RESOURCES: individuals, organizations, manuals, listservs

[Leah Lamb]

This is a place where we can share our resources. please add to the list! The following replies were sent over the NCDD listserv.

Leah Lamb
NCDD Listserv Moderator
Berkeley, CA

[Leah Lamb]

Resources for Recovery: Debriefing a Traumatic Situation
http://www.ica-usa.org/resrc/Katrina/recovery.html

Jo Nelson's article on using the Focused Conversations method (developed by Institute of Cultural Affairs' Technology of Participation program) is designed to help people dialogue after traumatic events.

-Lisa Heft



Leah Lamb
NCDD Listserv Moderator
Berkeley, CA

[Leah Lamb]

The following list of BLOGS was submitted to the NCDD Listserv by Tom Atlee:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/01/blog_roundup/
http://www.truthout.org/mayday.shtml
http://www.livejournal.com/users/katrinacane/friends
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/peterGelzinis/


Leah Lamb
NCDD Listserv Moderator
Berkeley, CA

[Leah Lamb]

A Call to Action: Rebuild the Gulf Coast and Rebuild Our Democracy

By Martha L. McCoy, Executive Director, Study Circles Resource Center
The impact of Hurricane Katrina shines a light on many long-standing problems in our country, and opens new opportunities to address them.

The good news is that we donâ?€?™t have to start from scratch. Well before the current crisis, movements for civic and democratic renewal were gaining strength. Among these efforts, in the past 15 years, hundreds of communities have used study circles to bring tens of thousands of people into dialogue and action on the most critical issues facing our country. At the Study Circles Resource Center, we have been fortunate to work with many of these communities. You will find their stories on www.studycircles.org. These efforts, and others like them, are seldom noted on the national scene. But they have a lot to teach us in this key moment in our history.

These stories show us how we can address the challenges facing us. In our communities and our country, we need to:

fi Address racial divisions and inequities. Racism in our country is often invisible to many people, but in the aftermath of Katrina, the wound has been exposed for all to see. Now, more people recognize that there is work to do; there are renewed calls for a national conversation on race.

fi Work on deep poverty. Like racism, poverty is invisible to many people, but now, as scenes from the Gulf Coast come into our living rooms, we see beyond the statistics. We see that poverty is real and the needs are urgent. Both political parties are calling for a renewed war on poverty.

fi Meet the needs of rapidly changing communities. The great migration from the Gulf Coast region has focused our attention on what is already happening in many cities and towns, as people from different groups are looking for ways to live together in harmony, often for the first time. This raises an essential question: How do we make a multiracial, multicultural democracy work?

fi Build a strong democracy. Katrinaâ?€?™s impact reveals long-standing problems with the way our democracy functions. Few of our communities offer meaningful opportunities for everyoneâ?€?™s voice to be heard. Race and class create additional barriers to participation. We lack opportunities for people of different backgrounds and views to work together, and for our elected leaders to hear from and respond to them. And we lack ways for people to work effectively with government officials, to create and carry out public policy.

In essence, we need to build a â?€?œcivic infrastructureâ?€? in our communities, our regions, and our country, even as we rebuild the physical infrastructure of the Gulf region.

In the aftermath of Katrina, we at the Study Circles Resource Center are renewing our commitment to help communities work on the long-standing issues highlighted by this crisis, and to help build the kind of civic infrastructure our country needs.

Just as with relief and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast, building a strong democracy will take the energy and commitment of caring people. Each one of us has an important role to play. Our can-do spirit, especially in the face of adversity, is a hallmark of our nation. If we take to heart the larger meaning of this crisis, we have it in us to create a democracy that can work for all of us.


If you are already organizing study circles, we want to support you as you redouble your efforts at this critical time. Itâ?€?™s clearer than ever before that what you are doing in your community has meaning for our country as a whole.

If you would like to organize large-scale dialogue for problem solving, please let us know. We have resources to help communities organize large-scale conversations on issues of race, and then to move from those conversations to community change. We are in the final stages of developing resources to help communities address issues of poverty. We can also put you in touch with other organizations and resources.

[Julianna]

Just wanted everyone to know that coalitions are emerging in Louisiana and probably elsewhere in the Gulf Coast that want to influence the rebuilding efforts. I recently joined the Rebuilding Louisiana Coalition, highly diverse group of organizations and individuals that hopes to influence policy in the state and change the way that we do "business." Part of the effort of RLC will be in citizen dialogue to process the trauma and develop input into the multiple decisions that need to be made to recreate this city. As you may know, New Orleans Ray Nagin has appointed a committee of citizens to guide the rebuilding. You may also know that he faces a re-election in February. All important reasons for the kind of engagement which has been lacking in Louisiana politics. This indeed is a time of openings.

Went back to my home for the first time since Katrina - it is safe and dry. Sadly, Jean Handley, also a NCDD member, has lost everything - her home was flooded. There is an enormous amount of loss throughout the city and an enormous amount of unknowing about the future.