My friends automatically cringe at the word.

It doesn’t matter the context or the subject at hand. As soon as I say it:

*COMMUNITY*

Eyes start to roll, people look out the window, and shift around uncomfortably in their chairs.

What is so threatening about this word?

Sadly it seems in today’s culture of suburban materialism, people have every reason to be suspicious. Especially young people. To our parents, “community” was a tangible thing. Folks grew up knowing their neighbors, etc. Today however, the social fabric of authentic community has all but been ripped to shreds. An average of four hours of television a day, the necessity of two-income households, decreased suburban density and increased total population mean we hardly know the meaning of the word.

To certain young people the “C” word represents an obligation they never agreed to fulfill. It is a hollow promise, a loaded word often manipulated by public figures to sell folks on an agenda that may not match up with their own. To some “community” = cloying and claustrophobic. Someone even accused me recently of being in the “Community Cult”. It’s a concept that a lot of people just don’t relate to. Who are the members of this so-called “community” and why is it supposedly so special?

When young adults hear the “C” word we tend to place ourselves outside of it. We don’t fit the target audience for the majority of civic dialog as few of us have children, we aren’t in terminal career track jobs, and we’re typically not making mortgage payments or contributing significantly to the tax base.

This doesn’t mean that young people are anti-social and lack desire for community of their own. We simply use a different word for the same thing and call it the “scene”. A pet peeve of the Spovangelist is that the concept of “scene” in Spokane is rarely extended beyond the realm of local music. That is a great place for a scene to start, but in more culturally dynamic cities the scene is far more multifaceted than that.

What is an ideal scene? Its a large network of people who relate to each others perspectives on jobs, relationships and station in life. They can offer relevant advice on connecting to opportunities that support their shared lifestyle. People in the scene should appreciate the creative work of other people in the scene should it be worthy of such attention. The scene should be able to help its members get hooked up with good roommates, and even share costs on things like throwing parties or transportation to Seattle. The scene should be diverse and interesting. It should provide companionship and expose the people in it to new ideas and ways to recreate. A healthy scene is strong enough to develop its own micro-economy, and this in turn provides meaningful, socially significant jobs to its members.

Cheers to the future of the “C” word in Spokane!

Spokane needs a local independent sports blogger.

When I say “local” and “independent” that is exactly what I mean. The vast majority of sports blogs out there are products of the newspaper industry trying to make the digital jump. But for some reason these “sports blogs” don’t seem to be very much fun at all. They read like columns and often lack the kind of interactive features that encourage a dedicated readership. Conversely, most truly independent sports blogs focus on national sports leagues and are plagued by an uninspired commercial feel.

I want someone to blog about local sports culture, ’cause goodness knows Spokane has a really awesome one. I want to know what Spokane Women’s Rugby is up to this season. I want to know how to register my kids for baseball camp. Where are the best public horse shoe boxes in Spokane? What is the history of the Flying Irish running club? An what about our local Ultimate Frisbee team? This blogger could review all the fitness gyms in Spokane, and maybe the sports bars too.

I’d like someone to help me follow the Zags when its that time of year, and circulate recruiting announcements for intramural soccer. Someone should give critical review of major events like Bloomsday and Hoopfest, and draft invites for things like neighborhood softball leagues and dodgeball tournaments. What are the plans to refurbish the Joe Albi stadium? Where can I read about the positive effects that local sports have on developing teamwork and a healthy lifestyle? And who knew Spokane has a 10 acre archery complex?

Clearly there is more than enough material to go around. So if you if you know someone who is a good candidate for becoming “The Spokane Sports Blogger” please tell them to hurry up and get on it!

• Spokane Youth Sports Association
• Spokane Spiders Soccer
• Spokane Shock Football
• Spokane Indians Baseball
• Spokane Chiefs Hockey
• Spokane Razorbacks Rugby

Last night I conducted a Flickr experiment:

Searching the terms “spokane rainbow” yielded 6 pages of fairly interesting results. What was even more interesting, however, was the discovery that almost every shot of a rainbow in Spokane (excluding the predictable river pictures and sky-only compositions) displayed some kind of jarring juxtaposition between this gorgeous natural phenomenon and some hideous human product:

Surface Parking                                           North Side Sprawl

Trailer Park                                                Cheap Chain Hotel

4 Lane Intersection                                    Public Health Building

While Envision Spokane is still in its infancy, it has already brought together some unlikely collaborations, such as labor union locals working with neighborhood council representatives for the first time.

