Recap for October 28, 2007

In announcements the education group described recent developments—the question of whether the School Board will go forward with a Superintendent Search is still in the air; links are developing with other Tacoma; and Members are invited to stay tuned into the education group and come to meetings—all are welcome. A reminder: the Education group keeps track of many of its efforts at a website, HERE

This morning we heard BJ’s story. Members mentioned their appreciation of her story telling talents.

We discussed components of identity—groups label individuals in ways that places them as Other, as above and below. Members appreciate examples of drawing strength from the experience. This is no small feat. The entire western philosophical tradition can be seen as a search for autonomy—but some people subjected to the ridicule of their communities figure it out. One example—valuing connections with other women, while at the same time wanting all of them to be independent. And, Conversation members were rapt at an example of a young kid coming up with real wisdom during a difficult exchange.

We are reminded that none of us are perfect—it is good when we do the best we can, and when we can’t do something, we link up with someone who can. As kids we often get told things that are understood to mean we are somehow short of a standard implied in the statement. This is part of life, and we grownups should be aware of how we talk to kids.

Someone asked about Baha’i during our discussions. The Wikipedia entry informs us that it was founded “by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia,” and that “(a)ccording to Bahá'í teachings, religious history has unfolded through a series of God's messengers who brought teachings suited for the capacity of the people at their time, and whose fundamental purpose is the same. Bahá'u'lláh is regarded as the most recent, but not final, in a line of messengers.” See more HERE.

One member appreciated the broad coverage of today’s discussion. We can get at racism, we also want to talk about homophobia, sexism, and other forms of objectification—speaking up against dehumanization is valuable.

A nationally organized antiwar rally occurred yesterday, in Seattle (from Judson park on 1st hill down to Occidental park, just South of downtown). Some Conversation members attended. A few thousand people showed up, and one feature was putting the war on trial. And, the mass media did virtually no coverage.

One member expressed disappointment that more young people are not involved in antiwar efforts. One connection here is that military recruiting is focused more on the urban inner city poor—anyone see the Army commercial about going into the military as how to be the man in the house?

Another member expressed concern that for many young folks, they are in such difficult situations that going to war appears as a reasonable alternative. Several made comments on this on related concerns, and what emerged was a picture of frustration at having too few opportunities to make a difference. And, us being a grassroots group, there were several exchanges on local groups doing things—United for Peace of Pierce County [see their vigil list HERE], Women In Black [the Tacoma group meets 2nd & 4th Wednesdays each month, 5:15-6:15 PM. in front of the federal courthouse (the old Union train station); the Gig Harbor group meets Every Friday, 5:00-6:00 PM, at the corner of Olympic and Fosdick (Safeway corner)] and others are there, people. You can give it an hour a week, if this matters.

One theme we kept coming back to has to do with why we keep coming to The Conversation. We don’t want to lay down and feel like no one can do anything. Pretty much everyone here is involved in something, and wants to keep involved, doing something. More than one shared stories of how years ago their main orientation was anger, and an impulse to destruction reaction to the things we talk about. This is a room full of hopeful people, and a hope that motivates us to action. And one thing we get from coming here is support for action.

One member said: “I know justice is hard work. It does not come just because you want it. Doing the hard work it is sometimes hard to see the change…. It is important to remind ourselves when that happens…. And it is not large numbers that make right, right… I can make this change, and I have the power to influence others to do right and be right. And you really must take courage from the successes that occur….”

One member said: “All of us are going to encounter fear. You must not let it overtake you.”

New Orleans Monologues is in two weeks (the 9th), at the University of Puget Sound. For the matinee at 2 on Saturday the 10th, about 35 kids need rides from Lincoln high schools to the play. Some kind of ride sharing, church buses, university vans, something can be done…..

Recap for October 21, 2007

A bit rainy, and barely fifty, we assembled at Evergreen in Tacoma.

This morning we heard Bernadette’s story.

Several strands of conversation looked at the construction of self in a land divided by color. One member said, “I wish kids didn’t have to explain themselves” for why they bring to schools their own sets of skills,” it would be good if they were each treated equally.

One focus of these discussions was about the toxicity of the color line in schools—for lots of kids, they are the only person of color in a room. It is vitally important that schools have enough teachers of color, for example. There are several dimensions to this toxicity—young kids who are constructing an identity in the midst of this, for example. We might construct little zones of comfort, but several Members believe the education system here is fundamentally flawed. Doing one program—such as supporting one classroom in one school, for example (see below)—does not distract Conversation members from continuing to work on the systemic problems—the biggest of which might be that we have a system that produces the loss of about three in ten of our kids.

One piece of an answer is to encourage kids to be teachers, to tell them it is the best job in the world. That might not be true every day, but looking at a larger picture, more teachers of color are needed, and have to be encouraged and nurtured.

A related issue came up. How do people in school administration and teachers see, understand the lower test scores among students of color? The members in the room bring a lot of experience in schools. Perceptions differ, to put it delicately. Answers often focus on poverty. There are remediation classes (a claim: research shows remediation does not improve test scores, but mandated remediation programs are the way we deal with it—and, students placed in them are taken out of classes such as music and art.), there are after school programs. But there is a strong consensus among teachers that the basics of classroom organization need to be remade. We know that school should begin at 9, given the physical being of those we call students, but it starts at 7:30 because the buses require it.

One important piece of parent involvement—at some schools, a good proportion of parents do not speak English, and perhaps don’t read much. Schools tend to be unwelcoming places for parents—finding the office, waiting, getting the passes, and so on. There are barriers.

One recurring strand of conversation was to compare the experience of students and teachers from a privileged background. Most privileged folks, as we have gone over many times in the Conversation, do not see it. One story illustrated how teachers can inadvertently accentuate the privilege: the teacher in a theater class asked the students to each announce what their parents did.

Teachers confronting the toxicity face burnout, and operate under these conditions for years. One method of coping is to find other kinds of activities to plug into the week.

How do you get kids to figure out what is valuable to them? This is a perennial struggle. There are lots of vehicles for getting kids to this. Some love sports, and stay in school so they can keep it up. Some are charged by art and theater, and put up with the rest of the classes as a way to be there.


The meta-conversation continues from last week.

We have heard a message from our teachers (which is the line of work most represented among those present), and the examples keep reiterating the same issues.

Perhaps it is time for The Conversation to adopt a classroom, or a school. The education people in the room are encouraged to come up with a design for how that might work. Might we be the ones that would organize things for the parents (some kind of orientation, for example). There are other ideas…. How about the educators here coming up with a plan, within a couple of weeks, that we can talk about? Perhaps the Conversation can sponsor however many students might come from Lincoln.

One Conversation member emphasized an important feature of education—getting parents involved. As volunteers, we can find out what parents need, and have a way to intervene in schools to make them more welcoming places for what parents need.

Another Member emphasized getting the kids involved at the leadership level—such as raising their voices before the school board.

A group of high school students were able to read The Students Are Watching, by Theodore Sizer. A blurb on the book says “Sizers point out that the students are often seen as the school's "clients," as its powerless peopleAthough the authors believe that is a costly, patronizing pretense. Instead, the Sizers call for adults to put stock in the suggestions of children, since they watch and listen to adults all the time and have learned more than we realize.”

A suggestion, immediately endorsed: One way to think about the way we refer to the relationship with a school or classroom—instead of calling it adoption, let’s call it a partnership.

When inviting parents—have food available, arrange carpools, let folks know they can dress however they want, have their kids in the plays…. there are lots of things to do to get students to come.

We talked about the Tacoma schools group. See the web page, at http://www.plu.edu/~olufsdw/tps/tacoma_schools_policy.htm. Note the addition of a linked page, at http://www.plu.edu/~olufsdw/tps/hgse.htm, which is about the Nov. 1-3 workshop at Harvard, to be visited by a contingent from Tacoma Schools, including a member of The Conversation. Members are asked to familiarize themselves with the material as a way of supporting these inquiries into

We discussed the lists we constructed last week, and talked about where to go with it from there.

One Group’s Ideas:
• We can assemble a list of books, a list of films, which support the study of our systems of value (such as Edwin Nichol’s work on axiology) that will constitute a foundation for Conversation topics. This can help reduce the invisible barriers of understanding.
• We can support a classroom or a school. There are different dimensions of this—supporting the teacher, finding ways to support the families. A couple of people asked about the PTA’s, or PTSA’s, whether they are active and viable. One Member recalled that in high school they had a way to identify for each student a Next Step after graduation—which implies early intervention, a group of parents taking care, talking to students and parents, getting conversations going about options, and the PTA was probably involved in this. One topic we discussed at some length: the burdens on low income families should never be underestimated—time demands, barriers mentioned earlier in today’s discussions, for examples—and it means the schools and support organizations need to find ways to welcome and encourage participation of parents.
• Schools should have tutors and teaching assistants in the classrooms of our schools. Many of us in this room have the skills to do that. Some of us remember going to school with teaching assistants in the classroom. We can advocate for this in our schools.
• These conversations led to a deeper consideration of systems of values, of learning tutoring skills.

