It was clear to me really from the time I was three in the arms of a brown woman … if I have an image of mother Mary, the mother of God, I always talk about Sarah Cunningham …She embodied that great maternal God love.  Leaf Seligman refers to herself as a “translator of metaphors”. The descriptor speaks to her unique gifts as restorative practitioner, teacher, preacher, and author finding words that bring understanding to the complex and sometimes inexplicable human experience. Our metaphor-filled conversation for the third installment in the Blue Roads Changemaker Series exemplifies a soulful awareness that allows a body to transcend the space from good neighbor and engaged citizen to heart-centered and inspired changemaker. Leaf’s perspective and work across turbulent times illustrate the struggles for self-understanding and solutions to obvious injustice alongside a unique ability to find herself in the suffering of others that fueled a determination to use her voice to inspire and advocate for change.  Her particular “Homegrown Solutions for a Patchwork World” (Blue Roads’ slogan) are evident as she uses her linguistic gifts and faculties to put life’s challenges into words that promote understanding, engagement, compassion and ultimately, justice. This longtime resident of New Hampshire can still slide easily into a Tennessee drawl that authenticates her southern roots when the circumstance presents itself. In addition to reading the summary that follows, you will enjoy hearing from Leaf directly by watching the video of our conversation here:   






















Introducing Leaf, Homegrown ChangemakerGrowing up in a reformed Jewish home as a young child amid the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s in Nashville, Tennessee gave Leaf a perspective of diversity atypical among her white neighbors and classmates in her “fancy private school.”   In contrast to most around her, Leaf’s family was both politically and religiously progressive. As she reminisced about her childhood, she referenced “that wonderful line from Flannery O’Connor of the Christ Haunted South.” Although she was Jewish while most Tennesseans around her were not, she refers to her upbringing as a “fairly assimilated kind of life” where her family ate bacon, had a Christmas tree and Leaf lived in fear of her conservative relatives discovering their transgressions. Her family was open with her about political issues of the time and provided reading material that fueled her interest in civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.  and, his wife, Coretta Scott King. Two critical incidents echo in her memory when she reflects on the origins of her passion for justice and change. When she was in third grade, her class was assigned the privilege of organizing an assembly for the whole school. Six of the most articulate students were picked for delivering a report to the audience on the topic of their favorite famous American.  Leaf was among the chosen and announced that she would do her report on the subject of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.    She heard this in response:If she does that report on that communist n****r, riot maker, my father will pull me out of the school so fast, you won’t even believe it! He’s the vice president of “such and such” a bank and he’s on the board of the school! Despite her immediate shock and disbelief at these words coming from a classmate, Leaf recalls a quick understanding that the girl who had spoken out with such hateful vehemence came from a family who was at once wealthy, educated and ignorant.   Leaf thought that surely the teacher would acknowledge the in...