While the group was originally convened by Spokane locals who participated in a political workshop called Democracy School, the network has since expanded and is offering many opportunities for involvement.

To learn more:

• “Rebuilding Democracy” - summary of rights-based organizing
  
• To Restore Democracy: First Abolish Corporate Personhood
• Community and Environmental Legal Defense Fund Website

To track their progress:

• Envision Spokane on Facebook
• Envision Spokane on MySpace
• Democracy Spokane on Google Groups

]]> http://spovangelist.com/envision-spokane-presents-rights-based-organizing/feed/ http://spovangelist.com/one-world-everybody-eats/ http://spovangelist.com/one-world-everybody-eats/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:42:41 +0000 The Spovangelist http://spovangelist.com/?p=30 Tell everyone you know: An outstandingly progressive Community Kitchen is setting up shop on East Sprague this September. Their plans are so exciting its almost too good to be true, but as Spovangelites we must believe in, manifest and trumpet their success.

Excerpts from the One World Everybody Eats Spokane website:

Business Model
The One World Spokane Foundation has chosen an unconventional approach to eliminating world hunger … there is no menu and no prices. Organic food is prepared with the seasons and served to patrons who choose their own portions of soups, salads, entrees and desserts. Patrons pay a fair price for the food that they have chosen after their meal and they determine the price themselves. Choosing portion size and prices leads to little or no food waste.

The community kitchen attracts an economically diverse clientele, which makes it sustainable and builds a stronger, more broad based community. There are volunteer positions available daily for those who want to earn meal vouchers or just contribute their time. We will provide one meal voucher for each hour of service. Children eight years and under can eat on their parent’s voucher. We will serve a complimentary “staple” dish like Dahl and Rice that is available to everyone and is the perfect nutritional solution for those with little time and money.

Social Sustainability
We strongly believe in a “hand up, not a hand out” model. Not only do we provide volunteer opportunities to earn meal vouchers, we also provide training to our volunteers in the food industry as dishwashers, prep cooks and cooks. We intend to hire from our volunteers or provide them with letters or recommendations for future employment. We intend to pay a living wage to our employees ($9.00-$12.00/hr) plus daily meals.

Environmental Sustainability
We will use local organic produce from local farmers. We also plan to grow a small amount of produce in our own garden using compost from kitchen scraps. Volunteers also participate in neighborhood cleanup.

Economic Responsibility
Our foundation believes in being an economic contributor in our community at large as well as a charitable venue.

A similar non-traditional restaurant in Portland, OR is Sisters of the Road Cafe. They’ve been going strong since 1979. If Portland can do it, so can we!

Every once in a while, however, this please-all super blog gets a little edgy - commenting on weird Spokane phenomena, local cultural ticks, objects of interest, and other random bits.

Presenting the Top 10 most punk rock Metro posts of all time:

1. Mannequins protest condo development
2. Guerrilla Street Art: Ornate Oil Barrels…
3. The Best Expo ‘74 Souvenir…EVER
4. Street Art? Vandalism?
5. Psychogeography - Deconstructing your neighborhood…
6. Bucky Fuller STILL owns the friggin’ lower South Hill
7. How to deal with those pesky solicitors…
8. The New People’s Billboard?
9. Helpful hints from the Peaceful Valley welcome wagon…
10. Kendall Yards - Controlled Explosion Goodness

Did I miss one? Please, by all means let me know!

This savvy and passionate person would do the following:

• Collect, organize and compare all the existing demographic data that describes the composition, behavior, assets and outlooks of young adults (18-35) in Spokane and the Spokane diaspora.
• Identify the “blind spots” in this data set. What questions are left unanswered by the available information that could inform a credible retention and recruitment strategy?
• Develop a research program aimed to extract the missing information. This could involve focus groups and online surveys. Key to the process might be asking young people who moved away why they did so, and asking young adults who are not from the area what their perception of Spokane has been and where that message came from.
• A 45 minute presentation would be written to summarize the total picture of the state of young people in and potentially moving to the Spokane area. This briefing would be delivered to regional decision makers, investors and employers who are interested in understanding the dynamics of this key population.
• A re-imaging master plan would be developed for Spokane and the surrounding areas with the input of a diverse panel of young people who are positioned well to contribute to a strategic solution.

