DemocracySpace.org

Friday digest-open thread 5/16/08

"One city ... thousands of voices heard ... democracy is here." That's the message of the winning video from the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, which took the $1,000 prize this week in Everyday Democracy's "Making Every Voice Matter" YouTube video contest. Using dozens of photos, music that moves from dramatic to energetic, and inspiring quotes about outcomes, the INRC entry shows how change is happening in neighborhoods throughout Indianapolis. As Everyday Democracy deputy communication director and operations manager Carrie Boron wrote on our website, "The video shows that all kinds of people are having a voice in improving Indianapolis neighborhoods. And it demonstrates that by employing simple production techniques, a community can use video to showcase its work in a medium accessible to lots of people." Read more here.

Everyday Democracy got another major media mention this week, this time in an essay, "Where Racial Healing Happens," from Rob Corcoran in the Christian Science Monitor. Quoting a friend who told him that "change happens from the bottom," Rob writes, "And he's right: Ordinary people are coming together to do extraordinary things. Healing conversation is already under way. In hundreds of local efforts across the US, diverse groups of citizens are bridging the traditional boundaries of race, class, and culture. Thousands have engaged in dialogue, symbolic acts of reconciliation, and collaborative problem solving. Organizations such as Everyday Democracy and Hope in the Cities (a project of Initiatives of Change) are facilitating this." Read it all here. Rob is national director for Initiatives of Change in the United States.

The past two weeks have been horrible ones for natural disasters including the cyclone in Burma and earthquake in China. A discussion at the Skoll Foundation's Social Edge website has been asking social entrepreneurs and community organizers to think about both how people can help affected areas now and what they'd do if a disaster hit their area. For example, author Jill Finlayson asks, "Are there grant applications or proposals for programs that you need funded that you can pull off the shelf and submit after a disaster?  Having these written in advance can enable you to promptly take advantage of funds that become available (before interest and support wanes), without having to start from scratch or take time away from the critical response efforts at the point of an emergency." Read more and join the conversation here.

Everyday Democracy executive director Martha McCoy spoke Thursday at the United Way's annual national conference in Baltimore. Her talk focused on "Engaging the Community, Building Community Knowledge." Also Thursday, United Way president Brian Gallagher outlined a new 10-year campaign focused on halving the number of high-school dropouts and working families that are struggling financially. "The country is at a crossroads right now," Gallagher said. "I've never felt a time in my career where there's this combination of enough pain, feeling of a lack of progress, feeling like we've stalled, combined with a next generation of leadership demanding change." Gallagher took questions about the goals in this live discussion at the Washington Post website.

Don't forget: There's now less than a week to catch the early-bird rate for Everyday Democracy's national meeting June 12-14 in Denver. Go here for more info, including the entire conference program now available in pdf form.

Welcome to the book club (5/08)

Update ... click here for the easier-to-read, threaded version of this discussion.

Welcome to this month's water cooler, which is also the spring meeting of the Everyday Democracy Book Club. For the next hour, from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern, we'll be discussing The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule Is Giving Way to Shared Governance - and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same with its author, Matt Leighninger.

Matt is the executive director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium as well as a senior associate with Everyday Democracy. His book, published by the Vanderbilt University Press, draws from his years of working with communities to better engage citizens in decision making, problem solving, and the daily work of democracy. As the jacket copy says:

Beneath the national radar, the relationship between citizens and government is undergoing a dramatic shift. More than ever before, citizens are educated, skeptical, and capable of bringing the decision-making process to a sudden halt. Public officials and other leaders are tired of confrontation and desperate for resources. In order to address persistent challenges like education, race relations, crime prevention, land use planning, and economic development, communities have been forced to find new ways for people and public servants to work together.

