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.

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.

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.

Friday digest-open thread 12/07/07

Sorry to be so late in posting today. There's plenty to report, so let's get right to it:

Two communities with brand-new dialogue-to-action programs held action forums last night. Click here to read about the doings in Lynchburg, Virginia, where 120 people have been working on racism and racial equity issues. Then check out this story about last night's action forum in Lewiston, Maine, where local youth and their adult allies expressed an interest in building a youth center and getting a youth voice on the school board.

Citizens of Brattleboro, Vermont, held an action forum this week, too, to conclude a round of discussions on poverty. Here's a story that ran earlier this week, before the forum. Just a reminder: Poverty will be the focus of this month's DemocracySpace water cooler, set for 1 p.m. Eastern next Thursday, December 13. Join us online at that time to talk with other organizers who are working to move their communities from poverty to prosperity.

The Iowa Caucus - the kickoff event of the 2008 presidential primary season - is January 3. But today is National Caucus Day, an effort to get people to spend a little time together talking about the candidates and what we seek in our next chief exec. Click here to see if an event is happening near you.

Speaking of the presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Barack Obama gave a major speech on public service this week, saying he'd promote policies - including a vastly expanded AmeriCorps - to help Americans of all ages give back to their communities. The plan would also "invest in the capacity of nonprofits to innovate and expand successful programs across the country." Click here to read the plan in depth.

PublicDecisions.com, which specializes in training for public participation planners and elected officials, has announced a full slate of online classes for the first quarter of 2008. Selections include "Involving Youth in Decision Making," a tongue-in-cheek "Ten Reasons Not to Involve the Public in Your Decisions," and "Managing News Media in Public Involvement." Click here for the full schedule.

The international conference on climate change in Bali reached its halfway mark today, two days after the U.S. Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee passed a bill aimed at cutting global warming emissions by 70 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. The Bush administration remains opposed to mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and a House-passed energy bill stalled in the Senate today. But as Katharine Mieszkowski writes at Salon, the American public is now leading the way on the issue and it's looking more likely that the U.S. will be on board when the next treaties are written in 2009. Click here.

Friday digest-open thread 11/02/07

Fifty-six months into the war in Iraq, many people are feeling both numb and cut off from what's really happening in the Middle East. The Dallas Morning News' David McLemore writes of a sure way to stay in step with what's happening on the ground in Baghdad and elsewhere: military blogs (milblogs for short) written by such soldiers as Spc. Alex Horton, the recently returned author of Army of Dude. In Vietnam, we had three television networks beaming pictures of war into our living room. In Iraq, we have soldiers doubling as diarists, writing the first draft of an unfinished history.

In related news, the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University held a conference the weekend before last for milbloggers and others involved in chronicling the Iraq War. A snip from a story in the Brown Daily Herald: "'Progress doesn't take place in the university, in the military or in political circles through blind consent,' said Professor of International Studies James Der Derian, one of the conference's organizers. 'It only happens through contestation - dissent with a willingness to listen to the other.'" There was plenty of both at the conference. Click here to read more.

On Wednesday, the National Council of LaRaza and the Urban Institute released a report detailing the consequences of immigration raids on children. The report explored how more than 500 children - two thirds of them under age 10 - were directly affected by the arrest of 912 people in three large-scale workplace immigration raids over the past year. “The local governments and communities we studied did not have adequate resources to deal with children’s needs in the aftermath of the raids,” said Randy Capps, a demographer with the nonpartisan Urban Institute. "We don't question the fact that our laws need to be enforced. We do question how we enforce those laws," Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of LaRaza, told USA Today. "You're talking about real pain and suffering for these kids." Read more here and here.

At thataway.org, Amy Lang reviews the recent defeat of electoral reform proposed by the recent Ontario Citizens Assembly. Linking to and echoing an analysis by Jim Snider, she suggests that "understanding the Assembly’s reasons for recommending the system they chose could have changed the debate about the proposal." The reform's sound defeat offers a challenge to civic engagement proponents, she adds: "For all the high we feel when we gather people together for face-to-face dialogue and deliberation, how do we connect the outcomes of this work to a broader public?" Read more here.

Noted in the AmericaSpeaks e-newsletter: "Educare Trust is a Nigerian education and health NGO that is establishing a Deliberative Democracy Section in their library to expose students and adult users to the concept of deliberative forums.  If you can donate books and resource material contact Folorunsho Moshood (phone +234-802-386-5772) in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria." Click here to see photos of the library and its users at the DD section's opening.

What have you been thinking about and working on this week? Have a great weekend, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night, and we'll see you here on Monday.