[Oe List ...] I Found Hope

[Nancy Lanphear]

Dear Joan,

Thanks for this message of HOPE.  We all need more signs that we can work
together in a caring manner and treat each other with respect.  And we need
the eyes and ears to realize that hope is still around us.

A week ago Sunday, a friend and I decided to stop by a location of Occupy
Seattle.  We were both impressed with the calm and courteousness of the
folks gathered there.  Food was being shared among them that had come from
people involved, from neighbors who appreciated what was happening, even
some from miles away, and from businesses who wanted to be part of the
events.  We experienced the "voice of the people" as a speaker would speak
his lines that were echoed by folks near the front of the gathering, then
one by one lines of folks further back would repeat what was being said.  If
there was affirmation, disagreement, additions or corrections to what was
being said, it was signaled by consensed signs rather than verbal forms of
interruption.  We were impressed.  The space was covered with pup tents, it
was clean and neat. There was a sense of belonging and acceptance.  There
are more and more signs of HOPE of new possibilities.

With love,

Nancy

2011/10/25 Joan <jfknutson at aol.com>

>  I found hope in the most unexpected place last Sunday evening: a
> political meeting to meet the Mayoral candidates for the City of Phoenix
> mayor's position.  This meeting was sponsored by the Valley Interfaith
> Project (VIP), an community organizing group I don't know much about but my
> friend Edith Byers had told me how impressed she was with the meetings she
> had attended.  It is made up of Catholic and Protestant churches, synagogues
> and mosques along with some community groups.  I wanted to get some
> information on the candidates so I went, along with 220 other people.
>
> The first thing that happened was two leaders from VIP briefed the group on
> the agenda for the meeting.  These people are not paid staff but local
> people who trained by the VIP organization.  They made the purpose and the
> agenda very clear, as they had done previously with the two candidates.
> This was not a meeting for them to campaign or to attack their opponents.
> We were there to support the leadership and no booing or heckling would be
> tolerated.  The agenda had come from "house meetings" to talk through the
> issues affecting their lives as citizens of Phoenix.  These meetings with
> small groups are often held during church services or at a school meetings.
>  The three main issues that had emerged were jobs, housing foreclosures and
> neighborhood safety.  The candidates were briefed on these issues ahead of
> time.  Each issue was presented by a local citizen telling their story of
> how this issue affected them.  Each candidate was given so many minutes each
> to respond.  Several times the VIP leader stepped in to say to the candidate
> to please answer the question that had been asked, which really kept things
> on point.  At another point the VIP leader stepped into say there would be
> no campaigning and to please address the issue at hand.
>
> When this concluded, both candidates were asked if they were to be elected,
> would they work with VIP on these issues and would they attend two upcoming
> meetings and the dates of those meetings were given.  Of course both
> candidates said they would work with VIP but VIP then held their feet to the
> fire and extracted the promise to attend the two meetings on the dates
> given.
>
> The printed agenda had the meeting beginning at 5:30, the meeting with the
> candidates at 6:00 and ending at 7:00.  As I turned to leave, I looked up at
> the clock and it was precisely 7:00 p.m.  As we left the meeting. everyone
> had been given a sign-up sheet to do different things for VIP and there were
> women of about my vintage who were pressing folks to turn in those forms to
> become involved.  Impressive!
>
> What excited me was to see the intentional process to deal with real
> issues, holding accountability with local people in charge demanding of our
> leadership to serve the people and all of this being done with love and
> respect.  Now there is something worth replicating!    Joan Knutson
>
>
>
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