During the next hour, we'l learn from Matt and each other how innovative public officials and committed activists are forging new ways to run our neighborhoods, cities, counties, and beyond. Here's how the water cooler will work:

I'll ask Matt the first question at 1 p.m. Eastern. To follow the Q&A discussion, click on the word "comments" below this post. If you'd like to pose a question or add a comment, look for the phrase "POST A COMMENT" at the end of the existing comments. Below it, insert your name (real names, please); email address (it will not be visible online); and, if you like, the URL of your organization or program’s website. Write your question or comment in the box, then click “post.”

Please note: You will need to refresh your browser periodically to see the latest questions and comments that have been posted and answered. If traffic gets heavy, you may be asked to verify your comment with a "captcha check," or typing in a string of letters.

Also, if you see that several questions have already been asked, please be kind and give Matt a chance to catch up before posting your question.
We'll post a rethreaded, easier-to-read version of this live blog at our wiki within 24 hours. (You can read past water cooler discussions there, too.)

Thank you for joining us for today's meeting of the Everyday Democracy Book Club! And now, let the discussion begin ...

Questions for the book club

Tomorrow - Thursday, May 15 - we'll hold the spring meeting of the Everyday Democracy Book Club right here at Democracy Space. The live blog session will run one hour, from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern, featuring Matt Leighninger and his book, The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule Is Giving Way to Shared Governance - and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same.

Below are a few questions we'll try to ask Matt during the event. You'll have a chance to ask questions "from the floor," too.

What new things have you learned about civic involvement  since finishing your book? Can you give examples of a few new shared governance programs that have emerged since its publication?

What sort of updates are you getting from the communities that you featured in the book? What progress are people in those areas continuing to make in their efforts to involve citizens more deeply in democracy? What challenges are they facing?

Do you think the intense interest in this year's U.S. presidential election will translate into more people being interested in active involvement in their local government. Why or why not?

You live in Canada, but you are an American citizen. How has this dual perspective influenced your research and your writing about the growth in this new form of democracy? Are there lessons the two nations can learn from one another? What can North America learn from other regions of the world?

And here are a few questions mentioned during the recent PACE webinar, "How Local Governments Are Reinventing Civic Engagement." We can tackle these if we have time, too.

What's better - temporary processes for public engagement, or permanent structures? If the former, should they be run by city employees or outside facilitators? If the latter, how can such structures be sustained?

Should more decisions be made and implemented at the neighborhood level?

Should citizen participants be selected randomly or by interest level?

Can we develop a new language to better describe these new forms of shared governance, as well as minimum standards to guide everyone doing the work?

We hope to see you back here at DemSpace at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

Jax dinner serves hope

The Dinner with a Difference held last week in Jacksonville, Florida, was a great success. We had approximately 430 attendees, many who were totally new to the study circle process of action-oriented dialogues that bring together a wide variety of people. The event brimmed with energy and allowed everyone to get a taste of a study circle session.

After the catered meal, we began by looking at a video which depicted the disparities between races in everyday life. Then we had more than 40 facilitators, each speaking with groups of 10 to 12 people each at separate tables. Everyone openly and honestly discussed the video along with their perceptions of race in Jacksonville.

At the end of the evening we had closing thoughts and a strong next-steps statement which motivated people to continue to learn about the study circle process and get more involved. Our director, Charlene Taylor Hill, summed up the event’s vision and sent everyone home with a sense of purpose. Many business, civic, and political leaders who normally would not be at this type of event were there. The biggest comments were that people now had a feeling of "hope" and that "the city has never had an event like this before.”

We are now moving forward and looking to capitalize on the success by launching more study circles, identifying potential facilitators, and establishing relationships with new coalition partners. Internally, we are moving forward in setting up our action Forums, planning a facilitator gathering to introduce Anthony Butler, the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission’s manager of education and community outreach, and establish a new focus. We are also looking to refine our coalition partner list and focus on a more specific aspect of the racial equity issue as it pertains to a particular social ill in our city. All in all we are excited about where we are and eager to move to the next step: focused action.

