecture firms from all over the world will be submitting proposals for what should be on this site. Opinions about what should be on the site are varied.

The Collective

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The Collective was launched in early 2017. The idea was to bring
together Central Florida’s nonprofit community and empower the region’s
change leaders. As a new organization big
strides were made in 2017.  The Collective, approved nearly 400 members, hosted 10 gatherings, launched a website and social media accounts, worked with several new organizations, including Opera Del Sol and Immerse, held monthly “Breakfast Breakout Sessions” at the Citrus Club and hosted the inaugural Change Everything Awards.

Each month, The Collective hosts several events and training
opportunities with the goal of sharing ideas, learning from proven
social innovators and creating a community of like-minded passionate
advocates. Those events include a membership-wide meeting, after-work
networking, and a breakfast learning session. This meeting in July was held at the Sanctuary, which has an open community room on the second floor.

Jon Busdeker introduced Mayor Buddy Dyer. The Mayor pointed out that he was so successful because he surrounded himself with truly talented people and he trusts them to do their best. Ideas are shared and nourished. It is rare to hear a politician talking about collaboration in a non-partisan way. It is a simple formula that works here in Orlando. “My hope is the history books will reflect that the Dyer administration
asked citizens to imagine a great city and created just that,” he said. His administration has tackled some big and costly construction projects which have brought Orlando a new Amway Arena and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Slowly, Orlando is growing up to possibly one day become a world class city rather than a suburb just north of the theme parks.

Genome VIP Opening

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Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code opened at the Orange County Regional History Center (65 E Central Blvd, Orlando, FL 32801) with a VIP opening reception in the lobby. The traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution is presented by Orlando Health and is open through January 6, 2019.

This special exhibit examines the complexities of the
genome—the genetic or hereditary material of a living organism—through
cutting-edge displays, animation, and fascinating real-life stories that
reveal the links between generations and how our histories begin long
before we are born. The exhibit also examines both the benefits and
challenges the study of genetics presents to our society.

The exhibit also contains a special area, custom designed by History Center staff, that
explores three genomic ties to Central Florida – in the fascinating
findings at the Windover Bog archaeological site in Brevard County, in
the development of citrus, and through the family histories of some
well-known Central Floridians, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; Jorge
Estevez, WFTV Channel 9 news anchor; journalist Brendan O’Connor of the
Bungalower; Toni Pressley, Orlando Pride soccer team defender; and
Geraldine Thompson, former state representative and senator and founder
of Orlando’s Wells’ Built Museum.

At the VIP reception all the participants in the family tree project were given time to discuss their feelings about the project. Buddy Dyer took time to thank Pam Schwartz for her contributions in spearheading a collecting initiative of memorial items after the Pulse Nightclub massacre. Geraldine Thompson gave the most moving testimony as she described her feeling after discovering that she had a close relative that she didn’t know existed. A man who was searching for his biological father contacted Pam and she was able to prove through DNA and family history who his father really was. Unfortunately the father had died a few years prior. But the man and Geraldine are both seem excited to meet one another.

The exhibit features large interactive displays with projections and video. You can literally spend hours learning about DNA and life’s code if you read every text panel. The evening was winding down before I could finish my explorations.

Buddy Dyer and Scott Maxwell ride into the Danger Zone.

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Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer previewed the new immersive Flight Lab, while Challenging Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell in a Virtual Contest to be Top Gun at the Orlando Science Center (777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803). The Mayor and Sentinel Columnist continued their decades-long video game rivalry. Since 2006, they have competed for dominance at
the annual Otronicon. From Halo shootouts to Dance Dance Revolution,
these two combatants have given their all in a bid for techno supremacy.
The competition came days before the 13th annual Otronicon Tech Expo.

The high tech Flight Lab is located on the top floor of the Science Center in the Dino Digs area. I arrived a bit early to sketch the room, waiting for the contestants to arrive. One of the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality technology experts in the room noticed my John Henry crew jacket and he asked if I had worked at Disney. He had worked for 10 years at Universal so we shared a few war stories. He lamented that CAD technology has produced a generation of tech architects and artists who are content use homogeneous stock imagery. The life in hand crafted sketching is quickly becoming a lost art. Now that I am looking for work, it seems like Tech is all that exists in this Digital World.

The contestants were given a chance to try out the technology before their flight. They both put on Virtual Reality headsets which allowed them to look around their cockpits. “Maverick” (Dyer) glanced out his cockpit window to see “Ice Man” (Maxwell). They both took off the flight deck of the carrier and took to the sky. Each jet required a pilot and co-pilot so the tech experts helped in the co-pilot seats. With the test flights out of the way the pilots prepared for their head to head flights. Maverick got off the flight deck first with Ice Man flying in formation behind. This was not a dog fight but a simple test of speed and agility. Buddy Dyer took the title of “Top Gun.”

Flight Lab will be premiering at this year’s Otronicon. This new permanent exhibit uses real-world mission scenarios to teach standards-based concepts and to develop critical communication, decision-making, team building, and collaborative skills. Flight Lab is an immersive experience with 13 flight simulator stations to accommodate both a pilot and co-pilot. Oculus Rift head-mounted display units take participants right into the danger zone as they learn how to fly, navigate, communicate, and work as a team. Funding for the exhibit is provided by the Office of Naval Research.