Another Group’s report:
• We should continue as we are—in the process of getting there, we are on the right Track in the Conversation, esp. in the group dynamics of how we reach those goals (such as influencing the system, closing the achievement gap).
• Inviting people to supporting events, such as the discussions today about getting students to the New Orleans Monologues, November 9.
• The music events, such as So Just, and encouraging members of the Conversation to get out and do the things that use their talents—some can preach, some play music, and all of us can ‘walk the walk’ of Conversation topics in the situations we find ourselves in. We should note that a Conversation member reported hearing from a couple of people who no longer come to our gathering because they did not feel welcome here—because of gender identity issues. We were encouraged to consider this, and consider that we have some unfinished business here. Another member said that she feels welcomed here.

Another Group’s report:
• We need to be doing more street action. We can come up with a list of volunteer and service opportunities for Conversation members.
• A Conversation t-shirt is one way to let others know about us, noting that perhaps we should discuss the wisdom of growing in size.
• We should consider getting involved with schools earlier than high schools.

Another Group’s report: (to be emailed and included later)

Another Group’s report:
• We want to orient new people, have our history and vision, etc., put into a handy document, maybe a trifold, that we can keep ready for handouts. We should have a plan of introduction, to have a self-conscious welcome for new people. Part of it was the inclusion of a list of readings and other texts.
• Offer the Tacoma community at large an opportunity to read a book, perhaps something by M.L. King Jr. Someone mentioned Where Do We Go From Here. (A speech of that topic was given by Dr. King on August 16, 1967, and you can read it at http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/speeches/Where_do_we_go_from_here.html.)

Discussion of the group lists: There are some common charges in the lists, and some implications for how we get involved in activities that arise out of Conversation discussions. People find us in different ways, with different expectations, identities, resources, and commitments. The common expectation here is that people come to the Conversation, listen earnestly, and over time come to identify the places where they wish to make a difference.

There was some discussion of the report of a couple of people not coming because they felt unwelcome. We are sort of on the side that wants to include everybody, and if some don’t show up because they don’t like being near certain people, well, that is a cost of trying to be inclusive.

Some Announcements:

A Member distributed an advisory ballot for the upcoming election. Call any regularly attending member for its suggestions.

Peace Community Center, Nov. 8, 6:30 am, is having a breakfast and you are encouraged to contact colleen.

Friday Nov. 2, 9-3:30. 923 S. 8th st, Catherine’s Place, a workshop on “Bullies, Manipulators, and other relationship.

Saturday, Oct. 27, noon at 23rd and Jackson in Seattle, there is a peace march. Tacomans can meet at the Tacoma Dome bus station at 9:30, and a caravan from there at 10 am.

This Friday, 7 pm, David Price is going to be at King’s Books talking about the topic of his recent book: how anthropologists and other experts are being used in war efforts.

Sun. Nov. 11, 1-4, a Sunday Salon fund raiser for United For Peace of Pierce County. See Kristi Nebel.

We should develop the three key areas already in existence. Decide on what we wish to do about funding? Look for ways to collaborate with other organizations and interest groups in our community. Decide on whether we wish to grow our numbers?

Recap for October 14, 2007

(Note: at the end of today’s notes is a charge for next week’s discussions)

We began a little late today, and welcomed four new first-time members. A standing round of applause for yesterday’s So Just festival. “Everybody held it down, and everything came together.” We gave thanks to our So Just organizing team and participants.

Today we heard Stephen’s story.

One of the topics we discussed was the book, Deep Like the Rivers, by Thomas L. Webber, about education for the enslaved in the American South. You can read a review of it here. (This link is a bit cumbersome as users must have an affiliation with a participating library to access it easily, but the review said Webber argued that “by creating and controlling their own educational instruments the slave quarter community was able to reject most of white teaching and to pass to their children a set of unique cultural themes.”)

We also discussed some dimensions of privilege. Many kids will notice things that seem fair or not fair, and usually the frame of reference for fairness is, fair or unfair for us. Experience in educational justice and social justice issues, actually doing the work of it, enables us to broaden that base for asking about what is fair and unfair. Many of the people at the Conversation share a hope in the power of one person acting.

As noted last week, we are going to talk today about meta-talk, talk about our own processes and goals. Yesterday, at So Just, is an example of some talk that was going on becoming a real thing. Conversation members were encouraged to revel in the moment and appreciate what can happen when we see words transformed into a social event, and to see them transformed into something that was not there before.

Sometimes words take a while to come around to create something. We were reminded of the 1896 Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court gave legal cover to a system of segregation. Justice Harlan said, “I dissent,” and predicted the decision would haunt the nation. And more recently chief justice of the Court, Rehnquist, wrote when he was a law clerk in 1952, "Plessy vs. Ferguson was right and should be reaffirmed." (see this discussed here. Rehnquist’s memo presaged today’s Court, which has effectively moved back to that stage, even more so than when this article was written.)

He shared a document laying out the vision of the Conversation. Part of the document recounted the history of the Conversation. In a grand bit of irony, a church that was an early home to the group, which was reading King’s Why We Can’t Wait, pretty much went through the same processes King described among the church leaders of Montgomery. The church spokespeople were uncomfortable with the discussion of race, and, were squarely on the side of the Conversation. If a group talks about race once, they are easily labeled as “just about race.” And being so-labeled, a group is marginalized. And, several people in the church came to the pastor and said they wanted to get rid of that group. (People who don’t have a copy of Why We Can’t Wait and wish to read a copy of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” can read it online here.)

Discussions of fairness are easily dismissed because they are construed as discussions of race.

The stories were told to affirm that the Conversation has collected its share of bruises, and that we should look around at it now—the group has endured these and keeps its commitment to keep going, and will as long as it continues to find a good answer to the question—are we relevant? And, many of us ask others to come around with us Sunday mornings—it is worth doing, and worth sharing.

“Come with all you bring, and you flavor what we become.”

One point raised: At the Conversations we call ourselves residents of the area, not just citizens—because the status of citizenship is, historically, constricted for many people, and still is. (Conversations members might be interested in Rogers M. Smith, Civic Ideals.)

At the Conversation, “when you are spouting trivialities and think they are profound, your friends will wake you up.” Supporting each other is a big part of what we do. And sometimes we will have sharp disagreement in our conversations, and bruised egos. But the model we follow has to be a willingness to hang on and continue to engage.

A few things going on here: The education focus group is active. The first annual So Just happened yesterday. Redeeming the Vision will be this coming January 20, 2008, at Urban Grace. We continue to be interested in schools, in individual teachers. We have a number of things developing, such as a possible forum on the relationship between Jewish and Black community groups interested in social justice.
We opened the topic, “Who would you say we are?”
• A group of people that get together to talk about relevant things that are happening, and we are able to talk about all the isms that do not go over well at other groups. One member shared an example of getting censored at another group for doing this.
• A place to gain strategies and courage so that we can bring up justice at other places. We are a think tank, in a way. We generate ideas, and we generate groups that act. We can be seen as evolving toward a strategy and action group, in addition to talking about them.
• This is a support system, a place to explore the things that are uncomfortable, but it is a comfortable place to be uncomfortable.
• There are many in the room have been educators, and have worked with community groups. And the Conversation is a presence more people want to know about.
• Conversation and action are part of a dynamic that feed each other.
• We are a community, people coming together to be a community.
• We are a group of people who have found a safe place to engage in intense dialog about cultural content that we need to address. It is difficult to even talk about the dominant assumptions, and to integrate the conversations into the way we live.

We broke up, every two tables no more than 5 people, with the charge to answer the question: What can we become?

Report from One group
• The question of becoming—hey, wait, it is a dynamic and open thing. It is a good thing to become what we are, this open thing where people can come in, become a part of this, help with the projects and come up with new ones.
• It would be good if we were able to pull together key phrases from different faith traditions that address the themes we address and maybe push us in some direction.
• The Conversation can be a place where people from just about any tradition, and teachers from them, the kids and parents, can come into this group and get sustenance, from burnout to being rekindled. We have a lot to offer in this direction.
• This group started reading a book, and it would be good to do that again. Study something that is going to speak to the work we are doing. This is not a call to do only that, but it is something I value. And we should remember that group that started off by reading a book kept it together, and the community reading of the book built a shared understanding that is very valuable. We could schedule that for a period of time, some designated meetings.
• We reiterated the value of the personal stories, and noted several dimensions of their value.

Another group report:
• talk is action, and we need other action to spread the message about justice
• we like the intimate interaction, and we need to share that with public officials
• a place to find some common ground
• to work with the youth piece of it, be a safe environment where we can develop this and come up with actions
• We don’t want to spread everyone too thin with additional actions.

Another Group
• want to be strong, a place of transformation
• to be able to tell the difference between the truth and the lies
• to change our stories
• close gaps, find community together
• a place to encourage and empower people
• to keep fear from having power over us
• encourage others to attend, educate each other, and be a place where we can take refuge from the loneliness
• a social change agent

Another Group
• We should be a spawning ground for members
• We can be a group that learns across difference, a learning about African American history, learning how different cultures can help us figure out the world
• We want to continue to be a place where we are not afraid to discuss white privilege.
• Churches usually have a common text, and the common text here seems to be the collection of individual stories, and we must continue this. We become footnotes in each others stories, make them all richer.

Another Group
• We don’t do away with the wisdom texts, and incorporate them into what we do.
• We should be more of who we are, a safe space, a think tank, and a role model.
• We can become more present in the community, in elections, at the school board
• We can prepare ourselves more for hostile conversations.
• Be resilient under stress
• A place to find our voice.

