DemocracySpace.org

Welcome to the water cooler (9/08)

Update: The easier-to-read, threaded version of this discussion is now available at our wiki. Click here.

Welcome to today's discussion of how to start dialogue-to-change programs (sometimes called study circles) in your community. My name is Julie Fanselow, online organizer for Everyday Democracy and manager of its DemocracySpace blog, and I'll be the moderator for today's online discussion. (We call these events "water coolers.")

Here's how the water cooler will work: Starting at 1 p.m. Eastern, I will ask several questions of Everyday Democracy staff that we have online with us. For the first part of this hour, we'll briefly cover the very basics of launching a dialogue-to-change program.

After that, we'll open up the discussions to any more specific questions you may have about how to get large-scale, inclusive, action-oriented dialogues started in your community. Please let our staff answer the "basics" questions before posting any new questions.

To follow this Q&A discussion, click on the word "comments" below this post. If you'd like to pose a question or add a comment once we cover the basics, 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 our staff a chance to catch up before posting your question. We'll post a rethreaded, easier-to-read version of this live blogging session at our wiki within 24 hours. (You can read past water cooler discussions there, too.)

Thank you for joining us today. And now, let the discussion begin!

'Doing nothing' isn't an option

Even though everyone in Burlington, Vermont, wants the “same” thing for our children, Janice Fields, a facilitator for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, notes that “sameness means mixing it up.”

This is exactly what the Burlington Boys & Girls Club did on Thursday, September 11. Led by nationally renowned moderator Dr. William Hyman, about 50 community members representative of all ethnic and professional backgrounds participated, including youth, parents, non-profits, local government, grassroots organizers, law enforcement officials and the State’s Attorneys office.

The most impressive turnout was youth. In fact, Dr. Hyman said the representation was the best he’d seen in four years of working with the Boys & Girls Clubs, and he hailed the “wonderful blend of young folks and adults.” The youngest in the group were Joseph Baker and Brianna Sibley, each 11 years old.

Mary Alice McKenzie, director of the Burlington Boys & Girls Club, credited much of the high turnout success to Wanda Hines, director for the City of Burlington’s Social Equity Investment Project. The SEIP supports existing and emerging Vermont leaders from diverse backgrounds to help provide the necessary tools and training to be effective.

Dr. Hyman encouraged the Burlington community to develop a partnership with youth in order to answer, “What have we gotten into?” He said NOBLE’s primary goal is to help provide equity justice to the community, which means “uncompromising integrity and having the integrity to do the right thing when no one is looking.” He taught the group to identify partners, including among community police officers. “You have to help the police department, if you want quality of life for all youth,” he added.

Dr. Hyman, made reference to the “broken window” theory as he asserted, “Crimes tend to happen in dirty, ugly, run down places. When you show you care and question ugly behavior in the neighborhood. The ugly behavior will move to another ugly neighborhood.” Youth leader Ricky Stewart added, “Crimes do not have color.”

Earlier in the process, local television station WPTZ interviewed Mary Alice of the Boys & Girls Club. “We want one issue we can do something about and do something quickly,” she said. “So in 60 to 90 days, we want to see improvement. We have to be wise in the issue we pick and put together a realistic work plan to work as a group.”   

Divided into three groups, participants identified drugs as the number one issue. By consensus, the group created a three-point action plan to tackle the challenges. The Peers, Parents and Police action plan consist of 3 tiers:

•    Coordinated Community Response (CCR) will include targeting police patrol, neighborhood watches and increased sharing 
•    Peer Outreach Leadership (POL) will focus on youth teaching youth and parents teaching parents
•    Brochure specific to this community’s identified drug issue and the action plan.

So, what’s next? The Burlington Boys & Girls Club Peers, Parents and Police action plan committee will meet Wednesday, September 17, at the Club to recap the event, renew newly found partnerships and commence a journey united in vision. NOBLE facilitator Janice Fields articulated the community’s journey best, “We did not come over in the same boat, but we are on the same boat now.”

In closing, Burlington is a community “just like many across our great nation” and everyday I became more and more inspired by this one specific community embedded in the beautiful landscape of Vermont’s Green Mountains. Right now, I’m most enthused by the leadership of the Boys & Girls Club as they decided months ago that “to do nothing” is not an option.

Here's one video from last week's event, showing moderator Dr. William Hyman, Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling and Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan talking about how to engage the community against drug abuse. You can view more here, and click here to read an earlier post about the NOBLE meeting in Burlington.

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.

Introducing "webstorming"

You've heard of brainstorming, of course. Here at DemocracySpace, we'd like to start a wave of webstorming - and we need your help.

Do you have a vexing question about organizing large-scale, action-oriented dialogues in your community, or taking them to the next level? Would you like to ask others who've "been there, done that" how to recruit and train facilitators, attract more (and more varied) participants, publicize your programs to a wider range of people, involve elected and appointed officials, or implement action ideas from the beginning? We invite you to post your question here at DemocracySpace, where we can put the collective energy, knowledge, and insights of Everyday Democracy's staff, associates, and colleagues to work on it.

