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Denver: hear all about it ...

Everyday Democracy deputy communication director Carrie Boron recently touched base with three people who attended our "Making Every Voice Matter" national conference in Denver. The podcast interviews are posted here.

Solomon Hatch of the City of Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs says he enjoyed meeting people from all over the country who are working on similar issues. Tessa Garcia McEwen of the Midtown Educational Foundation in Chicago (and formerly of the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network) applauds Everyday Democracy's dedication to meaningful evaluation and time for people to network and socialize. "This was very re-energizing," adds Gina Valencia of the Center for Resolution in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "I feel that we are not alone and there's a lot of wisdom to share."

Listen to the podcasts here, and click here to access many more resources from the meeting.

Recapping our national meeting

It’s been just over a month since Everyday Democracy hosted the “Making Every Voice Matter” national conference in Denver, Colo., and we’re still receiving emails from people commenting on their conference experience. Keep the emails coming!

So, what are people saying? What did they write in their conference evaluations? Here is a snap shot of what we’ve heard:

People liked…

• The variety of workshops
• The pace and format of the conference and workshops
• The “Making Democracy Real, Day to Day” opening panel discussion as well as the interactive plenary sessions
• The networking time
• The multiple showings of the “Mirrors of Privilege” film

People took away…

• The importance of addressing racism and white privilege in their dialogue-to-change work
• New tools and techniques for organizing dialogue for change efforts
• The value of storytelling

One attendee commented that his/her takeaway was “…a sense that the U.S. is on the verge of more democratic participation AND serious talk about race.”

As a result of the conference, people said that they want to learn more about:

• Dismantling structural racism
• Evaluating their dialogue-to-change program
• Engaging youth in dialogue for change

Everyday Democracy is currently reviewing and absorbing all of the feedback from the conference so that we can deliver more of what you want in our future events.

If you would like to revisit your conference experience or, if you couldn’t make it to Denver and want to see what all the fuss is about, go to the “Making Every Voice Matter” post-conference page on Everyday Democracy’s website. Check out our slideshow of conference photos; read commentary from DemocracySpace.org; and download workshop handouts, PowerPoint presentations and notes.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you at the next Everyday Democracy event!
Carrie

Bringing action home

As two teenagers quickly approaching one of the most important times in our life, an opportunity to attend the Everyday Democracy conference in Denver is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The message, “Making every voice matter,” is one that can be truly adapted to any community. The lessons we learned and the friendships we made will prove valuable through out the rest of our lives. Little did we know it would take us this trip, stretched over many miles, to find out the true value behind making every voice matter.

In Lewiston, Maine, Athena and I worked together to help develop the Y.A.D.A. initiative. Within Y.A.D.A., Youth + Adults + Dialogue = Action, we represented the youth of our community. One of our main focuses was bridging the gap between youth and adults in our local community to create healthy relationships and understandings of each other. In order to spread our focus and the ideals behind Y.A.D.A., to communities beyond , we first had to take a flight down to Denver, Colorado, and listen to what the people from Everyday Democracy had to say.

From the minute we landed in Denver, we were quickly overwhelmed with everything the city and the conference had to offer. After a quick journey around one of the truly fascinating cities in the U.S., we were excited to get to work. An enjoyable breakfast and quick hellos lead into the first workshop. The day was filled with lessons on racial equality, white privilege, and more importantly increasing youth and adult civic engagement.

Never in our lives before have Athena and I been able to walk into a room and realize that there were over a hundred adults in a room waiting to hear about what we have done at home with our Y.A.D.A. initiative, and what we can offer them as they go further with their community projects. For us, the fact that adults wanted our opinions, two teenagers, on how they can improve their communities was amazing for us. Then as quickly as it began it ended.