Lisa Stafslien works for the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, one of nine programs taking part in Everyday Democracy’s Communities Creating Racial Equity initiative. Contact her here.

If your community would like to post a report of its organizing work here at DemocracySpace, please contact blog manager Julie Fanselow. 

Hispanic or Latino?

So, how should you refer to people from most of the countries throughout Latin America or Spain? Hispanics or Latinos? It depends on who you ask.

The origin of the word "Hispanic" is the Latin term Romans used when referring to Europe’s Iberian Peninsula – "Hispania" –made up of Spain and Portugal. Many people I know balk at being identified as Hispanic, noting that Spain colonized their family’s country of origin and they in no way want to show acceptance or even tolerance of that historical fact.

The National Council of La Raza website notes: "the terms 'Hispanic' and 'Latino' are used interchangeably by the U.S. Census Bureau to refer to persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American, Dominican, Spanish, and other Hispanic descent; they may be of any race. Some segments of the population also use the term 'La Raza' which has its origins in early 20th century Latin American literature and translates into English most closely as 'the people,' or, according to some scholars, 'the Hispanic people of the New World.' Mexican scholar José Vasconcelos coined the term to reflect the fact that the people of Latin America are a mixture of many of the world's races, cultures, and religions." (Click here to learn more about Vasconcelos.)

The NCLR web site goes on to explain how "some people have mistranslated 'La Raza' to mean 'The Race,' implying that it is a term meant to exclude others. In fact, the full term coined by Vasconcelos, 'La Raza Cósmica,' meaning the 'cosmic people,' was developed to reflect not purity but the mixture inherent in the Hispanic people. This is an inclusive concept, meaning that Hispanics share with all other peoples of the world a common heritage and destiny."

But Carlos Hernandez-Chavez, a friend of mine born and raised in Mexico and now a U.S. citizen, reminded me, whatever the reference you use – Hispanic or Latino - our cultures, regardless of one’s opinion of Spanish colonialism, has a strong European influence from Spain. "What’s this ‘Latino’ thing about?" he asked. "Not all Spanish-speaking people are Latin American. And not all Latin-based languages are Spanish. Calling myself a Latino makes no sense to me." Latin-based (or Romance) languages include French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian. If forced to choose between the two, Carlos opts for "Hispanic." After a few moments, he added, "if you really want to be accurate, call me what I am – Mexican."

According to a 2002 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 53 percent of Hispanics had no preference between "Hispanic" and "Latino." Among the 47 percent with a preference, 34 percent preferred "Hispanic" to "Latino" (13 percent). That same survey also provides a good lead on what to do when faced with the challenge of not knowing whether to refer to someone as Hispanic or Latino - 88 percent of "Hispanics" prefer to identify themselves by national origin rather than either of the two more generic references. It seems to me that the more we generalize ethnic references, the more likely we are to slip into stereotypes. No, we don’t all eat tacos.

Everyday Democracy created a dialogue guide about immigration for communities that want to address this hot button issue. Conversations are designed to help participants consider that Hispanics or Latinos are but one cluster of ethnicities that make up U.S. immigrants. Click here to read about communities who have addressed their immigration issues through dialogue aimed toward taking action and here to download a free copy of our immigration discussion guide.

Gloria Francesca Mengual is a program director for Everyday Democracy. She is of Puerto Rican and Spanish descent and because she identifies more strongly with her Puerto Rican heritage, prefers Puerto Rican. If the choices are limited to Hispanic or Latino, Hispanic feels more accurate to her.

Friday digest-open thread 5/9/08

Welcome to another weekend. Everyday Democracy was mentioned on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" program Thursday! Katherine Cramer Walsh, author of Talking About Race: Community Dialogues and the Politics of Difference, suggested Everyday Democracy to a college professor who called in asking how she could add social context and discussion of personal experiences to a class on the biology of race. "The first thing I'd suggest is that you get in touch with an organization called Everyday Democracy," Walsh said, noting that her studies of community dialogues led by Everyday Democracy formed the basis for her book. She went on to say that Everyday Democracy offers assistance with curriculum and facilitation for such dialogues and that "outside help might be great if you have folks who are practiced in leading discussions about race."

