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Racial reconciliation in Memphis

More than 270 people participated in the inaugural class of Common Ground, a dialogue-to-action race relations initiative in Memphis.

In this video produced by The Commercial Appeal, the city's daily newspaper, participants talk about what the program (which used the "Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation" curriculum supplied by Everyday Democracy) meant to them, and they chose the action items they have committed to work on.

Coming tomorrow: Learn more about Memphis' latest attempt at racial reconciliation from a founder and co-coordinator of Common Ground. Read about what went well and what they'll improve upon for fall sessions.

In the meantime, go to Common Ground Memphis for more details!

Wendi C. Thomas is a metro columnist for The Commercial Appeal, the daily paper in Memphis, Tenn., co-coordinator of Common Ground and its founder.

Share your news and questions

In the comments from the "What did you take home?" post, Bliss Bruen of Durango, Colorado, asked: ""If we want to write up longer pieces to share and/or ask questions that we think not everyone will want to wade through, should we send them directly to you?" Here are my answers, repeated from that thread:

We LOVE to publish pieces from communities here at DemSpace. So if you have news to share, please email me and I'll make arrangements to help you post your news (and/or photos and/or video clips) here on the blog. If it's news about how you are making your community work better for everyone, it definitely has a home here.

If you have a question about community dialogue-to-action programs, you can send it to me via email and we can make it the basis of a webstorming session - that is, a brainstorming session right here on the blog. I will be sure that our staff and associates see your question and can jump in with their answers.

I know from our time together last week that you all have great news to share, and burning questions, too. So don't be shy: Send 'em on to DemocracySpace and let everyone in on how your community is working to make every voice matter.

Lynchburg moves toward action

This video captures footage and interviews from participants at the Lynchburg Community Dialogue on Race & Racism Action Forum and Youth Dialogue. The three-day Action Forum was open to all and held in a vacant department store where participants could come and go as they were available. 

The attendees had an opportunity to view and vote on the top two ideas from the recently completed 58 Study Circles. Activities included mini-study circle experiences, video taping of personal stories, viewing of all of the ideas from the Study Circles, and an opportunity to make a personal commitment to individual and/or group action related to reducing racism within our community. The votes from the action forum were then tallied and reported out to the community with the next steps.

The Youth Dialogue was a one-and-a-half day event where teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 had an opportunity to participate in honest and open dialogue around the issues of Race & Racism. The top ideas from the Youth Dialogue were also on display during the Action Forum for participants to vote and view.

The Action Forum was an energetic, community-wide event that brought together study circle participants, program volunteers, and the community-at-large to celebrate and support the work of the study circles.  The Action Forum represented a significant step on our journey from recognition of a problem to dialogue to action to change.

Leslie King is assistant coordinator of the Lynchburg Community Dialogue on Race & Racism. Click here to visit the program's website and learn more about what's happening in Lynchburg.