Another Group--Intergenerational focus
• be a verb, not a noun.
• Be a community resource for folks interested in racial justice.
• sponsor the 2008 youth summit
• allow development and opportunity for each person to lead
• become more intergenerational, more diverse, explore more formats for encouraging youth participation, maybe one later in the day, try the storytelling there.

Another Group—characteristics of The Conversation
• revolutionary
• think tank
• affinity group—a small group of activists who work together on direct action, are nonhierarchical and work among trusted friends, a community organization that is decentralized, having a shared concern, a flexible ideology
• culturally competent

Responses to what we heard.
• “I am not an agent.” Be careful about identifying people who disagree as ‘agent.’
• It is good to support everyone—one noted that the support for women is not always strong in our institutions, for example.
• We appear to largely agree on what we are about, with a lot of new ideas.
• Good thing to connect to the younger people, too.
• We each enter The Conversation at different stages of the group, at different stages of our lives.

In preparation for next week’s Conversation:
Each of you, please post one programmatic idea to the blog. The question to address: What are some of the activities you want us to engage in.

Recap for October 7, 2007

One Conversation member is starting an amputee support group, and will be telling us more about it at the project develops—which appears to be imminent. She told us about a chance meeting with a person who has resources and a desire to do exactly that. Big round of applause at the story.

Another member read a draft letter addressed to the chair of the Tacoma School Board. The letter emphasized the need for a superintendent search that emphasized the right skills and experience at meeting the District goals to real ALL students, to involve the public in the process. We discussed the perceptions of people attending the last Board meeting, and several reported an unease at the lack of critical Board questions about important issues raised. Someone raised the possibility that the Board is moving slowly toward a search process, and that a safe option would be to retain the current acting superintendent. Remember a previous acting superintendent was invited in to pour oil upon the waters, and stayed for most of a decade. We discussed the importance of being active on this.

Conversation members are reminded that the schools group has published a website that keeps track of some of their conversations, at www.plu.edu/~olufsdw/tps/tacoma_schools_policy.htm.

It might be a good idea, said one Conversation member, to have the Conversation devote a session to keeping us all informed of the various projects members are working on. Projects that have a community impact may need to consciously build political coalitions—with unions, with community groups, and so on—and to self-consciously build a public information campaign to get the word out and put pressure on the institutions that need to change. At later points in the Conversation others referred to this as a model worth emphasizing—perhaps we should devote a session to it—perhaps next week.

One member observed “this school board is weak, and we should not let it rebuild things on the same shaky foundation,” suggesting there is a real danger that Board members should be pushed in the direction of action. We heard another report from someone in the study session before the last Board meeting who said it was apparent the Board considered the current acting superintendent as here for the long haul. Oh, oh. It appears there are plenty of reasons to be concerned that the Board will back off from its search for a new superintendent.

We also discussed the tone and content of a letter passed around to the Board. Several Conversation members expressed a desire to sign a stronger letter, and the group that composed the letter reported on their discussions of the issue.

One observation, coming off the self-described state of the school board group connected to the Conversation as a group of people who care about schools, or words to that effect: the Board should be aware that something is up, should be concerned with power emerging in the community, and should from time to time be shocked out of its complacency. For example, the actions that contributed to the departure of the previous superintendent were one phase, and many of the people who took part in that let others know they are in for the long haul. Key people involved in that are currently working on school board issues. It was recommended that we allow ourselves to be comfortable with the occasional chaos that might come from a demonstration, and also keep up the work of political organization.

One Conversation member talked to us about disproportionate minority confinement (DMC)—“a condition that exists when a racial/ethnic group representation in confinement exceeds the representation in the general population.” [At times our conversation also used DMC to refer to disproportionate minority contact, since the issue is wider than confinement.] For example, African-Americans age 10-17 yrs old make up 11% of Pierce County residents of similar age, but they are 30-35% of those in detention, and they stay in jail longer than others. All children should be treated equally in the juvenile justice system, disparities in detention is in part the result of processes that are widely considered to be neutral—and so the group described in this talk is working to draw attention to policies that produce DMC. The group understands the need to generate accurate and reliable data, and the need to get people involved who can be effective in affecting decisions in institutions (prosecutors, judges, police, mental health officials, school officials, counselors, and so on).

African Americans in high school get expelled from the Tacoma schools at three times the rate of whites, suspended at two and a half times the rate of whites, and for junior high school the disproportionate rages are two and a half times the expulsion rate, and over twice the suspension rate. In the juvenile justice system in Pierce County sees African Americans get rearrested at three times the rate as for whites.

This is obviously a call for looking at DMC. We heard the ways the group works on these problems. One thing they worked on was alternatives to detention—so found and came up with ideas that police, prosecutors and courts could buy into. They were able to get the state legislature to fund some projects, mostly for the kids who need help and are not accused of crimes against others.

Conversation members might be interested in an article in today’s New York Times, Week in Review section, on this very issue. The article describes the problem, asks when DMC becomes a constitutional issue—but unfortunately is not very critical. It suggests, at the end, that many of the actions that lead to DMC are “unintentional,” by which the article means the officials are not aware of how their actions produce DMC. The article also places the discussion in the context of the present federal court system—where judges increasingly do not recognize racial segregation, even segregation by law, as being a constitutional problem.

Conversation members talked about some of the details of policies that contribute to DMC, such as the need for telephones in the home for certain alternatives to detention to be applied, another example of how many rules treat poor people differently. (Newer technology for at-home monitoring alternative to detention relies on cell phone technology, which has kept lots of kids out of detention. This requires that governments spend money on such technologies.) We heard many examples of the way programs unintentionally lead to DMC. Each program needs to be tested, tested, tested, pay attention to outcomes, and assemble the evidence & bring it to the attention of the group that can do something about it (recall the mention above of the committee that involved prosecutors, judges, police, mental health officials, school officials, counselors). One member emphasized that the agencies that are represented at such inclusive tables may not themselves have paid much attention to disproportionate representation. One example was glaring. Best-practices inventories emphasize the importance and different outcomes that emerge from all-white vs. relatively diverse organizations. Cultural competency is not automatic.

One member observed that a group of assembled policymakers, administrators that are responsible for state programs dealing with juvenile justice, are overwhelmingly white. Other members of the Conversation shared that this is common.

We heard several examples of how the laws have become more punitive, and the default presumption on kids that don’t go to school, or kids that are mentally ill and disruptive, is to lock them up as irresponsible—yet this strongly contributes to DMC. One institutional feature we heard about was the October surge in expulsions—so the school district gets budget credit for the kid, but then the kid is expelled, and state money does not follow the kid to help finance needed services. And such kids fall far behind in the accumulation of credits, in preparation for the WASL, and the increased likelihood that such kids will run into the police. One member described working with such kids, and made the point that there are almost no services for them right now. The other side of the laws becoming more punitive is that money for services is drying up—for example, there is a dire need for a full-time halfway house for school-aged kids on the street, but the barriers to funding, licensing, and getting a site for such a facility are so high. IT IS DISCOURAGING. There sure is a lot of work to do. Several members present described the discouraging experiences they have had. No easy answers, but one member encouraged them to ‘set their face like flint’ and be present, and speak up, at these institutions where policies are made. Members were encouraged to join the group,

One member described the school system as being designed to cull out 30% of the students. It is designed this way, it produces this outcome. The leader of this discussion is part of an organization works precisely with those 30%. Several members emphasized that this is unacceptable, and that we need to hear that from the School Board.


What is it that we need? What if the Governor of the State of Washington was here. What would you tell her? Ideas from various members
• the people assembled at the table have to have experience that enables them to connect to the kids, to understand the situation that produced the situation kids find themselves in.
• Bring parents in
• Equity
• restorative justice involves kids and parents
• full time counselors, nursing, full time safe place for kids and parents also open evenings
• legislation to support small schools
• timing of schools ---adolescents not awake til 9:00
• no kicking kids out for no reason
• deinstitutionalize the racism in the schools, we kick out 30% and feed them into the prison system.
• I think we need fabulous breakfast served, so many kids need it.
• We need two adults in each classroom.
• Make things smaller, stop having 6 periods where teachers have 150 kids they deal with, have more block times…. make 6th grade elementary again.
• Accountability—teachers, administrators, schools are allowed to continue worst practices. And coupled with that we need a support system to help those who change those outcomes.
• Several people mentioned the importance of having parents and families involved in the ways we address this.
• One person asked, Who is making money off of the poor?

There is a list of things people want. OK, how do we get there?
• Parents need to be involved, but we organize the world of work to make that difficult for some people—especially those who have low income jobs and often more than one job. This is a tough one—at least, the agencies that officials DO have control over can change and make flexible hours possible.
• More money needs to be spent on serious job training programs, to give more folks chances to earn the incomes that are associated with more political participation.
• Make it easier to vote—reinstate the vote of people who have been in jailed, and make registration easier or automatic (half of the people who did not vote, but could have, in the last two presidential elections had moved in the previous 18 months).
• Individuals can examine their values, there is so much to do, we can each clarify our values and decide what piece we can take on to be spiritually, emotionally, and physically healthy—and show up ready to work on the piece you have chosen as important.
• We could give parents some kind of tax break for involvement in after-school programs, and perhaps a voucher system for supporting after-school programs.
• Every classroom can have an adult assistant, and make sure there sufficiently diverse people there.
• It is possible to have the adult assistants be decently paid, select many from the students who are precisely the people who have not succeeded, have them in a work-study as part of a college program. Get them on the road to a degree while they can be helping in the classrooms.
• small class sizes, and have teacher pay linked to results in this regard.
• Foreign languages taught from the first grade.
• Teach citizenship and civic education, and problem-solving/negotiation skills.
• No school should have more students than it was designed to have.
• Teachers need to have cultural diversity classes.