Otronicon connects visitors with the creative professionals and technology that are turning Central Florida into a hub for innovation. It is a celebration of our community’s technology leaders, including the latest from Lockheed Martin, Walt Disney World Resort, Florida Hospital for Children, University of Central Florida as well as a cross section of our region’s top indie game developers and so much more. The 13th Annual

Otronicon is January 12-15, 2018. The hours are 10 AM to 5 PM each day. Tickets are available online.

Adult ($20.95)
Senior ($18.95)
Student ($18.95)
Youth ($14.95)
Two and Under ($0.00)

Orlando Love: Remembering Our Angels at Lake Eola.

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Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan and other community leaders and elected officials will hold a one-year remembrance ceremony at Lake Eola Park. The ceremony, Orlando Love: Remembering Our Angels, will include remarks by community leaders, musical performances by Olga Tañón and Sisaundra Lewis along with a memorial reading of the 49 names of those who were taken during the June 12 tragedy.

Actress Peg O’Keef recited the opening monologue from O-Town: Voices from Orlando. This was likely the largest audience to see this performance. The audience was silent as she described our quiet little town that would be so much different the day after the Pulse Massacre. Orlando stood up to the challenge, rising up, and refusing to let hate or divisiveness be a part of the recovery. People lined u to give blood, a homeless man would relight the thousands of candles at memorial sites. Crosses would be driven across the country to be left at Orlando Regional Medical Center, each to honor one of the 49 victims.

Pam Schwartz and I found a spot on the lake within sight of the rainbow colored Disney band shell. Walking past the standing room only seating area we saw the glitzy projected graphics above the stage. Buses parked in the street blocked any opportunity to view the stage from a distance. They might have been parked there to block potential hate groups. Two women cuddled in front of us as we listened to the city officials. Back stage 49 angels could be seen struggling to get on their PVC and white fabric wings,

Buddy Dyer spoke in his soothing southern accent and the crowd responded with applause. To our left were two men and one was disgruntled. When Mayor Teresa Jacobs spoke, he started flipping the bird and cursing her name. We were far enough away so that his anger didn’t reach the stage. His friend said,”Come on, lets get out of here, you don’t need to be listening to this.”  Eventually they did leave.

Patty Sheehan spoke in Spanish, so I am not sure what condolences she might have offered. My general impression of the evening was that it was too polished a production. Turn out was less than a year before but it had been raining all afternoon, so only lie-hards were here. It felt a bit like it was Disneyfied, with too much sugar and not enough substance. It was reassuring however to be in a crowd of so many beautiful people who all stood for the cause of love over hate.

Taking your Pulse town hall meeting

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Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC), the hospital that treated most of the Pulse survivors, hosted a Pulse town hall meeting at the hospital just a few blocks north of Pulse. I had to ask the valet which building the meeting was in and he pointed me in the right direction. The entry had a metal detector so I had to empty my pockets and assure the guard that pencils are not weapons. The way to the meeting room was long and winding. I was a bit late, since I had rushed to the hospital after teaching a class. As I slipped in the Town Hall meeting was already underway.

WMFE’s Matthew Peddie spoke with survivors, first responders, city officials and LGBT/Latinx community leaders.The first panelists were Christopher Hanson who was in the club and survived, Dr. Joshua Corsa, Orlando Health, who wrote the viral post about his blood-soaked shoes, and Nurse Emily Brown, of Orlando Health.

Christopher Hanson was asked about his experience on the evening of June 12, and he briefly described his night. I have heard two interviews and was amazed at how brief he kept his account. Nurse Emily Brown, described her evening if hiding when reports surfaced that there might be a shooter in the hospital. She had been told that things were about to get crazy and then 36 patients arrived in the first 36 minuted. There was no time to think. Dr. Joshua Corsa was asked about his sneakers. He worked for 30 hours straight trying to save lives and when he finally had a moment to reflect, he realized his brand new sneakers were blood soaked. He wore that same pair of sneakers every day until the last survivor left the hospital.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orlando Police Department Chief John Mina were the next people on stage. Speaking about a future memorial, Buddy pointed out that the community process is in some ways more important than the final creation. Everyone should have input into the process.A sculptor submitted a sculpture honoring the Pulse victims but the mayor said that it wasn’t his place to decide what art is appropriate.An audience member stood and asked about what measures are being taken to keep undocumented LGBT survivors safe from being deported if they turn to authorities for help. Chief Mina pointed out that Orlando police have never been involved in deportation. It isn’t their job. Seattle began a program called the Safe Place Initiative which puts rainbow stickers on businesses that support different cultures and diversity. That program will be implemented in Orlando. A woman from the audience stood up to the mic and spoke of the fierce love that came from our city government. Our community experienced a strong commitment to love and that message remains strong today.

The final panelists were Christopher Cuevas, Executive Director of QLatinx and Terry DeCarlo, Executive Director of GLBT Community Center of Central Florida. Christopher feels that people are still struggling in isolation. “Thousands of voices need to be echoed from the mountain tops.” he said. Terry was outraged by the media’s insistence that the 911 tapes be aired on TV. He also hated the video reenactment that was created recently. He warned as many people as he could, but a mom was making dinner in the kit hen and overheard her son on a 911 tape. That level of emotional damage is irreparable. He wished that the media could instead celebrate the lives lost, and share the stories of heros. He was thankful to those who bear witness.

The evening was part of Story Corps: Taking Your Pulse project and the first of a series of Dare to Listen events held in the community on tough topics in 2017. The long sterile hospital hallways felt strangely ominous as I navigated the maze back towards my car.