I’m part of a local group bringing interfaith dinners to our community. We always invite local elected leaders (city council, school board) and city staff. Three of the six of us organizing have long been active in local civic groups, nonprofits etc. In other words, we’ve spent years building relationships, so we have the ability to actually get these leaders to the table. Our community is ethnically diverse, but dominated by conservative Republican politics, even at the local level. Getting our city council and school board members to attend these dinners has been huge in giving a voice to our Muslim and Hindu neighbors. I suppose this is an act of solidarity, but we really consider it an opportunity to learn and build empathy across difference. Absolutely nothing I do will change what is happening in Gaza, but I can make sure that people in my community, especially those in power, keep talking to each other and resist the hate and vitriol spreading to our city.
Thank you for sharing this, Marianna and for the amazing work you are doing! It's a good reminder that community building is a long process and every step matters.
One of my daughters teachers was very intentional about building strong relationships with parents and fostering the parents to connect with each other. The thinking was that if we knew each other well in good times, it would prepare us for the more challenging times.
I’m part of a local group bringing interfaith dinners to our community. We always invite local elected leaders (city council, school board) and city staff. Three of the six of us organizing have long been active in local civic groups, nonprofits etc. In other words, we’ve spent years building relationships, so we have the ability to actually get these leaders to the table. Our community is ethnically diverse, but dominated by conservative Republican politics, even at the local level. Getting our city council and school board members to attend these dinners has been huge in giving a voice to our Muslim and Hindu neighbors. I suppose this is an act of solidarity, but we really consider it an opportunity to learn and build empathy across difference. Absolutely nothing I do will change what is happening in Gaza, but I can make sure that people in my community, especially those in power, keep talking to each other and resist the hate and vitriol spreading to our city.
Thank you for sharing this, Marianna and for the amazing work you are doing! It's a good reminder that community building is a long process and every step matters.
One of my daughters teachers was very intentional about building strong relationships with parents and fostering the parents to connect with each other. The thinking was that if we knew each other well in good times, it would prepare us for the more challenging times.
Thank you so much for this reminder and the humility in sharing your own learning process.
Thank you Dina! We’re all learning in real time right now