When we arrived home we were quick to put our new ideas into action. Y.A.D.A. held a celebration to commemorate its achievements within the community for the 2008 year. At the celebration Athena and I had the chance to share with the several Y.A.D.A. sub-action groups what we learned from the workshops we attended and about the friendships we made. Also, the action steps that we can apply to improve the quality and quantity of projects we take upon ourselves. Most likely the strongest message we projected was the fact that if we truly wanted to create positive change we had to incorporate people from all walks of life, in order to make significant progress in our community.

This is where we can take Everyday Democracy’s message, “Making every voice matter,” and turn it into action, by giving everyone an equal say in the community. This is the most valuable lesson the action groups must keep in mind while moving forward. Athena and I can say this is the most valuable message we took away from the Everyday Democracy conference. With this we can make our own voices matter by spreading the word, and hopefully influencing others to do the same.

Written by Athena Andoniades and Tyler Lussier

Y.A.D.A. Youth Facilitators

Y.A.D.A Initiative

Lewiston, Maine

 

Athena (left) and Tyler (right) are shown here with Kristopher McClure - also of Y.A.D.A. - at Everyday Democracy's Making Every Voice Matter national meeting in Denver. The slide show above features photos from the recent Y.A.D.A. celebration in Lewiston.

Friday digest-open thread 6/20/08

Have you taken the DemocracySpace survey? After almost 10 months of near-daily posts, we're wondering if the blog has been useful to you and what sort of news and information you'd like to see here. Click here to take the 5-minute survey. Thanks very much!!

Westword, Denver's news and arts weekly, blogged about our 2008 Making Every Voice Matter conference. Click here to read Maddie Wolberg's post, "Everyday People." Janis Foster of Grassroots Grantmakers wrote about some of her experiences at the conference on her blog, too. And thanks to Corinna Moebius for her mention of the meeting at Imagine Miami.

Many communities around the country will be holding Juneteenth events this weekend to commemorate the day - June 19, 1865 - that slaves in Galveston, Texas, received word of their freedom. From its Texas roots, the holiday has spread to cities and states across the country and even around the world. Visit this Juneteenth website to learn more and locate events near you.

Also related to Juneteenth, the film Traces of the Trade: A Tale from the Deep North, will make its national broadcast premiere on Tuesday (June 24) on PBS' provocative documentary film series, P.O.V. From the show's website:

First-time filmmaker Katrina Browne makes a troubling discovery — her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine fellow descendants set off to retrace the Triangle Trade: from their old hometown in Rhode Island to slave forts in Ghana to sugar plantation ruins in Cuba. Step by step, they uncover the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery while also stumbling through the minefield of contemporary race relations.

Check your local TV listings or the P.O.V. website for times. Our friend Sandy Heierbacher of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation reminds us that an early cut of the film was screened at NCDD's 2004 conference in Denver, and that it will be screened and discussed again at the 2008 NCDD Conference, set for October 3-5 in Austin, Texas.

Have a good weekend, and don't forget to take our survey.

From Denver, with love

What did you take home?

Thanks to all of you who traveled from 37 states to attend Everyday Democracy's 2008 "Making Every Voice Matter" conference. This is your thread to share what you learned, how you were inspired, and what you'd most like to do now that you're back in your communities. Click on "comments" below to add your thoughts.

This post will remain on top of the blog through next Tuesday, June 24. Scroll down for our latest posts and more news from the June 12-14 national meeting.

Saturday sampler

We've had another full slate of workshops this morning, including sessions on "Dismantling Racism: An Essential Element in Creating Community Change," "Evaluation for Learning and Change," and an orientation on "Organizing Dialogue for Change." (See the common word in all of those?!)

In a session on "Getting Real About Results: Using Communication to Help the Public Know What to Expect," JoAnn Martin, communications and marketing director for the City of Lynchburg (Virgina) walked participants through the communications plan for her city's Many Voices One Community program, which attracted more than a thousand participants in its first year. Some key points:

• Build a brand. Although it was initiated by and run through the city, Many Voices had a distinct identity,including this logo, which was used on everything from T-shirts to bookmarks to billboards.
• Establish consistent talking points, so that all audiences and potential participants get the same message.
• Make it a must-do. In Lynchburg, the buzz around the dialogues was so strong that people felt they'd be missing out if they didn't get involved.
• Involve people where they're at. Recognizing that many area youth  wouldn't commit to the regular six-week dialogues, the city held a weekend youth forum for them, including a Friday evening of entertainment followed by a condensed day of dialogue on Saturday - all at a local indoor skate park.

