Hello DemocracySpace.org subscribers! Today I'm writing the final post for DemocracySpace.org. While DemocracySpace served up some of the best content in the civic engagement blogosphere, we discovered that our network prefers to hear from us in places where they’re already at online, such as Facebook and Twitter. So, we're retiring DemocracySpace and saved our archived posts on Everyday-Democracy.org for anyone to enjoy and share. The DemocracySpace.org domain name will now be redirected to our blog archives on our website.
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We hope to see you there!
On April 3, Everyday Democracy, along with 322 other organizations and a total of 29,000 people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut participated in the YWCA's "Stand Against Racism" event. Following the event, Jon Abercrombie, one of our senior associates, shared his thoughts and reflections on his racial equity work. We're sharing his reflections with you here on DemocracySpace.
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"Below I will summarize some of the thoughts and feelings I have collected about my own work and about our work together on racial equity and white privilege. These thoughts have been with me for some time, actually, since our last conversations on race.
"First there are gifts that come to mind.
"Secondly, the wishes and the things I hope for.
"In the end I know what I want for myself. I want to learn better how to use any advantages I have to change the ways that racial privilege, racial prejudice, racial fear and blame undermine our world, our country and our local communities. When I lead dialogues on transportation in Atlanta and in Georgia, decisions are made that are based on race. When I sit with school boards to help them open up their work to the voices of the entire community, their responses are shaped by race and the barriers that have been created for many decades. I want us to explore the ways that we engage theses issues when communities use our race guide, and I want to find ways to engage these issues even when there are other pressing needs in the community.
"Finally, I want us to be clear with each other about what we know and feel. It is the greatest power we have.
"Thank you for your patience. Life and the powers that be are still trying to improve me."
Abie
This week, Everyday Democracy hosted a learning exchange for the "Communities Creating Racial Equity" initiative. The two-day event gave participating communities the opportunity to...
-explore more what it means to take on structural racism and racial equity;
-learn more about building evaluation and storytelling into their programs;
-and work through the challenges they face in moving dialogue to action and change.
Check back here next week for photos, videos, stories and more!
If you live in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, consider joining the YWCA’s “Stand Against Racism” event this Friday, April 3. Stand Against Racism is a movement that aims to eliminate racism by raising awareness through this annual event. Everyday Democracy is hosting a private event for staff and associates to deepen our understanding of racism and its impact on deliberative democracy. Come back to DemocracySpace.org after April 3 to read about our experience.
Learn more about the event at http://www.standagainstracism.org/index2.html
To sign up as a participating organization or individual, go to http://fs18.formsite.com/ywca/form792769482/index.html
What better way to share your news of your dialogue-to-change effort than on YouTube! This week, a YouTube video created by Woodbine, Iowa, came to our attention. The community came together in dialogues to find ways to address area poverty through Horizons--an anti-poverty leadership program of the Northwest Area Foundation--and came out with a new youth mentoring program.
After taking part in dialogues to find solutions and sharing ideas in an action forum, residents realized that they needed to do more for their young people to succeed and thrive in and out of school. They identified the TeamMates™ as a program that could empower the youth. Watch how the program came to be and what it's accomplished in the community so far.
Last Thursday, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents named Roseann Mason, director of Community Dialogues in the Center for Community Partnerships at UW-Parkside, as one of their first-ever winners of its Regents Diversity Awards in Madison. The new awards program recognizes and supports individuals and programs in the UW System that foster access and success in university life for historically underrepresented populations.
Roseann developed Diversity Circles to recognize and counter racism in its many forms. The circles, which launched in 1999, have been integrated into local high schools since 2003. Read this story about the program’s “Diversity in Action Conference” for high school students.
Each of the Board’s winners will receive up to $5,000 to support their professional development or to continue the program being honored.
Congratulations, Roseann!