Finally, this individual would be charged with coordinating the implementation of the Young Adult Retention and Recruitment plan. Everything from helping street festivals appeal more to younger audiences to consulting local businesses how to develop a young adult clientèle would be involved. The Young Adult Marketing Coordinator would be encouraged to comment on the visual messaging of regional entertainment options, and serve as a representative of young people’s interests in the area, etc.

As a bonus, it’d be great if this person could be cute and sassy like Kara. They’d be the face of the “new Spokane”- a fresh and welcome contrast to the old, all while articulating and embodying the unique character of the Inland Northwest.

On the flip side, comments about barriers to Spokane’s success contain equally generic and uninspired viewpoints. But this set of assumptions has a much more dire effect on our regional mindset. Let me challenge the basis of the top three most cherished Spokane excuses:

1) Spokane just needs more time.

PROGRESS IS NOT A FUNCTION OF TIME

Ask yourself “How many thousands of years was China under dynastic rule?” It is naive to assume some natural process of growth towards more democratic and/or sustainable societies. These practices do not develop on their own. They result from cultural patterns that are directly influenced by a complex variety of real world circumstances. THIS is where the focus should be kept, not asking “Is the time finally right?” I would agree with the truism that “timing is everything” - but this nugget of wisdom shouldn’t be taken proscriptively.

Creating your own opportune moments is a powerful skill to develop. If we can get past the limit imposed by this ‘glacial time assumption’ the challenge becomes identifying methods that accelerate the process of change itself. The social time scales of the past should not be inappropriately applied to the ever-changing possibilities for the future.

2) Spokane needs new people.

NEW BODIES WON’T REPLACE OLD ATTITUDES

Often I hear it said that we have to “be patient” and wait for all the old fossils to die off before things can really start to move ahead. A variation on this idea is that Spokane needs to import a bunch of “enlightened” Californians or outside corporate talent to cancel out the effects of suspicious natives or make our economy sing.

It is hopelessly narcissistic to assume that attitudinal barriers to change will disappear with certain members of the society that espouse them. Let us not forget that these people have children (often times a larger number of them) and ideas about the what makes the world tick have a funny way of transferring through generational lines. At some point social activists will have to suck up their uncertainty and (gasp) actually engage the criticisms they despise.

3) Spokane is too poor.

HOW WE SPEND IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TOTAL SPENDING

First off, as an American city, Spokane has a lot of fat to burn. The question is how we burn it. Are our dollars squandered on flat screen TVs or invested into energy efficient dishwashers? Do we allow our limited money to be vacuumed out of the local sphere by national and international corporate conglomerates, or do we circulate our dollars faster and more effectively in our own vibrant micro-economy?

Culture change can be spearheaded on a shoestring. The question must involve how to win hearts and minds, the money will follow. Just ask a preacher! Let’s remember one doesn’t loose weight by buying a fancy gym membership, one actually has to work out to get rid of those pounds.

Premise #2: Spokane has an abundance of boring, windowless building surfaces. We should strive to eliminate them.

What can be done while waiting for the rest of the kayak park funds to materialize? What could be cast as a small but sexy victory for outdoor culture in Spokane THIS SUMMER?

How about transforming the blank white vertical surface of the Parkade Tower into an urban climbing wall.

Currently there is a beautiful little brick courtyard area sandwiched in between Rite Aid and the new Santorini’s Greek restaurant. This interstitial space often feels empty, with only a lonely breeze blowing through. Businesses in this cafe location have historically had a hard time making it, with the delicious Meritage Bistro closing its doors last fall.

If Wild Walls contracted with the Parkade to retrofit the tower column with internally reinforced climbing holds, people would be packing out the courtyard every afternoon. Wild Walls would quadruple their visibility, drawing more people into their summer class programs. The Parkade and surrounding businesses would greatly appreciate the boost, and Spokane could claim a quick victory for innovative progress in 2008.