Here's a link to the program. Walsh's interview begins at the 30:20 mark, but the entire 47-minute broadcast is worth a listen. Via the show, we also learned about the new Exploring Race blog from Chicago Tribune columnist Dawn Turner Trice, who writes at the site, "We have a moment in history to have a national discussion about race. We should seize it and try to mine it for what it's worth. I want this to be a safe place where people of all races can explore their views and biases, openly and honestly."

And we need as many of those places - online and in our communities - as possible. As the Democratic presidential primary season winds down, it appears that Barack Obama will be the first African American presidential nominee of a major party, guaranteeing that race will continue to be a major theme in the 2008 elections. But in a PBS "News Hour" show this week, commentators agreed that - so far, anyway - the media has not risen to the challenge of addressing race in a meaningful way. "You know, when you look at a lot of the reporting coming out of the primaries in the Democratic race, and you see the number of times that we break things down by racial categories in determining how people voted, we are, in some ways, abetting what I would regard as a fairly narrow and superficial discussion about race," said Keith Woods of The Poynter Institute.

"So, you see a full vocabulary for talking about white Americans in this debate, from blue-collar, a euphemism for white blue-collar workers. We talk about lunch-bucket Democrats. We talk about the soccer mom and the NASCAR dad, all of which are euphemisms in the national discourse for white Americans," Woods added. "And then we talk about black people, as though they are all the same, with pretty much all the same views. And Latinos and Asians haven't fared much better. And we don't talk at all about Native Americans." Read the transcript or access audio or streaming video here. Woods has a follow-up essay on the Poynter website, too.

Several friends of Everyday Democracy are mentioned in an article in the May-June issue of Utne Reader, which has "Re-imagining the American Dream" as its theme. In "Tear Down the White Picket Fence," Hannah Lobel writes about how a new civic ethic is encouraging people to move beyond partisan gridlock. A snip:

Whoever moves into the White House next year needs to nurture this civic reflex both within and beyond the under-30 set. And to help, a number of groups are already gearing up for the day after the election.

The November 5th Coalition, an informal group of civic engagement experts, is pitching national service programs that focus on developing leadership and problem-solving skills. Not the kind of service programs, says Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement and a coalition member, “where you just have a bunch of people drafted to paint buildings or something.” They’re also promoting national and local forums that bring together diverse groups to tackle the vexing issues that haunt politicians and communities, such as health care and education reform.

In Bridgeport, Connecticut, for example, “community conversations” about the down-and-out industrial town’s schools not only led to improvements—smaller classes, more-involved parents, fewer poor-performing schools—but also laid the groundwork for a thriving culture of civic participation that has stretched beyond school halls, the think tank Public Agenda notes in a 2007 report.

“Civic participation,” says Melanie Campbell, executive director of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, “is about engaging in a process that helps to improve your individual life, your family, your community, your nation, and your world.”

Isn't it thrilling to see dialogues on race and growing civic engagement mentioned nearly every day in the national media? And then there's the Associated Press story from earlier this week reporting that voter registration is soaring this year, with big gains reported "for blacks, women and young people. Rural and city. South and North. Overall, the AP found that nearly one in 65 adult Americans signed up to vote in just the first three months of the year" and that registrations are up a whopping 64 percent from the same period in 2004.

Do you want to learn how to harness all this energy to help create lasting change in your community? Sure you do. That's why you ought to consider attending Everyday Democracy's national meeting June 12-14 in Denver (the early bird registration deadline has been extended to May 22) and/or the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation's 2008 conference Oct. 3-5 in Austin, Texas. (NCDD's early registration deadline is May 16.)Take these opportunities to meet and network with others who share your passion for making democracy work for everyone, every day.

