Category Archives: Dialogue Events

03.23.16
by

Building Bridges – Healing Divides

Participants in our February 11 forum identified many ways in which Columbia is divided. These included divides between neighbors and neighborhoods that reflect differences in race, age, income, and political affiliation. These divides need more than a bridge to bring people together – underlying distrust, fear and anger need to be addressed as well.

An articulate and thoughtful group of students from Battle High School attended the forum.  These students have been working hard at creating programs to help students work through the community divisions that are reflected within their school.  We have invited them to tell us more on this blog, both through the comment section and in future posts.

There are other groups working in the community to build bridges or heal divides.  These include Race Matters, Friends and Diversity Awareness Partnership.  If you are involved in an effort to bring diverse groups together in dialogue let us know in the comment section below.

 

02.20.16
by

Dialogue Builds Bridges

20160211_192752

“Groups of people getting together and talking is never a waste of time!  That is the only way to build communities.”

“Need more open democratic system for discussion.”

“People can’t seem to disagree without it getting personal.”

These were all comments made by citizens who attended the recent Trib Talks forum “Are We An Us?”

It was an energizing exchange that resulted in much productive dialogue and several ideas for action. We will be posting more of the comments and ideas shared on the three themes – Building Bridges, Citizen-Centered Planning, and Addressing Inequities – over the next few weeks.   In the meantime, view more pictures and resources in this summary from reporter Alicia Stice.

Keep the conversation going and join us!

02.12.16
by

“Loving All Our Neighbors”

Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks and the Islamic Center of Central Missouri have announced they will be holding a community conversation on inclusion, titled “Loving All Our Neighbors”, on Tuesday Feb. 16 at Rock Bridge Christian Church, 301 W. Green Meadows Rd., Columbia. This free gathering will include an optional potluck dinner at 6 p.m. and a panel discussion and community conversation starting at 7 p.m.

Come and discuss a range of related topics –inclusion, the embrace of diversity, addressing racism, Islamophobia, and the plight of refugees and undocumented people.

The panel of speakers for this event includes:

  • Rasha Abousalem, Director of Humanitarian Operations with Global First Responders, who led a mission last month to Calais, France camp where thousands of war refugees are temporarily living;
  • Alejo Gonzalez, MU English/Psychology student who works with at-risk youth;
  • Marquise Griffin, MU graduate student in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis program with an emphasis on Higher Education; and
  • Faisan Syad, Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) St. Louis.
02.11.16
by

Join Us Thursday Feb 11 at 7 pm

Join us tomorrow evening for the Trib Talks forum “Are We An Us?’  The world-cafe style forum will be held at the ARC, 1701W. Ash St., at 7 pm. We will dig deeper into themes that emerged during our last session and our on-line forums.

These were citizen centered planning, addressing inequities, and building bridges.

What is citizen-centered planning?  One thing it involves is leadership that accurately informs citizens.  During our last forum citizens expressed a desire for the Trib to make it easier for them to track coverage on complex issues, like the current transmission line controversy.  The Trib has responded with a new archive on infrastructure issues.  Come and share additional thoughts on how our planning for growth might be improved.

There are many groups in Columbia working to address needs for food and shelter.  Affordable housing, and outreach through efforts like Project Homeless Connect have been in the news. Bring your ideas on what more might be done.

And over the last month uniting the diverse elements of our community has been a theme of many events – from the the city-sponsored diversity breakfast, to a unity concert, to a multicultural cooking class sponsored by the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture. Come and share your thoughts on how we might bridge our gaps.

Join us at the ARC and here on-line!

 

 

01.20.16
by

Building Bridges

Another strategy identified in past forums for restoring a sense of community was for different groups to get together with those they don’t regularly talk or work with in order to get to know each other.  And participants emphasized the importance of listening.

These last two weeks provided several opportunities for people to come together, whether to talk about common interests, such as the dialogue held by the Cradle to Career Alliance on January 11 as part of their “Raising of America” video series; to celebrate our diverse community as many did at the 2016 Columbia Values Diversity celebration; or simply to come together in fellowship and support as others did at the breakfast buffet held at St. Luke United Methodist Church.

Here are some quotes from the week, all aligned with the strategy of building bridges:

“We are one. There’s no color -we’re all just one.  And when we can decide that we’re one, then Columbia can unite together.”  – Rev. James Gray, Second Missionary Baptist Church, quoted in the Columbia Missourian Jan. 19, 2016

“There are people that need a meal, and we have a meal for them.” – Annabelle Simmons, St. Luke United Methodist Church, quoted in the Columbia Daily Tribune Jan. 18, 2016

“We stop exploring, we stop challenging ourselves to learn.” – Brenda Jackson, Stephens College Student Government Association President, quoted in the Columbia Daily Tribune, Jan. 19, 2016

“I’m pleased we honor diversity, and eventually we will get to a more accepting community – we just have to keep moving forward in recognizing and accepting each other’s differences.”  Barbra Horrell,  Columbia Values Diversity 2016 Individual Honoree, quoted in the Columbia Daily Tribune, Jan. 14, 2016

 

01.04.16
by

Upcoming Event: January 11, 2016

The Cradle to Career Alliance is hosting its second dialogue event featuring films in The Raising of America film series at the ARC, 1701 w. Ash St., on January 11, 2016.  The featured film will be “Once Upon A Time When Childcare for All Wasn’t Just A Fairy Tale”. The film screening begins at 6 pm. The film is about 30 minutes and dialogue will follow. Dialogue will be facilitated by Columbia Parents for Public Schools.  Over 90 people attended the first event.  If you are concerned about our kids and our working families, this would be a great event to attend.

Join others in the community who care about our kids: January 11, 6 pm, at the ARC!

01.04.16
by

Trib Talks: What’s Happened So Far

The Columbia Tribune launched its “Trib Talks Forums” as part of a joint learning exchange with the Kettering Foundation in May 2015, starting with an issue guide on politics and democracy.  One purpose of this exchange is to look at ways in which the media can help strengthen the citizen voice in our evolving political system.As part of the learning exchange we are experimenting with different kinds of dialogue platforms and hosting dialogues on those topics that those who participate want to discuss.

The first forums were on-line and used the “Cover It Live” platform that was designed for sports.  You can view transcripts of these forums on the Trib Talks Forums archive page.  An in-person forum, co-hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Minority Men’s Network was held at the ARC in September 2015. We also asked for and received feedback through surveys and polls.

Although citizens raised many specific issues, including those relating to jobs, safety, and development, the overall focus was on the question of who we are and where we are going as a community.

In 2008 a report from a citizen-led visioning process sponsored by the city included this stated goal: “Columbia will be an inclusive community where people from all walks of life hear, appreciate, understand, respect, and trust each other, and where positive relationships are fostered and human rights are advanced.” In our 2015 dialogues citizens indicated continuing interest in this type of goal, and expressed concern with a “lack of community”.

Lack of a common vision for our future was another theme across the forums, reinforced by comments like “we seem to be drifting” or “In Columbia folks seem to be saying, ‘If it’s not on my side of town, I don’t care.'”

Forum participants also asked questions like “are we an us?” and “what would it be like if we could come together as one WHOLE community?”  These are questions worth pursuing and we are interested in your thoughts.

You can participate in further dialogue on this blog, or join us at our scheduled forum, February 11, 2016 at the ARC, 1701 W. Ash St, 7 to 9 pm.