Now, what you willing to do?
• work with a group that has picked one of these issues.
• Go to the league of Women Voters, and the ACLU, to help pay the debt of released felons.
• Work through my music to advocate, and also through a community group that does this.
• I’m going to make the group I’m part of more powerful, figure out what it is we can do to be more effective.

This simple exercise suggests we need to push our thinking on this—before you get to the roadblocks, there are commitments you can make.

The Conversation wants to support these commitments to action. They are important. We also want to celebrate the life of the mind, too, and not let action discourage us from taking hard looks at the world. We need to nourish ourselves, and feed whatever it is that keeps us engaged.

Dexter said “We need the activist arm to be pushing us, but I would like an activist arm that is not a blunt instrument, an activist arm that is not easily dismissed.” Alton McDonald has done some work—he is a non-attorney who shows up to be a voice for African Americans arrested for various things. He found a place for himself, he takes action. Good example for us. Let us not buy into the all-too-common duality between theory and practice. It is not one or the other, we need to have a balance between our Conversation and our actions.

We heard from So Just, they got some publicity, they are calling in the pledges, and if there are others who can contribute or want their business cards put into the paid advertisement, now is the time. They could really use $500. They are applying for Grant funding next year. Most important, bring people, show up yourself. It is important to have 100 people here Saturday, at 11. Be there.

Redeeming the Vision this year will be Saturday, January 20, 2008, at Urban Grace, probably at 2 pm.. Tuesday, Oct. 9, and every two weeks thereafter, 6pm @ UPS, is the planning committee schedule. All are invited to be part of the planning group.

Emails will remind you of the upcoming fundraiser for United for Peace of Pierce County.
We are planning a February forum, perhaps at Kings Books, on the possibilities for partnerships in the civil rights communities. That program is in the process of being planned, stay tuned for more.

Pierce College Nov. 29 will have Michael Eric Dyson speaking. Call the Student programs office at Pierce, charge will be $15.

Recap for September 30, 2007

Both notetakers were absent this week. A permanent hole in our archives. :(

Recap for September 23, 2007

Today we want to talk about immigration. We might hear from Mona, Dalton, and Dexter as a way to introduce the topic. [That was the plan, anyway. At 11:30, we were still talking about the Planning Summit issues. It turned out to be important.]

Two first-time members were with us today, one of whom chairs the Pierce County’s Disproportionate Minority Confinement Committee. Also, Elly Claus-McGahan, candidate in the upcoming Tacoma School Board election, was with us. We went around the room to have people briefly describe themselves, and we mostly focused on what we bring to and get from the Conversation.

October 4, the Broadway Center will have a display and discussion Community dialog with the African Heritage Community. The doors open at 6, program from 6:30-8:30, free admission. Warning: A Nationally Recognized Star will be there.

Dexter told us about the recent Race & Pedagogy Planning Summit. The events went well, and the room was full. He assured us that continuing efforts the organization will keep the high standards, and keep a strong connection to local talent. The keynote presentation by Letecia Nieto, for example, was first rate. We heard from NCORE, from the U. Mich. National Institute on Diversity, and from the College Success Foundation, and from a program at U. of Oregon. The working groups, comprised of about 45-50 overall, and about 35 attending all planning sessions, produced reports and discussed them. He noted that 2012 lights up a room whenever they are part of the group.

Saturday, he said (agreeing murmurs around the room), was “a head turner.” The first question raised at the plenary session was asked by an invited guest: the community partners have observed this work going on, and they asked what the University would do to support these efforts. The question was asked in a different way, then—has the University been supportive of the main people who were behind it? And they were rather straightforward. The message was that the University had not been supportive. So that issue is on the table. The University president attended the session, and he responded to the discussion.

Think carefully about the penalties of success for anyone doing racial justice work. Think about Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement, and so on. Some of the talk on campus is that the University is somehow devoting too many resources on the RPC, or that it has somehow hijacked the agenda of the University. This seems to uncomfortably fit into a pattern of Whites interpreting such work as Blacks somehow imposing themselves on a community. So it seems like the document to emerge from the Planning Summit (coming soon) has some pointed issues to address. Some of this has to do with how RPC fits into the University’s Civic Scholar Initiative program, which is the administrative rubric that contains RPC. One possibility is that RPC is bigger than the CSI umbrella. And some of it might have to do with the ways that teachers and administrators engage racism.

Several comments around the room emphasized the importance of the work of RPC. Institutional change is needed, and real change will come from engaging the community AND from inside organizations. The critical issue raised at Saturday was how faculty and administrator allies at the University will cultivate the conversation and encourage meaningful change. “The work of antiracism, and dismantling white supremacy, will be advanced significantly when there are more people who in an earlier era were called race traitors.” We need race traitors on all sides of the race issue. White people need to challenge white people about race. It is a real issue that someone like Dexter gets labeled as an agitator. The work has to be shared widely. The metaphor of the Old Guard seems to be useful to understanding the dynamics, and offers a constructive challenge. People support things like RPC, but the willingness to do something about it is very uneven. A University president, for example, is faced by a range of people, some of whom do not at all support RPC. So, supporters will have to make themselves heard in a president’s office, because the Old Guard will surely make themselves heard. There were a couple of recognitions of Grace’s contributions to RPC at the planning summit, and this was the first time her central role has been acknowledged.

It was also observed that among the college campuses in Tacoma, these dynamics are there, at all of them. So this is a challenge for, for example, the teachers of teachers. This is a problem, the production of teachers who are not skilled at or tuned into the need to do the work of serving the least well served of our students.

The picture we are painting of education and race is actually an old one. One member advised us to look at the book, Deep like the rivers : education in the slave quarter community, 1831-1865, Thomas L. Webber, Norton, 1978. And, check the “Portland Baseline Essay Series” online, at http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/essays.php.

The discussion moved to patterns of racism in different parts of the country. In our part, people talk about equality (you can be among us), but the acceptance of nonwhites into leadership roles, or in full recognition of their professional work, is not there. The discussion had several threads. The work of justice is everywhere, folks.

One suggestion: maybe we can have a White Privilege conference here. We discussed several pieces of white privilege, and the group here is supportive of the idea.

As one person pointed out, racism is a white people’s problem. And it is not all privilege. One focus on the problem of white privilege is to look at what it does to everyone.

One of the things we try to do through the Conversation is to support and empower people to work in their spheres. People involved in the peace movement in our county, for example, need to tell their story and to let us know what is going on. One idea that came up this morning is perhaps a way to provide such support: Examine the disconnect between progressive groups that are predominantly white, and those that are not.

Examine the possibilities, for example, if the white faculty on a university campus were to put on a white privilege conference. That would be a different dynamic than one organized by the faculty of color who usually put on such things. When white people become the ones who extend the invitation to examine racism and white privilege, the level of honesty goes up, the dynamic has shifted. That would be a pretty good day.

RPC might be well served to have a backup plan, in the event that UPS does not offer sufficient support—the advice from one member, and from others, is to not let the limitations of a particular university shape the design of what can be important work.

PLEASE ATTEND THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING, THIS THURSDAY AT 6:00.

The Seattle Friends of the Library annual

Rhapsody in Bloom hosts Steve and Kristi Nebel this Tuesday, 7:30-9:30. You are invited to come hear their set. See the list of events they are involved in at www.geocities.com/steveandkristinebel

Conversation Recap for September 16, 2007

Intros: A couple of new people today.

No story today

The Education Group presented case studies and we broke up into 2 groups where we read the cases and discussed the following questions:

What more does this parent/guardian need to know and be able to do?

How the “system” works
Allies who can help with knowledge and support
The system needs to be held accountable
Third party allies to put pressure on the issue and highlight the illegality of the situation
System has their legal department and teachers have their union but parents and student have no structure

How can the Conversation or its members be allies to parents/ of student in TPS?

Begin to collect the stories and tell them and advocate for systemic change
Question—how would that be structured?
We would have to create a structure, collect the stories in a way that protects the identity of the tellers, we would have to provide some method of demonstrating the “truth”
Question—are schools immune to CPS? Parents are held accountable when children are abused—why not school personnel?

Even without stories, could try to raise awareness in schools, like offer to facilitate assemblies & other group activities—like Leticia Nieto, posters a la crimethinc.org
Also help with teacher training/in-services
Pierce County Sexual Assault Center BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) accompany children to court. Maybe we could do something similar—be a crowd
Somehow institute listening partnerships between students
A good way to start—approach the school dist. “we have all these stories, obviously you have a problem and we can help with it." If not accepted, take stronger action

There used to be a PELT and a Family Involvement Center try to reconstitute? Offer as another part of the solution so the system knows why to value that effort.

How to let people know we are collecting stories?

Tina is on PTA and sends out newsletter
Get contact info for all PTA’s
“Safety Box” for students to put stories in

How do we deal with credibility—both students and parents feel safe in sharing and some way to triangulate the story so that we can verify the truth of the story?