Density by design

As gas nears $4 a gallon and as the world grapples with global warming, more people are choosing to live close to where they work (or at least close to a bus or rail line that can get them to their jobs without a car). And many people who are done working, or close to it - namely the empty nesters of the Baby Boom generation - also are eager to live where they can forget about yard work and walk to restaurants, parks, and cultural events. A new wave of urban housing is catering to people who seek this lifestyle.

But the word "density" has a bad rap among many Americans. Say it, and people conjure images of ugly housing projects and boring tract homes. That's why Julie Campoli and Alex S. MacLean wrote and photographed a book called Visualizing Density - to show that density doesn't need to mean bad design. They are traveling the country to explain this message, and I caught up with them Wednesday at a program sponsored by the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho.

Asked to define density, people use negative terms including "cookie cutter," "boring," "isolated," "barren," "over-paved," "car-oriented," and "transient." But people also use more positive descriptions like "green," "varied," "connected," "timeless," and "pedestrian friendly." The latter terms come up when developers build environments that are high-quality (even for affordable housing), convenient, and have aesthetic appeal.

Density is definitely ecologically "green", but people won't move to a more dense neighborhood just because it's "the right thing to do," Campoli said. Instead, developments need to literally be green. "Satisfying people's need for green is essential," she added, noting that it can be done many ways, from courtyards and pocket parks to community gardens and even using green roofs and landscaped catch-basins instead of storm sewers for rainwater runoff.

Campoli pulled up a website for a Phoenix, Arizona, organization called South Laveen Against High Density. Its mission statement reads: "We will be reasonable but firm with misguided attempts to zone for high density cookie cutter housing." So what the group really opposes, she noted, is bad design - not high density. She recommended the Design Advisor website as a good source for planners and builders who want to create affordable yet well-designed housing. She also urged planners to encourage infill housing in existing urban areas rather than "new town" developments that often leap-frog over open space and demand long commutes.

Everyday Democracy has tools for communities that would like to address growth and sprawl, first by bringing a wide array of people together to discuss the issue, then to take action together on it. Click here to read stories of large and small communities that have taken these steps, and here to download a free copy of our discussion guide "Smart Talk for Growing Communities: Meeting the Challenges of Growth and Development."

Cyclone relief trickles in

The mind boggles at the destruction wrought by Saturday's cyclone in Burma (Myanmar), and it struggles to imagine the sort of hurdles relief workers face as they try to bring help to one of the planet's most closed societies. The latest reports indicate the death toll could climb to 50,000 or higher and that more than a million people are homeless.

News dispatches indicate that many foreign aid workers are still awaiting visas, and that French officials are suggesting that the United Nations deliver aid to Burma without waiting for approval of the country's ruling military junta - a move that raises fascinating questions about whether and when global interests and humanitarian concerns should trump national sovereignty. Meanwhile, the junta insists the nation will move ahead with a constitutional referendum this weekend, even amid reports of the mounting cyclone-caused carnage and the post-storm executions of rioting political prisoners held in what former inmates call "the darkest hell-hole in Burma."

From Reuters:

"We are seeing at the United Nations if we can't implement the responsibility to protect, given that food, boats and relief teams are there, and obtain a United Nations' resolution which authorizes the delivery (of aid) and imposes this on the Burmese government," (French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner) said.

The United Nations recognized in 2005 the concept "responsibility to protect" civilians when their governments could or would not do it, even if this meant intervention that violated national sovereignty. ...

... Political analysts and critics of 46 years of military rule say the cyclone may have long-term implications for the junta, which is even more feared and resented since last September's bloody crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests. ...

... With disease, hunger and thirst threatening survivors, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd begged the junta to allow in large-scale humanitarian relief.

"Forget politics. Forget the military dictatorship. Let's just get aid and assistance through to people who are suffering and dying as we speak, through a lack of support on the ground," Rudd told reporters in Perth.