In another workshop on "Making the Most of Your Community's Resources, From the Inside Out," presenters Janis Foster of Grassroots Grantmakers and Jereann King Johnson of the Rural School and Community Trust guided participants through new ways of thinking about community assets, financial giving, and more. A few pointers:

• Community organizers get frantic about landing grants, but much more money is given as gifts, with no strings attached. Whether in grants or gifts, people may want to give simply because they like your work - but always be prepared to "make the ask" and say where the money will help. In a nutshell: Here is our plan ... here's what we already have ... here's what we're looking for ... here's where this could take us ... can you help?
• Think of your goal and how to get there. Janis painted a word picture of the Mississippi River flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico (the goal), and of our work as being a meandering stream that flows in and out of the larger river, but always toward its goal. "It doesn't matter if it meanders, as long as you're heading to the Gulf of Mexico and not the Pacific Ocean," she noted. Other lessons: Build on short-term wins and leave every conversation with a yes, even if it's only "Can I call you again in three months to give you an update on our progress?"
• Always be asking: Who has the power in this community? Who could shut this process down? Who could keep it moving forward? But never give up: One participant told a story of a local radio station owner who finally became involved after seven years of courting, and Jereann noted that although the local economic development director in her county initially seemed uninterested in the dialogues, he ultimately invited one of the organizers to sit on his organization's board.

At our closing plenary on Saturday, small groups brainstormed next steps for our work. The top five included using "everyday democracy" in our community work, being intentional about confronting privilege and bias as we engage citizens, continuing to move from dialogue to action, sharing stories of our successes, and using concrete tools we discovered here at the conference to communicate about this work and its importance. There also was a strong call for sustained youth involvement, perhaps including a future youth conference, or youth track at the next national meeting.

The work continues!

The greatest challenges

Before the national meeting, Everyday Democracy did a survey asking those who planned to rank the greatest challenges their communities face. Those original survey results are here. But participants in Friday's afternoon plenary got to add to the "greatest challenges" list, then re-vote. Here were the results (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest; new items suggested Friday are in italics):

Poverty    7.6
Cost of energy 7.4
Health care    7.4
Crisis in the public schools    7.3
Economic downturn    7.3
Lack of affordable housing 7.2
Growing gap between rich and poor    7.0
Role of race    6.7
Lack of infrastructure for real civic engagement    6.7
Moving from polarization to common ground    6.7
Failure of government to provide resources    6.4

Also on Friday afternoon, participants drew up a list focused on the question "What do we most need to work on?" See the results at our wiki.

Friday vignettes

The national meeting is now in full swing. Here are some highlights from our morning workshops and the lunchtime program:

• At "Taking the Lead: Young People Organizing Dialogue for Action," graduating seniors Joe Altal of Waterford Union High School in Wisconsin and Omari James of Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, shared their personal stories, while activists Amina Makhdoom and Tessa Garcia McEwen described their own journeys toward working for diversity. Participants in this workshop kicked off the event with a "Speed Dating" exercise during which everyone got about one minute to talk with someone else about each of these topics "Describe your community," "Does race and ethnicity play a role in your everyday life? How?", "What do you hope to learn at this workshop?" and "McCain or Obama? Why?"