There are people within the Conversation that do this kind of thing for a living who can help with the structure of story collecting so that they are properly vetted

Themes drawn from both cases:

Parental level of knowledge/education
Living situation instability
Intelligence, capability, resiliency

What can we do as the Conversation to act as allies?

Invite youth to come and express themselves creatively, musically, artistically or in writing. Invite the media

One member has attended 4 youth forums, videos made, stories told media would not come out. But there’s money out there to be applied for.

Another member suggested that at So’Just youth get the chance to tell their story/rap their story.

All agreed that it’s critically important that we take part in creating place and space for the empowered activity of youth to occur.

It was a very good discussion today. Need to ask ourselves how we move awareness into action.

Announcements:

Facilitators Training - Act Against Violence
$25 donation RSVP Catherine’s Place Sept 27-28 9am-3:30 and 9am-1pm
Dr. Dorothy Anderson, President of the Tacoma Urban League
Call 572-3547 for more information

PC AIDS Foundation has made 96k from its last AIDS Walk!

Parker Palmer event next Sunday, Eve can take 4 people in her car and will leave from the Conversation. Eve will be emailing those who signed up to confirm participation.

So’Just, Report: We are now getting organizations to have booths. Goal for funding is $3,000, we have $1,850 and need to get to $2,000 by tomorrow to proceed.

We have an offer of free solar power to power the equipment for sound by SolaRichard

School Board Action Committee Report: Already begun having an impact as school board members have mentioned a need for a structure for greater dialogue between school board and community. The organization is developing.

Next meeting is Thursday 20th @ 6PM at Colleen and Steve’s

Suggestion that each upcoming week’s topic be included on the blog

4022 N. 27th St. 6pm on Tues. Sept. 25th
Debate 21st @ King’s Books Debate on whether to get out of Iraq or not.

Steve & Kristi Nebel will play:

22nd 8pm @ Matrix Coffee House in Chehalis (Cool place--I went to college with the owner)

5th 7-9pm @ Rhapsody in Bloom

UFPPC’s fundraiser Salon Society 2nd Sunday Series—need a facilitator for a discussion on the works of Kurt Vonnegut

Wed. through Sat. Weekly Anti-War Vigils organized by UFPPC

Weds. 5-6pm @ Federal Courthouse on Pac Ave.
Thurs. noon-1pm @ Farmer’s Market on 9th & Broadway
Fri. 5-6pm @ Johnny’s Seafood on Ruston Way
Sat. 12:30-1:30pm @ 38th & Steele in front of Border’s Books

UFPPC meets at 1st Congregational on 1st and 3rd Thursdays @ 6:30 and 7pm respectively

Lyceum Lecture Series on Tuesdays @ Evergreen-Tacoma 10-11:30am and 6-7:30pm

Notable Speakers:

October 16
Mike Colson, Retired Navy Chaplain, Iraq war veteran - Topic: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

October 23
Maxine Hayes, Washington State Health Officer - Topic: Public Health

October 30
Suheir Hammad, poet and playwright, born in Amman, Jordan - Ms. Hammad is an internationally recognized author and performer

November 13
Fred Bonner, Seattle Municipal Court Judge - Topic: Youth Diversion Program

For other speakers see Events & Activities Calendar on Campus

Steve and Kristi with their friend Joe Debenedictis

Hello:
I know that some of you have heard us play on a Sunday morning at the Conversation. Here is a video for those of you who haven't heard us. Here we are at the Mocha Moo Coffeehouse as the featured act for the night with our good friend, Joe Debenedictis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qNCYd_R8Go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzUApuOyZg8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6SoZ-USXTs

We continue to attend the Conversation, and quite enjoy the topics, and the people. It is something that I would have done long ago had it been available. We are looking forward to playing at SoJust. It may be our last performance with Joe, as he fell in love and is going east to Ohio a few days after we play. I hope you'll all be able to be there to hear 2012, Kusikia, Bolero, Patrick, and Steve and Kristi Nebel with Joe Debenedictis. Steve Nebel

PS:
If you'd like to see us in concert sooner than Oct. 13th, we'll be @ The Matrix Coffeehouse, 434 NW Prindle St., Chehalis, WA, Saturday, September 22, @ 8pm - The Matrix has food, a great PA, and a comfortable setting for us all. - Phone (360)740-0492. All ages. $6 admission.
We'll be @ Rhapsody in Bloom & Café Latte Coffeehouse, 3709 6th Ave., Tacoma, WA On Tuesday, September 25th 7:30-9:30pm.

Conversation Recap for September 9, 2007

Today we heard Dorothy’s story. The questions ranged over fascinating topics—the need to pass on stories to younger generations, the difficulties in tracking down the stories we did not hear, the important historical events

Diane Powers joined us today, to talk about hunger. Diane helped to organize the Hunger Walk last year, over 1,500 walkers, and they raised almost a quarter million dollars. This year’s Hunger Walk has a website for you to check, and that allows you to donate. See www.pchungerwalk.org. Diane is the Deputy Director of Associated Ministries. You can see the things they do at www.associatedministries.org.

The latest way to refer to ‘hunger’ in official circles as ‘food insecurity.” Among the difficulties presented to poorer families is the relative cheapness of poor nutrition. And hunger makes everything worse—harder to get to work and work, The US 12.4 million or so children in ‘food insecure’ households, by official count. 43% of families with children with one parent working have a need for food aid. And there are 140,000+ people in Pierce county who seek some kind of food help, and half are under nineteen. A big piece of this is the lack of affordable housing. Some families have to pay three-fourths or more of their income toward housing, leaving little for food.

Summer months are a difficult time to get food aid—people who commonly give to food banks during winter and holidays do so less often in Summer.
The first Sunday in October, the 7th, is this year’s Pierce County Hunger Walk. Half of the money you donate goes to the emergency food network in Pierce County, and half of your donation can be targeted—if you want to send it to Nativity House, for example, you can check that.

One difficulty with distribution is that not everyone knows the location of food banks. Some church basements have food at certain times of day, a food bank location has recently moved, and so on. There is a list of available food banks. Please check them online, at www.fishfoodbanks.org. Perhaps it is a good idea to look up where the ones are around where each of us live.

One member mentioned that his visit to a food bank. He emphasized the importance of giving money, and not just your food up in the cupboards. Fresh produce and other perishables, and a balanced diet require choices among those putting together the cart full of things to take home. Making choices like this possible at a food bank are a big part of building a way to provide the aid with dignity.

One Member reminded the group that SoJust is scheduled for October 19, and the festival will include an opportunity to donate food and coats.

One member focused on the connection between affordable housing and hunger. The price of housing is going up up up, and the dynamics of the construction industry produce housing that can not be afforded by the average household income in the County (about $56,000 right now). Affordable housing is driving the dynamics of hunger for a large number of families in Pierce County. It is difficult to get a grip on the hunger if we don’t also act on the housing side of the equation.

The Pierce County Asset Building Coalition works to encourage families to build assets—helping folks understand how money works, how banking works, how to do taxes (lots of eligible people do not file for the Earned Income Credit, for example). Financial literacy is important here. There is a lot of money that has been unclaimed—for instance, the unclaimed EIC. By one count there was $6.5 million available to families in Pierce County that could come in.

Another member described the storefront loan operations that take large chunks of the money of poor families. Some are payday loan operations. Some are the places that will prepare your taxes and offer to loan the money, for fees and high interest, due them from the IRS. Some banks practice predatory operations, using the information they get on people who are working with the storefront operations.

People find themselves in these situations for complicated reasons. Someone late with the rent has to pay $50 the first day, $75 if it is two days late, and so on. And the fine has to be paid first if one brings the rent in two days late. So the storefront finance companies can look like the best option on a particular day here.

“The whole system is against being poor.” Nice statement from a member. One member expressed frustration at the ‘give a man a fish, you feed him today; teach him to fish, and ou feed him for all his days’ stories. There aren’t the fish out there. We have families who have tough times getting jobs, the economy is full of opportunities to go after the money that comes to poorer families. We have soldiers serving in the war whose families are on public assistance or even homeless.

This is a tough dialog in the USA. The underlying understanding of dessert insists that we examine individual virtue prior to making sense of obligation to our fellow citizens. So if someone has financial difficulty, the tendency in the public discussion is to look for examples of bad choices that, done differently, might have made for better outcomes. And, we hear the leap made from there that the need we see around us is less a demand on our own resources. This dynamic does not encourage constructive dialog. Remember the outlines of the place of the individual in capitalism were written in the 17th century, perhaps best laid out systematically by John Locke. Locke also understood that the “workman digging my turf” mattered little, could not voluntarily move from one parish to another, could not vote, and lacked political rights we now take together. The prevailing ideology was an explanation for why it is OK to not care about those people. But this is the 21st century. It is difficult to find a compelling explanation for why we should not care, today, about poor people.