The webstorming sessions will be a variation on the water coolers we've held most months, which - although useful and full of information - require that you be online at a certain time and that you continually refresh your browser to keep up with the discussions. Webstorming sessions will be more relaxed: We'll feature a question in a post here at DemSpace, then ask people to add their ideas and input in the comments for a week or so. That way, people can check in at their convenience and yet still contribute information in a timely and focused way.

So send your burning questions to blog manager Julie Fanselow. Please include your contact information in your email. We look forward to webstorming with you in the very near future!

The Friday digest will return next week. Enjoy your holiday weekend ...

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. 

Writing a new history for Memphis

One week from tomorrow, the world will mark the 40th anniversary of the day when civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 39. Many events are planned at the National Civil Rights Museum, which is housed in the former Lorraine Hotel, where King was shot. The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS will broadcast from the museum all next week as well.

But Memphis is looking forward even as it looks back. Spurred on by local newspaper columnist Wendi C. Thomas, bolstered by a dynamically diverse planning team, and using materials developed by Everyday Democracy, a wide array of Memphis residents are coming together to - as Commercial Appeal editor Chris Peck recently wrote - "work together to talk about race in Memphis, gain a better understanding of one another, and pledge to take on specific projects that can repair and restore race relations in this city - and heal the city itself." (Click here to read Peck's column about the new Common Ground project.) "As the 40th anniversary of the King assassination approaches, Memphis has a real chance to begin to write the future history of this place," he added.

About 100 citizens met for breakfast two weeks ago to kick off the initiative. Common Ground plans to continue by holding small-group sessions each Thursday night April 24 through May 29, followed by an action forum in early June.  "This isn't going to be namby-pamby stuff. This is going to be real, get-to-work stuff," said Lisa Moore Willis, a program coordinator, told the Commercial Appeal.

If you live in Memphis and you'd like to take part, you can get more information and sign up online. If you live elsewhere but you'd like to organize a similar community-building coalition around racism in your town, you can do these two things:

Check out the resources on our website. You can download (for free) or order ($5 each) copies of our latest Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation discussion guide, and read about how to get started.

Mark your calendar for Thursday, April 17, when our monthly DemocracySpace water cooler will offer an hour of live blogging for people in communities nationwide who are creating racial equity. All you need to do to take part is log on at 1 p.m. Eastern that day, right here at DemocracySpace. It'll be a great hour of learning and sharing with others across the nation who are building coalitions, talking the talk, then walking the walk on racial equity.

Update: The Common Ground project will be included in a story about Memphis on CBS Sunday Morning, as well as in an article planned this weekend by The Observer, a British newspaper. We'll add links here later. Congratulations to the Common Ground coalition for gaining national and even international media attention.

Friday digest-open thread 1/25/08

As Martin Luther King Jr. Week winds down, take a few minutes to watch this wonderful video from Delaware-based Hearts and Minds Films. It features clips of Dr. King himself interspersed with children of today speaking his words. It's beautiful stuff ... click on the image above, and pass it along.

In other news:

Nearly 600 people in Lynchburg, Virginia, have signed up to take part in that city's Community Dialogue on Race and Racism. More than 400 of them showed up last Friday for a kickoff celebration. The action-oriented dialogues begin during the first week of February. Lynchburg has been selected as one of eight communities that will partner with the Study Circles Resource Center - soon to be renamed Everyday Democracy - on our Communities Creating Racial Equity initiative.

Also in the Middle Atlantic region, the YWCA of Lancaster (Pennsylvania) also has launched study circles on racism in the nearby community of Lititz, with plans to possibly grow the discussion series throughout Lancaster County. "Study circles are definitely in keeping with the two key missions of the YWCA, as an advocate for women's issues and confronting racism," Dorothy Evans, assistant executive director of the Y, told the Lititz Record.

Lima, Ohio, is a city that pioneered study circles in the early 1990s amid racial tensions after the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles. Now, Lima residents are on edge again following the January 4 fatal shooting of an African American woman during a drug raid in which police officers arrested the woman's boyfriend.

"The shooting has led to much soul searching about the mistrust between minorities and police and what happens to cities when manufacturing jobs move out and drugs move in," Associated Press reporter John Seewer wrote in an article this week. Read it here. Another recent AP story - this one by Ramit Plushnick-Masti - explores the rise in the drug trade in other Rust Belt cities.

Now, go back and re-watch that video.

Q&A: 600 people at a kickoff?

Here's a question from the September 5 webinar:

"We had Fran Frazier here in Edmonton last fall and when she was here, she mentioned the kick off could get as big as 600 participants. That is a LOT of break out dialogues and it seems intimidating and unmanageable. How do you manage this? How do you monitor and support?"