I admire their work, but it seems like much more is needed… Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message: > From: Courtney Breese <[email protected]> > Date: November 14, 2016 at 13:19:39 PST > To: [email protected] > Subject: [NCDD-UPDATES] What We Know Post-Election: Dialogue & Deliberation > is More Critical than Ever > Reply-To: [email protected] > > The Presidential election and the week following has brought the deep divides > in this nation to a head, and brought to light numerous issues in our > country. The results show us that huge swaths of the country feel unheard and > anxious about the future, and sadly, many responses to the election and > events taking place in its wake have highlighted issues of pent up > frustration, racism, bigotry, and more. > > We don’t know for sure what the coming weeks, months, and years will bring, > but we do know this: dialogue & deliberation is more critical than ever. Our > community may need some time to process this and think about what to do next, > but we know our involvement is essential to helping bridge our divides, > addressing substantive disagreements, and finding ways for us to work and > move forward together as a nation. > > The Needs We See & Our Network’s Response > There are many different needs that our country and our communities have > right now, but we see a few key needs that stand out as ones that are > especially suited for D&D solutions: bridging long-standing divides, > processing hopes and fears together, encouraging and maintaining civility in > our conversations, and humanizing groups who have become “the other.” > > We at NCDD have been discussing bridging our divides all year, and we have an > ongoing campaign focused on that work, but the election highlights that need > even more. The partisan divide is always there, of course, as well as our > historical racial divides. But the election also highlighted the disconnect > between rural and urban communities, between people who attended college and > who didn’t, and between people from different class statuses. The D&D > community needs to be responding to all of these divides – exploring their > origins, understanding how they impact people, and imagining how we can > dissolve them. Essential Partners just released a Guide for Reaching Across > Red-Blue Divides that can be a helpful tool for these needed conversations, > and there are more. > > After the election, people also need to process and reflect. There is a > critical need for dialogue right now where people can express how their > feeling and explore their hopes and worries for the weeks and months to come. > Processes like Conversation Cafe are easy access points for people looking to > have a dialogue to reflect on the election as well as what they’d like to see > happen now. It’s a tool that provides the structure people need to have > thoughtful, respectful conversations in person, and Essential Partners’ work > to engage people about what happens #AfterNov8 is a good social media > complement. > > There is also a need – possibly more than ever – for civility in our > discussions that allows us to disagree without attacking each other. D&D > practitioners have our work cut out for us in helping people approach both > public and private post-election conversations with civility and respect. > Several NCDD members are leading efforts to maintain and restore it, with the > National Institute for Civil Discourse leading the charge in their Revive > Civility campaign, yet much more is needed. > > Finally and maybe most importantly, the country needs help finding approaches > to humanizing the people and groups that have become “the other” – > unapproachable and unredeemable caricatures – to our own groups. > Conservatives are feeling unfairly villified and misunderstood. Many > immigrants, Muslims, and women are feeling threatened, at risk, and > unwelcome. NCDD is continuing to support this work and promote collaboration > through our new Race, Police, & Reconciliation listserv, and Not In Our Town > has many resources for opposing bullying and hate groups that we recommend > checking out. But this strand of potentially transformational D&D work needs > much more energy and investment devoted to it in coming months and years. > > Share What You're Doing > As we look ahead, we want to ask NCDD members and our broader network, what > work are you doing in response to the election and the issues that have > arisen? What resources can you share to help others at this time? > > Please share any efforts you are making, ideas you have, resources or tools > you know of that could be helpful in the comments section of this post or on > the #BridgingOurDivides campaign post. We learn so much from being in > communication with one another about what we’re up to. NCDD will continue to > share your responses on the NCDD Blog and our social media using the hashtag > #BridgingOurDivides to continue lifting up stories and resources to a broader > audience, and we’ll be working to compile the best divide-bridging resources > in our Resource Center. > > Furthermore, tell us what you think we can be doing together as a community > to address the post-election landscape. Let’s talk with one another about how > we can work collaboratively to engage the public and bring peaceful > interactions and greater understanding to everyone. > > It’s clear there is a lot of work to do to help our country come together, > and heal the divides this election season has unearthed or widened. Our > community is well suited to do this work, and we call on all of us to be > supporting one another in our efforts. > > > Courtney Breese > Managing Director, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation > [email protected] www.ncdd.org @ncdd @courtneybreese > > Continue the conversation with NCDD on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and > LinkedIn. > > Get Involved in NCDD Today > > > To unsubscribe from the NCDD-UPDATES list, click the following link: > http://lists.ncdd.org/scripts/wa-THATAWAY.exe?SUBED1=NCDD-UPDATES&A=1 -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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