Dexter introduced the topic of conspiracy theories and the creation of wealth. The creation of wealth has an attendant outcome, and that is the creation of poverty. Recall the story today, that giving out turkeys to homeless people does not make a lot of sense. Dexter suggested that giving out turkeys is about ‘the camera.’ Giving out turkeys on thanksgiving is a good news story about making us one great national family. And then if the story includes the tale of someone selling those donated turkeys, the public response is clear—the real problem is labeled as the pathologies in ‘those people’ and so we have less of an obligation to them. And, the businesses supporting the donations get a free pass on creating wealth, and suggest it is OK since they are not to blame for the underlying pathologies that allegedly afflict the poor. A big piece of this is what is legal. With the example of the ongoing discussions on reforming the air traffic control system. The airline and related companies want others to pay for it—the most recent accusation is that the owners of private jets and planes do not have to pay their share of the system, and that they should. In a big way, the fight is about how the rules determine our mutual obligations,

“If you are part of the system of the creation of wealth, I have learned to say, I have no problem with you.” But, with two other shoes to drop: His challenge to us, is that we ought not to operate on whether our behavior is legal, but we should instead ask if it is just. This group should be part of the discussion about what is just, and he also wants to challenge us when we retreat into our own private spaces, to ask ourselves how we will deal with this. At the Community Partners meeting, for example, we have food left over. How about letting some others in to eat what is left. He is told by the University that it has to be eaten by the group for whom they provide it. It gets right at risk; they have rules about liability.

The framework of laws enfranchises these questionable standards of justice. That which is legal is the bottom line. But we need to figure out these examples, and challenge them. The new bottom line must be, is it just.

On announcements:

Diane told us about the Broadway Coalition for the Performing Arts. On Thursday October 4, she is inviting people to the new Pantages Theater Lobby, 9th & Broadway. The event is from 6:30-8:30 pm, and it will be a chance to look at and give some feedback about the Arts and you, how it can connect to the community.

August 14th, Dr. Antoine Johnson was racially profiled in DuPont. He was driving, was pulled over, was never told why he was stopped. He is going to go to the Dupont City Council, this Tuesday, September the 11th at 7:00, and invites everyone to come to the meeting to support his call for justice. At the DuPont exit, turn West, 318 Barksdale Rd. One member of the Conversation observed she had been pulled over four times, and had never connected it with profiling. The tales of being stopped elicited a murmur through the crowd. They didn’t seem like things just everyone would be pulled over for.

A SoJust organizer passed out a flyer for the event. October Fall Festival, October 13, from 11-3. Right here at Evergreen. People can please do postering in their neighborhood. The event is free, and the group needs another almost $2,000 to put it on. So supporters are encouraged to donate $100. The need is now, so event parameters can be organized. So we need to get up to $2,000 by Monday the 17th.

This coming Tuesday the 12th, the group keeping track of School Board meetings will be meeting at 6. Please consider attending school board meetings.

On Sept. 11 “The Power of Nightmares” will be shown WA State Historical Museum, at 7.
Sept. 25, Steve and Christy will be playing at Rhapsody in Bloom on 6th Avenue, at 7pm.
Christy’s Salon Society is meeting the 14th of October, at the home near here. It will be a discussion of Kurt Vonnegut. A jazz group will perform, suggested donation will be $15. See Christy for details.

Wed. the 12th Evergreen is having an Open House, 4-7, geared at people who might be thinking about restarting, and finishing, their bachelor’s degree. Know someone? Encourage people to bring unofficial copies of transcripts and an income tax return, and they can get a one-stop package of information about what all it takes to get college done.

Christine encouraged Members to look up what is happening with the Education bill now making its way through Congress, and wrote their Senators to tell them what you want to see in an education bill.

Dexter announced the public event at the Thursday the 13th public event at the Race & Pedagogy Planning Summit. It will be at 7-9p.m., Schneebeck Auditorium (the music building). Tickets are free, but call 879-3100 to arrange for them. A good speaker is part of the program, and you will also see a short video with highlights from the Race & Pedagogy Conference from last year.

Conversation Recap for September 2, 2007

We began this sunny morning Locked Out of the Evergreen building. The Lavolds graciously rescued us by opening their home. Lucky for all of us, they have collected chairs over the years. The temperature was a little over 65f, a slight breeze, the sun poked through light low clouds, a perfect morning for a stroll. The assembled party heartily thanked them. Later in the morning several people agreed that getting locked out was a blessing.

The food was moved here with us, ‘Rosalind’s potato collards surprise,’ which people raved about. Your recorder heard the following: “You should try this,” “mmm this is good,” “I love the spices,” “Oh, that is good,” “want me to get some more?”, “our food is always special.”

Julia passed around an article by Dave Grossman, author of Learning to Kill, in the Summer issue of Greater Good. The article described the widespread reluctance of people to kill others, and the ways we purposely desensitize people to make killing happen. You can see an article about Grossman’s topic: Dan Baum, “The Price Of Valor: We train our soldiers to kill for us. Afterward, they’re on their own,” The New Yorker, Issue of 2004-07-12.

The biggest pow-wow in the area is happening now, near Chief Leschi School, near Puyallup off of River Road, down Pioneer way, past the nursery and turn.

We had two new members this morning, and it made sense to have each person say a couple of sentences about themselves. This was an interesting process, it seems like the norms of the two rooms (Evergreen and here) are quite different. People relax more in a home.

Today we heard Amy’s story. Man, oh, man, a standing ovation. Several people said, You Must Publish This.

Some of the discussion was about connecting with students left behind, as the story included an account of a classroom where the difficult students were put together. The kids knew this was a dumping ground. A central idea here, which the assembled group emphasized in discussion, was that we must refuse to call these kids Bad. Getting to know each student is a big piece of it. There is a story about the dedication needed on the part of teachers. Leaders in education need to know this, and remember it. In the discussion or Lincoln high school, we were all encouraged to go on a tour of the renovated building.

Dexter read a piece called “Education,” focusing on what we expect from teachers—in institutions that mark enduring inequalities, where we see “the valuing of trivialities in a land of value.” Teachers, in spite of all the ways we ask them to do a lot without sending along enough resources, are a sign of our hope. This was directed at Amy’s story.

Following her invitation to visit her classroom at Lincoln, we went around the room and made commitments to visit Amy’s class. One thing going on, described by Cherlyn, was a grant she was able to get to fund a mentor program. Really, folks, she means it. You can do something to help or support what she’s doing. There are opportunities to be mentors, to talk to the class(es), to ask the class to tell you about something. Contact information on that Mentor program: call Kurt Miller, Director of Education Initiatives, at 253-272-0771, ext. 18.

One thing that came up was the “Knowledge is Power” schools, or KIP schools. Look them up. It is possible that Tacoma is a good place for such a school.

Dexter started telling us about the American Leadership Forum (more in coming weeks) where he just spent a week. Weird, us being so busy all of the time, but if we step off the world for a week, it actually keeps on spinning. He also described the upcoming Race & Pedagogy planning summit, just a couple of weeks away, and the speakers and participants who will be there. You can help this initiative by supporting R&P: Help fill the auditorium, for the large evening event (Thursday the 13th), and at the end of the next two days the gathering will produce a document that brings together the ideas that came up at the planning sessions. The Thursday evening large gathering is a message to the University on how much the community supports R&P. Information on how to get the tickets will go out to Conversation members in an email, soon. Students are welcome, so if you know some, clue them in.

Friday, Sept. 7, 2-4, is the next R&P community partners meeting. You can come to this—and, the food is always good, consider yourself invited.

Next, Dexter showed us a slide show of the hurricane that just hit Jamaica. The public account of the hurricane, issued by the government and followed by the media, focuses on the damage to Kingston. But the official report that “we were spared” does not pay attention to places like Dexter’s home town, on the coast, Old Harbour Bay. The pictures showed devastation and poverty. The people who have left, such as Dexter, are all over the world, but have organized to do some relief and development work. The town grows poverty, so the need is great. In a town where pretty much everyone is poor, it is the poorest that are hit the hardest. For example, structures that were not made of bricks and blocks were blown and washed away, particularly down on the salt flats. There are a few thousand people with nowhere to go, whose need for space and a way to make a living draw them to this place, and who can not afford solid materials. One large need is to have a well-built electrical power system. The fishing boats of the town were damaged a great deal and the storm pushed boats through houses.

This was the worst storm the people there had ever seen. One told him this made Ivan look like play.

Dexter asked for support for the group he is a part of, The Yard Project. Last time, after an earlier Hurricane (Ivan), his group raised $125,000 to build the houses he showed us in some of the slides. Some sorting out of the process is still going on, so be prepared to receive an email announcing the details of what and how to give. You can send the email to people you know, and magnify the support.

Some of the ensuing discussion touched on the role of government, and the self-help work that goes on in communities. The dominant public philosophy deemphasizes the importance and legitimacy of government. Government does provide many things for some people—ironically, the elites who trumpet the ‘government is the problem’ message are served best—and the poor do not get the same level of support. We discussed several facets of this. Some of them had to do with the intersections public philosophy and the color line in America. The notion that government is this Other thing, that delivers benefits to particular groups, is not particularly helpful (except, perhaps, as a way to contest elections). Every single business in the country gets subsidies of some kind. And there are thousands of governmental units, it is not one thing—nation, states, counties, school districts, and so on. And there are possibilities to do something positive in the here and now. Conversation members know that the recent Superintendent of Tacoma public schools was dismissed, in large part, because of the efforts of citizens including some members of the Conversation. You can do something.

With the opening lockout, and the extraordinary story, and the look at the hurricane damage, today’s Conversation lasted further into the day. It was 12:30 when Dexter started to wrap things up. It is important to support people who are doing things for change, and let others know you are doing something about justice, fairness, and caring for human life.

