The fun of jury duty being over, I should try to catch up with the world of commentary. Or at least some updates on things that are going on in my somewhat twisted sphere of reference.

The Birmingham News has started interviewing several “young” leaders about the sudden noticeable increase in young professional civic and service organizations. I’ve even been asked a question or two for the article, that should be running in the next two or three weeks. I’d encourage people to read it when it comes out, though I’m always nervous about seeing that I said the wrong thing.

There’s definitely some interest in the topic; heating up just in time for warm weather and more mixers. It was somewhat hard to answer one question: What is being done besides the mixers? How are we moving forward with influencing and changing our environment? This is not just getting together and having another beer saying that there’s a solution, though at times it is a great way to make people aware of an issue and of methods to improve the situation.

One thing to consider as is that the people that I generally consider good acquaintances and friends in this region are those that provide action items and solutions all day long through their regular jobs. They are work every day to make the city that they dream of happen; but what else can they do outside of work to move it forward? What examples can people provide of getting hands dirty and moving those mountains, no matter how small it may actually be? There are those that I hope will do things for the sake of doing it, not just to get the recognition afterwards. I am aware of some upcoming activities that will probably present the active side of this movement, at least in this town. While some may just look like the regular mixer, take a look and see what else is going on…

• Cornerstone Schools is located in one of my office’s target districts and has been a great pillar of the Woodlawn community for some time. They are having an event entitled, Schoolhouse Rock to serve as a benefit for their school and programs. Click here to view more information about the April 20^th event.
• The Birmingham Jaycees are partnering with Aldersgate United Methodist Church and United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham to host an Easter Egg Hunt this coming Saturday, April 15^th beginning at 2 p.m.
• Catalyst, the Young Lawyers Section of the Birmingham Bar Association and 100 Black Men of Birmingham will be hosting an event to honor the SpeakFirst student debate initiative on Tuesday, April 25 at WorkPlay. Click here to view the invitation.

There are probably many more like these that will also provide information on how one can do more, if that’s even possible. If you don’t want to do the whole group thing, there’s always the folks over at Hands on Birmingham too. If anyone has any other information on other happenings, go ahead and post a comment. Otherwise, I’ll see you tomorrow.

Cheers.