• This quote from Judith H. Katz was projected behind the speakers at the "Why Addressing Racism is Key to Making Progress on Other Issues" panel: "Unless we can imagine a world without oppression, we can't create one ..." During the session, Beth Broadway of the Community Wide Dialogue to End Racism in Syracuse told of a yearlong dialogue (held once a month) pairing Italian-Americans with recently arrived Southeast Asian immigrants. At the very first meeting, an Italian-American leader asked this as the very first question: "How come you people are coming in here and taking over our neighborhood?" But after a year of talking with one another and realizing that both groups had come to the United States to flee political oppression, they planted a peace garden together and take part in one another's social events. The year of dialogues "changed everything," Beth said.

• Derek Okubo, vice president of the National Civic League, helped pay tribute to his former boss, the late John Parr, who led the NCL from 1985 to 1995 and who later founded the organization Civic Results. Derek described John as a dedicated mentor, a person of great humor, and someone who was fiercely intelligent but who didn't flaunt his smarts. He noted how John always seemed to have complete command over the seemingly chaotic stacks of papers in his office, and over his wide interests in everything from sports to politics to tractor repair. When Parr first talked about increasing public involvement in government 30 years ago, the notion seemed crazy - but now, it's well accepted. "The best way to honor John is to recognize that the wealth of the communities we serve is greater than us," he said.

• The Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center accepted its $1,000 prize for Everyday Democracy's Making Every Voice Matter video contest. (See their video here.) Amy Tompkins of the INRC noted that they'll use the prize money to buy digital photography and videography equipment to encourage even more storytelling in their neighborhoods - a project that's already been launched among youth in the city's Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood.

Making it real, day to day

Our opening plenary here in Denver featured a panel discussion on "Making Democracy Real, Day to Day" with four nationally known experts on this topic: Archon Fung, professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School; Martha L. McCoy, executive director of Everyday Democracy; Pedro Antonio Noguera, whose roles include serving as a professor at New York University and executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education; and Makani Themba-Nixon, executive director of The Praxis Project. Gloria Rubio-Cortes, the first woman and first person of color to lead the Denver-based National Civic League, served as moderator. (Rubio-Cortes and Nogeura are pictured here during the event.)

Their wide-ranging conversation was punctuated by some key-pad polling from more than 120 participants on issues of making every voice matter. On the central discussion point for our proceedings - "Making every voice matter is the only way to make real progress on the issues we face" - 50 percent  were in the 6-to-8 range, and 8 percent expressed the strongest agreement (10) with that statement.

"Another interesting question is how to make every voice matter," Archon noted, and that  idea drove much of the discussion. Makani suggested how the people in the room are those who imagine that things can be different, and Martha said that, in fact, many of the communities represented here are working hard to pursue that "how." This is especially important, Pedro said, because in our current system, not every voice matters equally, and people on the margins need even more chances to express their voices so they don't get drowned out by those in power.

Archon told a fascinating story about his recent visit to the Broadmoor neighborhood in New Orleans, which was one of the areas that many urban planners decided to "write off" following Hurricane Katrina, noting that it made no sense to rebuild there. "That was the best thing that could have happened to this neighborhood," he said. Once the folks there knew that they couldn't expect much help, a diverse group of people including a politically savvy young African American woman, a business-oriented white man, and an Anglican priest who'd recently been working in West Africa led a team to help the neighbors work for their area's revival.

Toward the end of the session, the panelists were asked to suggest some tools and ideas for further exploration. Pedro suggested that we "be an advocate on an issue that's not about your group" and learn another language. He suggested that the United States might consider becoming more like Belize, a nation that is diverse and inclusive. Martha reminded people about Everyday Democracy's Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation discussion guide, and the many stories on our website and blog that tell how communities are working to create greater equity across racial, ethnic, and class differences.

Makani suggested the work of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, especially its Bridge curriculum, and of the Denver-based Padres Unidos. (Both these resources and others mentioned this weekend will be posted on this Denver tool kit thread here at DemocracySpace. Feel free to add others.) Archon said that the United States might take a cue from other nations that mandate broader citizen representation on governing boards, and he suggested that workplaces make an effort to "debug" themselves and work on more equitable organizational practices.