Reminder: Wednesday, 6pm, at the Philbrooks, the group that meets to work on change in the Tacoma School Board, will be talking again. The upcoming election is an opportunity to get changes moving.

Also, the So’Just Planning Committee will meet Tuesday, 6:30pm at Noah’s house. 414 S. Division Lane. Go here to see the So’Just mssion.

Conversation Recap for July 22, 2007

Today’s topic is delayed a week. Next week, environmental justice.

We began discussing the developing plans for the Fall Festival. The theme is Social Justice, and so far planning has covered the following topics.

• October 13, a Saturday, in the afternoon
• a name still in the works
• a mission statement (important for soliciting money)
• structure: a 3-4 hour event that keeps audience attention, keep it focused.

The plan is to have both music and art, booths, dancing and food. One discussion topic has been whether the program will be sufficiently representative of communities around Tacoma.

• located here at Evergreen (discussions have been started with Dr. Young). this has several advantages, including right size, sound system, location location.
• Money is, of course, a topic. How to organize (go for 501(3)c?), the costs of the site, and fundraising topics have been discussed. We discussed issues that arise over using another organization’s 501(3)c status.

The UPS student group, Students for a Democratic Society, has been working with the planning group, and has offered help and resources.

Conversation members are invited to make contributions to any of the above topics. This is not just about bands and music. The objective is to have an event that pursues the Conversation’s mission. We desire the event to be transformational for people who attend.

We also discussed the possibility of supporting existing scholarships as part of the funding structure of the events.


Dalton told us about the National Exchange Club, which has a national project for the prevention of child abuse. It is a topic that is often difficult to discuss, people have different views on what constitutes child abuse. But in light of recent events in Tacoma, it is clearly is something we can be discussing. See their website at http://www.nationalexchangeclub.com/.

Today we heard Steve Philbrook's story.

In the subsequent discussion we marveled at the twists lives take—the question, Why do people do the work they do and live where they do?, is always interesting. We also talked about the commitment underlying long-term relationships.

We discussed the current selection process for an interim Superintendent of Tacoma Schools, and for a permanent replacement. The Conversation may want to go on record to encourage taking a core mission keeping kids in school. A couple of people mentioned the retention rate for 9th graders at Foss High School (half of them not completing high school). We know who we are losing. There are tensions for the district. If more of the kids we are losing stay in school, WASL scores will drop. The incentives are perverse.

As several Conversation members noted, there is a distinct lack of public outrage about this. It is not apparently a big issue for the school board.

As recent hearings before a Senate subcommittee on education pointed out, the school problems we have hear are national in scope, and are a piece of the picture of inequality in the USA. Communities with few jobs for kids, deteriorating tax bases for cities, and so on, are part of a national crisis seldom noted in our politics and media. We should not be simple about this—the many pieces of the puzzle will include grassroots efforts, parental responsibility, more focused school district policies, and also shifts in national politics. The complexity of the problem is a reason why we should be attentive to the small steps possible to work on what is going on right here. After-school programs are part of it, for example.

Some Conversation members resisted the notion of framing the problem as complex. It might come down to inequality of wealth.

There are policies followed by our school district that produce identifiable outcomes. We can see the consequences of refusing to confront class divisions and racism. One way of taking a small step is to continue asking the school district administration for data about what is actually happening. For example, what about those ninth graders? What are the demographics of the ninth graders who do not graduate from high school? What are the demographics of students in various programs?

The Mimms Academy is working on supporting kids to stay in school, See their website at www.maxinemimmsacademy.org

Conversation Recap for July 15, 2007

Cherlyn's Story

Carrie Little from the Emergency Food Network and runs Mother Earth Farm

Moved here from IL because of union husband. No work in IL, came out here for work.

Been a gardener whole life. Kicked out of master gardener program for being “too organic”

Husband was getting involved in labor organizing events. Had learned about an event in Tacoma in 1893 at Fireman’s Park. Gathering of almost everyone in Tacoma to talk about taking care of each other during the then depression. Got involved in trying to recreate that. A homeless man introduced to the gardens and met Bill Bichsel. Need help with garden? YES!

July 17th 1993 the event happened. Husband forced out of union because of that event. Too much attention brought on the union.

Met David Ottie and talked about how it would be great to work together. During 7-8 years after event, worked with Guadalupe Garden and had a farmer’s market here at People’s Park.

In 2000 David Ottie said “woman wants to give this land over to grow food for EFN.” 8 acres, great soil. No earthworms, though. Turned in 6th month notice at Guadalupe Garden.

Gave 70 tons of produce to food banks last year.

Real magic is in taking human beings into a collective. Not master gardeners, but school kids, women from Purdy. Also district court, community service people, mostly men doing 180-250 hours—come out with a bit of an attitude, to be honest. At the end of the day they each get a bag and told “go shopping” Great to see grown men skipping down the aisles. It’s most jazzing to get people connected. Not just preaching to the choir but invite our neighbors to get dirty.

One member asked about how to have a patch of land to grow own food.

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), you buy a share of what the farmer grows.

Terry’s Berries and Zestful Harvest are 2 examples

Mother Earth may do something with some land bought with salmon restoration money. ME might take over 18 acres. It would be a fund raising effort for ME.

Other piece is to invite share holders into the community of the garden.

Seed saving is an important feature of ME because agri-business is constantly moving to patent the genetic material of seeds so they can “own” the seeds.

Question, how long take and what did you do to revitalize the soil at Mother Earth? Originally planned for 7 years to be in full production, but got there in 3 years. Compost, compost, compost. Neighbor has racehorses give organic feed and get manure.

Cover cropping (primarily legumes). Then plow it all in (with draft horses).

Not organic certified because don’t sell any of it. Gov’t won’t certify unless goods are sold rather than given away. Also Pierce Co. don’t see land as a farm.

How cleanse the earth? 160,000 pounds of compost. Cover cropping then rotated crops 2 acres at a time, cover cropping

Is there more support from political side? Yes, but they constantly need to have their hands held and bringing leaders to the farm.

Someone brought up the idea to take a field trip there.

Are there any adjacent farms that don’t use organic methods and is that a big problem for you? Biggest problem is WSU’s research farm 3 1/2 miles away. Just Google WSU and Monsanto. Very little corn but what is grown is surrounded by sunflowers, for example, and other isolation techniques plus crop rotation.

RoundUp ready crops, Monsanto gets money from gov’t.

What can we do?

Support locallygrown food, as organic as can be, but mainly make a relationship with food and who grows it. Also think seasonally. Should not be eating strawberries and corn in January. Eat greens and beets!

What’s wrong with GMOs anyway? Have actually found a reason to support genetically altered food. In the case of growing in space because that’s where we are going next. Important to do the research but not to set it free in the environment. Setting GMOs free into the environment has been the mistake. If we lose our honey bees, we have 5 years.

How protected is the farm? Is ME part of a trust? Have put in a proposal to have the family do that. Development is encroaching from all sides.

3 statesmen from the Puyallup tribe visited farm this past week. Chief archeologist, biologist and historian doing a cultural map of important. May just pull a “Port Angeles”
What about this new position called a farmbudsman. Good or mouthpiece for powers that be? There could be some value, in terms of building more open markets for growers. There is an upsurge in farmer’s markets.

Also need to preserve the farmland. Faith Dairy is closing tomorrow. Probably all turn into development.

Organic meat? Any teaming going on? Also, could high school kids come out to the farm and spend a few hours a week. Yes, wholeheartedly.

Recommend the Omnivores Dilemma. 120th and Vickery has organic grass fed, fee range meat. There are some other local people-Cheryl the Pig Lady, for example. Hope that next farm will have animals weaved in, involved in digging and fertilizing on site. Terry’s and Zestful Farm, on a limited scale.

Started small, 2 acres 60,000 lbs., now 70 tons (140,000 lbs.)

No sales, but volunteers are rewarded fruitfully!

Tear out your lawn and plant clover or wild flowers, if you don’t want to grow a garden.

Things that grow as “weeds” here are great-fennel, St. John’s Wort, clover, etc.

Conversation Recap for July 8, 2007

Another perfect day in the Northwest, many Conversation members were in a mood to hug.

We began with an exercise in communication. We divided into those who can see but not speak, and those who could speak but not see, with a task in organization. It showed us that many of our attempts at communication are unintelligible. The normal conventions of conversation obscure the ambiguities. People have different communication skills and techniques, and the exercise demonstrates the importance of our approaches to working with others. Oppositional conversation strategies are quite common in this world of ours. Many of the observations after the exercise looked at the complications of leadership, how it can emerge spontaneously, and subtly. Another theme we discussed was the development of how we work together. We each had to figure out how to play this game, and very different strategies emerged. And, many attempts at communication were not interpreted as intended. Many of us prefer to avoid uncertainty, and we want to understand the expectations in a situation. Classrooms are often structured around clear expectations, objectives, and behavioral requirements for everyone in the room, and exercises like this suggest there are many more things going on in learning. Several people noted the importance of having objectives for learnings, and at the same time creating the space for creativity.

This morning we heard Tina’s Story.

