Community Safety

 

Dear Friend of Everyday Democracy, Earlier this month, our team hosted a panel discussion on a dynamic community engagement initiative in Palm Beach County, Florida. As part of the MacArthur Foundation's Safety and Justice Challenge, our team, our longtime partners at Community Partners of South Florida, and the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission tailored our Dialogue to Change process to bring community members together to discuss community safety and justice. The process resulted in a diverse set of action projects taking place in nine subregions of the county, which you can read about here.  Panelists for our conversation included Gwen Wright and Sagacity Walker of the Everyday Democracy team, Jaime-Lee Bradshaw of Community Partners of South Florida, and Barbara Cheives, the Co-Chair of the Community Engagement Taskforce of Palm Beach County's Criminal Justice Commission. When speaking about the initiative, which began taking shape prior to COVID but eventually had to transition into a virtual format, Jaime-Lee reminded us of the power of reframing challenges as opportunities. For instance, virtual dialogues eliminated certain common barriers to participation, such as the need for transportation or childcare, that exist with in-person gatherings. Curious to dive deeper into the lessons learned? Check out the video below to hear directly from our panelists:   Click above to watch a video recording of the February 22, 2022 panel discussion about Palm Beach County's recent Dialogue to Change process. Read the final report Some other key takeaways from the conversation included the importance of creating achievable action projects, identifying a group of partners to support projects in the long-term, and keeping the whole community informed through ongoing communication. Inspired by the work in Palm Beach County, this month's tips and tools section features some resources that can help guide communities as they transition from dialogue to equitable and inclusive action. In community,  The Everyday Democracy team

Tips and Tools At Everyday Democracy, we help communities identify ways to connect authentic community engagement to concrete action. Here are some tools and tips that our team and our network use to facilitate this: Worksheet: SMARTIE Goals You may have heard of SMART Goals (Strategic, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Bound), but have you heard of SMARTIE Goals? Our partners in Palm Beach County used the concept of SMARTIE Goals to ensure that the action projects were also Inclusive and Equitable. You can check out a SMARTIE Goal planning sheet from The Management Center above or you can hear more through the Alford Group's video tutorial. Activity: Incorporating Racial Equity into Action Teams This 2017 Everyday Democracy activity was designed to help foster conversation about how a community’s racial dynamics may impact collaboration within action groups. Within our Dialogue to Change process, this can be a particularly valuable tool as groups move from dialogue to action. However, this tool can also support other authentic community engagement processes.   Our Network in the News Book Release: 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting New book alert! Our Board Chair, Miles Rapoport, recently co-wrote a book with E.J. Dionne. 100% Democracy argues that universal participation in our elections should be a cornerstone of the U.S. system. One key point they make is that universal voting could protect against voter suppression and the active disenfranchisement of a large share of U.S. citizens.   Upcoming Events Wednesday, March 9 The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth with Kristin Henning Join the Mark Twain House & Museum, Community Partners in Action (CPA), and Everyday Democracy for an important conversation on how the American criminal justice system views, targets, and disproportionately punishes Black youth. In this one-hour virtual event, attorney and Georgetown Professor Kristin Henning, author of The Rage of Innocence, will discuss this critical topic with Dishon Rucker of CPA. Thursday, March 10 CT Civic Ambassadors Presents: Public Policy Advocacy for Equitable Change Public Policy influences many aspects of our everyday lives, but what is public policy exactly? How does the policy-making process work? And what are the ways that individuals can get involved to advocate for their causes? Join us for a virtual conversation about how public policy works and how to make it more inclusive and equitable.    Staff Picks As we reach the end of the Black History Month, our team wanted to share two pieces by Black women that explore legacies of resistance and movement-building. We hope these staff picks can prompt vital conversations year-round.  Book: The Purpose of Power, Alicia Garza Alicia Garza, one of the co-creators of the Black Lives Matter movement, wrote this 2020 book to share lessons learned about power and movement building. Garza illuminates movements that shaped her upbringing and those she played a role in creating, and then envisions what the future of movement building could look like. You can check out more of Garza's work in these areas through the Black Futures Lab. Podcast Episode: The Ethical Rainmaker, Collecting Courage with Nneka Allen In this 2021 episode of Ethical Rainmaker, a podcast about nonprofits and philanthropy, Michelle Shireen Muri interviewed Nneka Allen about her work saving and preserving one of the Underground Railroad sites, the Nazary AME Church, as part of the Amherstburg Freedom Museum. Allen speaks about learning that her ancestors were leaders in that movement, and lessons learned about centering love in efforts to honor the past. About us Everyday Democracy equips communities with the tools they need to take back their power. We are building a model of community engagement where everyone has not just a seat, but a voice and access to power at the table. We work with activated communities to create an infrastructure for equitable community-led solutions to structural problems.   Please consider donating to help continue our work: Donate Follow us on social media and forward this newsletter to others!