Friday digest-open thread 12/14/07

This will be the final Friday digest of the year here at DemocracySpace. For the final two Fridays of 2007, we'll have year-in-review roundups featuring some of the coolest news about small-d democratic organizing that we've seen this year. (Have a suggestion for those? Leave it in the comments below.) But let's not get ahead of ourselves ...

How is your holiday shopping coming along? If you need some ideas, check out the Case Foundation's Guide to Good Giving, which is packed with ways to fill stockings and build hope, all at the same time. Under Gifts That Give, you'll find ways to fight breast cancer, support animal shelters, aid still-struggling New Orleans musicians, and much more. Under Staff Picks, there are ways to give your money or your time to create positive change. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page to see a mention of the Study Circles Resource Center!) The Out of the Box section describes how "new and innovative ways to give are changing how we define philanthropy – and making doing good a daily occurrence."  The Skoll Foundation's Social Edge website has a gift guide, too, and don't forget our recent book roundups.

Monday (December 17) is the early registration deadline for a January 17-18 diversity conference in Clarksville, Indiana. Up to 300 people from Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky are expected at the event, which will feature a keynote speech by SCRC executive director Martha McCoy on "Bringing Diversity to Life: What works (and doesn’t) in real communities.” Read more here and download registration materials here.

Earlier this week, WBUR Boston's On Point radio show had a comprehensive look at the nation's subprime mortgage crisis, including how it is disproportionately affecting working-class neighborhoods and communities of color. You can access the show here. Guests included Douglas Palmer, mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which recently released its report on the crisis.

In other $$$ news, Facing Up to the Nation's Finances has posted the round-up of entries into its blog carnival on the $9 trillion national debt. More than a dozen blogs took part, including this one.

Click here to read why one young South Dakota family committed to small-town life became involved in the Horizons program. Chad and Erin Odens live in Scotland, South Dakota - one of 32 communities in the state involved in the program. According to Randy Dockendorf's article in the Yankton Press & Dakotan, Scotland residents have identified six action items: a welcoming program for new residents, a youth center, a city beautification committee, a stronger business sector, a "Good Stuff Exchange" for unwanted household items, and a Scotland Community Foundation to fund local efforts and matching grants.

Wisconsin high school students who usually meet on the football field or the basketball court convened recently not to compete, but to cooperate in a brainstorming session on how to create positive changes in their schools. "Students from Burlington, Kenosha, Muskego, Oak Creek, Racine and South Milwaukee packed the Roma Lodge, where they spent the day in groups talking with their peers about issues like diversity, cliques, communication and respect," Paul Sloth wrote in the Journal Times. Click here to read more about this Leadership Cafe summit.

Speaking of Wisconsin, DemocracySpace will go on the road for the first time next week to post a report from Milwaukee, where an innovative partnership is looking to build sustainability in community economic development and the ways people work today.

Comments

[Amy Malick]

Thanks for the link to the national debt site. Cool this blog got a mention there! I missed your Dec. 5 post, so went back to read it. 1 million bucks a MINUTE we're adding to the national debt???? I can't even get my mind around that. You are so right this issue could affect local communities when the deby payment comes due. What a threat to democracy this could be when we can't afford to implement the public will. All the more reason for people to build capacity now for pulling together to wrestle with hard issues and choices.