The discussion that followed examined the expectations we have in life, and how the ones commonly offered are sometimes difficult to reconcile with the seeing and doing something about justice issues. We also discussed how growing up we hear racist comments, and develop responses. Some times we make new sense of how those things emerged, a long time ago. Families can do a number on us, so to speak. Recall that phrase, “If you listen to my story, you won’t be able to hate me.” And, the popular culture images of the rural or small-town America, in a golden age, can lay claim to that story only because they ignore the racism, sometimes in subtle forms, and in some places outright systems of terror. We were reminded that many towns were ‘bucolic,’ in the sense of being safe and peaceful, a good place to live, during slavery.

We went over the schedule for the next couple of months. Remember, it along with the bigger documents that we sometimes refer to in notes, as well as some descriptions of earlier events in The Conversation, are found at www.condocs.blogspot.com.

We heard from Rosalind on the food we eat, part 2. We reconvened in the kitchen to discuss food over food.

In the kitchen, Rosalind set up an array of both packaged and basic foods—like, a box of crackers and a collard green. Several people confessed to their own foodisms, such as indulging too much in chocolate or carbs or sugar, or other things.

She shared several books to illustrate ideas about food and living. They included Michio Kushi’s book on cancer prevention, which emphasizes natural foods, vegetarian, and low inflammation foods. Another was about Ayurvedic foods (kitcheri recipe included below). Another advocated getting enough water (probably more than you drink now). Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Someone mentioned a middle eastern shop at 6th & Mildred.

Rosalind emphasized the importance of storing your food, including spices, in glass, not plastic.

We discussed limes, and Rosalind emphasized using as much of the whole lime as possible, including zesting the peel—it is where most of the nutrients are found. Someone suggested the highest use of a lime is in a gin & tonic.

She also described the importance of chewing whole foods that take a while to chew—your chewing begins many important processes that you use to pick up nutrients.

She passed around ginger slices, fresh, which is one of the ‘stars of the show’ when it comes to anti-inflammation. And she had us dip it into sea salt, which besides tasting great sets up more complete digestion of the ginger.

She talked about garlic for a while, and mentioned how you can use it raw, rubbed on sores, and cooked in various ways. It is anti-inflammatory, too.

She showed us a bowl of black beans, cooked. The darker the beans, the more antioxidants they contain. You can use asafoetida with it, if concerned about ‘illness.’ And there is always good old ‘Beano.’

She put together a tortilla piece that contained garlic (lots of cloves), cabbage (covered the garlic in the pan during steaming), a little olive oil, some red pepper, and a piece of sardine. Lightly fry the garlic, then steam it on low heat for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, then add the red pepper. Roll it up and eat. Oh, man, I’m going to do this at home.

Chili peppers have many, many benefits. Red pepper comes from them. Rosalind encourages everyone who doesn’t like it to give them a try. Mmmmm, red pepper.

Flax seed oil! (Your notetaker’s optometrist told him to take flax seed oil each day as prevention for dry eyes.)

Turmeric is used very widely in Indian cooking, and is used as an anti-inflammation agent. The guy who runs the Indian/Sikh store in the B&I, a good place to get a lot of the spices here, will tell you about turmeric. Careful, it makes things yellow.

Lots of folks liked the collards—stir fried up (they steam well) with garlic, cayenne, cumin, turmeric, and a little sea salt.

Several people expressed gratitude at the simple, tasty and healthy ideas.

Onions are cousins to Garlic, close family—and she argues they are very good for you in the same way as garlic. Uses them a lot, like garlic one of those foods that sweeps away various things you might not want in you.

Once the group had eaten, we retired back to the meeting room.

The group went over planning for the MLK event. Last year’s discussions of King’s writings, and how he has been treated in the celebrations, led to the organization of this past January’s event, that focused on the prophetic vision. Many of you remember how it went. The mission statement for that event mentioned this was to be an annual event, and something that complements the other events celebrating MLK in Tacoma.

Dexter read the overall vision statement. Last year planning starting late, about December 6. A group of about 8 people put it together, and perhaps half of that group will return to help this year, along with others who will join it. Dexter has lists of people and businesses that supported the event last year. Support is easier to get if we approach supporters early.

This year (2008) it will be Sunday, January 20. For people interested, we will set up an email list, circulate information, talk about program, place, and all of the details.

The planning group will be open, so that if people show up later and wish to contribute, we will allow that.

Last year the group emphasized that the event keep a distinct South Sound flavor, including local artists who work for social justice, and be very high quality. Also, we want to be able to pay the artists who are often called on to do things like this for social justice.

If we meet in July, we will want to get the fundraising started. We can do bimonthly meetings until November and December, when weekly meetings might be needed.

We discussed venue. Urban Grace, St. Charles, Lincoln, Bellarmine, and Mt. Tahoma were mentioned as possibilities. Volunteers were assigned to check the availability of each place.

The planning group will next meet on July 26, a Thursday, at 5:00, at 3901 N. 37th.


Mung Dal Kitchari (Vata)

• 1 cup basmati rice, white or brown. This makes very good leftovers, and the texture on the leftovers is far better if you use brown rice.
• ½ cup split mung dal. Much of the yellow mung dal contains food coloring, and after experiments I like the regular unhulled split mung dal.
• A tblsp. ghee
• 1 tsp black or brown mustard seeds (black allegedly have more flavor)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 pinches hing (asafoetida)
• 1 tsp tumeric, and it is fine to double this, more if you like.
• ½ tsp salt
• 4 cups water, I use vegetable stock. If you soak the dal for 4 or more hours, as maybe you should, cut this to 3 ½ cups water.
• chopped fresh ginger, maybe 2 tablespoons, adjust to taste.
• garlic, chopped, not in original recipe but I like it. Adjust to taste.

Rinse rice and mung dal. If you have time, soak the mung dal in water for 3 or 4 hours, and 24 hours is fine if you like to plan ahead. (If no time for soaking, you can aid digestibility by heating the dal in water to the boiling point, then dousing in cold water, repeat 2 or 3 times. Some folks if sensitive, use Beano.)

Do all measuring, chopping, spice mixes first, then start the heat.
Heat a good-sized pan, on medium. When it is up to temperature, add the ghee, mustard seeds, cumin, and hing. Stir or shake pan for a couple of moments until the mustard seeds start to pop.

Add chopped ginger (and garlic) and stir for a very short time.

Add the rice, mung dal, tumeric, and salt, stir to blend all with spices.

Add the water, bring to a boil. For white rice, let boil for 5 minutes uncovered, then turn to low and cover. Cook 20-25 more minutes, add 10 if in Boulder or higher elevations. For brown rice, leave out the mung dal for 20 minutes while you boil the rice and spices, then add the dal and let cook for 25 more minutes.

For serving, you can use whatever steamed vegetables are seasonal or to your taste. Try:
• beets, sliced and steamed, and beat greens, steamed.
• carrots, sliced and steamed, and chard or collards, chopped and steamed. Sliced steamed yams worked very well, as did bok choy.
• We always serve with chopped fresh ginger, slices of lime. Also good to have chopped cilantro, ghee, and your favorite hot sauces available, maybe some Bragg’s or regular soy sauce. Let each person adjust the mix. I’ve heard coconut is good with it.

Conversation Recap for July 1, 2007

Dorothy’s story

Conversation revolved around experiences with desegregation efforts in the South.

What’s on the Table? A presentation about food and health by Rosalind

We either feed ourselves or kill ourselves with every bite we put into our bodies.

One of the major health concerns of our time is inflammatory processes-2 kinds:

Good-swelling (injury), white cells increase, body temperature raises, i.e., fever (disease)
Bad-when inflammatory attack comes at wrong time and place

Good Inflammation (Anti)

Bad Inflammation (Pro)
• Autoimmune diseases
• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Altzheimer’s
• Prostate cancer

Prostaglandins
• Go into system to quell the danger
• Come from foods you eat, namely fatty acids, esp. Omega 3)
o Omega 3s
• Sardines (packed in olive oil)
• Herring
• Salmon (wild)
• Avocadoes

o Omega 6s
• Grains

We eat 25X more omega 6 foods than omega 3s because we eat so many more grains than leaves and grasses-also, our meat is grain fed so we get it there too.

Anti-inflammatory eating. Eat/drink more:

• Tomatoes
• Cayenne
• Turmeric
• Hot peppers/chiles
• Garlic
• Cardamom
• Cumin
• Onion flakes
• Brazil nuts esp. for men
• Ginger
• Nori
• Green tea
• Stevia (doesn’t raise blood glucose level) some recommend agave
• Flax seed and oil (but grind the seeds)

Drink less:

Caffeinated drinks

Alcohol (while healing)

Dr. can give a C-Reactive Protiein test that will indicate the amount of inflammation in body

Homework: Bring something from home that has high fructose corn syrup or -ose at the end of an ingredient name.

HFCS
_______________________________________________________________________

Update on Fall Festival:

3-4 hour event
Most likely at Evergreen-Tacoma
Sat. Oct. 13th
Next mtg. on July 16th
Discussing issues like, what will social justice angle look like, i.e., booths, music themes, etc. will we raise money for a purpose, such as scholarships?

The committee will work to make sure 2-way communication and input continues to occur

Happy 39th anniversary to Tom and Marti!

The V-Team met afterwards and tweaked the schedule of programming. View it here.

Conversation Recap for June 24, 2007

We had a wonderful tribute program for Dr. Joye Hardiman that included music, a skit, singing, poetry, storytelling and open mic give-backs. We also were treated to some stories about Dr. Hardiman's life and career as well. A delicious brunch was prepared by our own Rosalind and a good time was had by all.