From The Telegraph:

The military government said a constitutional referendum that is part of its so-called “roadmap to democracy” would go ahead this weekend, except in the worst-affected areas. Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition National League for Democracy, which won elections in 1990 but has never been allowed to take power, said the decision was “extremely unacceptable.”

But analysts said the vote could give ordinary Burmese a safe way to protest against the generals’ handling of the disaster, after their bloody crackdown on protesting monks and civilians last year.

“The juxtaposition of the cyclone and the voting might cause many in Burma to feel this is an indication that the military should not be in power,” said David Steinberg, a Burma expert at Georgetown University in Washington.

Many Burmese are deeply traditional, he pointed out, and the disaster could be taken to mean the current rulers had lost the “mandate of heaven.”

Western organizations collecting donations for cyclone relief efforts include Direct Relief, the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies, the International Rescue Committee, UNICEF, and World Vision.

People-centered philanthropy

The Case Foundation's Make It Your Own program has announced the winners of its Final Four awards of $25,000 each. They are:

Citizen Participation - New Orleans, Louisiana
Crossing Borders - St. Paul, Minnesota
Juveniles 4 Justice -  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Leaders of the New School - Chicago, Illinois

The Final Four were determined by a vote open to anyone who cared to check out the Make it Your Own website and select from among a list of Top 20 finalists. Traditionally, that's not how philanthropy works.  But in a new essay on the Make It Your Own website, Cynthia Gibson writes about how citizen-driven grant-making like this "reflects a slow, but simmering, movement away from expert rule to citizen-driven efforts that are bringing wide swaths of communities together to decide what's important and what to do about it."

Gibson, the author of a report issued last year, "Citizens  at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement,"  goes on to explain how the Case Foundation brought everyday people into the process at every step, from getting input on the program guidelines from diverse groups of residents in several cities to recruiting people from outside the philanthropic community to narrow nearly 5,000 applications down to 100. Next, leaders from the civic engagement community were asked to help winnow the field to 20 before the Final Four website vote.

Pointing to similar efforts by Grassroots Grantmakers, the Knight Foundation, and even American Express, Gibson notes how these programs "are laying groundwork for what many hope is a full-scale trend across philanthropy -- one in which foundations move from being the arbiters of what gets done to serving as facilitators of a process in which they partner with other community institutions and residents in designating priorities and crafting actions."

Gibson concludes:

No one is arguing that philanthropic institutions don't have the right to decide what to do with their money. Nor are they suggesting that there is no role for experts and intermediaries in making decisions, especially in processes that threaten to dovetail into popularity contests or politically motivated shortcuts.

What's needed is more of a balance between the professionals and the public, as well as more discussion about how to achieve that goal. Let's hope that philanthropy makes it a goal worth pursuing - now and in the future.

Read Gibson's entire essay here.  And for more discussion of how everyday people are taking leadership roles in local government, philanthropic action, and more, don't miss next Thursday's water cooler here at DemSpace, which will feature Matt Leighninger talking about his book, The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule Is Giving Way to Shared Governance - and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same. The event is set for 1 p.m. Eastern on May 15 right here at DemocracySpace.

Urban schools chat today

The Education Week website is holding an online chat from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern today (Monday, May 5) on achievement in urban schools. From the edWeek website (where the chat will occur later today):

Public school students in the nation’s largest cities are scoring higher than ever before on state and national tests, according to the annual Beating the Odds report from the Council of the Great City Schools. But only about half of students in those cities are graduating from high school, as reported in Cities in Crisis, prepared by the EPE Research Center. 

What does the research tell us about education reform in cities, achievement gaps, and the road ahead for urban schools? Join Christopher B. Swanson and Michael Casserly as they take your questions on public schools in the nation’s largest cities.

You can submit a question in advance here. Also, have a look at this recent research from the Annenberg Institute showing how grassroots community organizing efforts are building stronger schools. Everyday Democracy has tools to help your district do this sort of hands-on organizing, no matter what your school district's size.