Common Good Collective

Reader

This Reader is an expression of Common Good Collective, a vision for an alternative way, rooted in the act of eliminating economic isolation, the significance of place, and the structure of belonging. Whether you come at this from a place of economics, social good, or faith, we hope these reflections help orient your day in fresh, provocative, courageous ways. And most importantly, we hope these lead you into the sharing of gifts in particular communities—into co-creating a common good.

We read hundreds of articles and select the best ones for you by sending them to your inbox on Thursday.

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Reader, Structure Of Belonging, The Abundant Community Permalink

‘Mama Gloria’ is a Blessing

On the first day of Pride Month, we break rank from the narrative of mainstream media and focus on the power of elders building community, enriching the lives of young people, and helping them find their way. Antonia Randolph reviews “Mama Gloria”, a documentary that explores the full and colorful life of a woman who has committed her life to the common good by nourishing and embracing the future.

In the face of anti-trans bills, ‘Mama Gloria’ is a blessing
by Antonia Randolph

It is the unspoken order of things that Black women do not show all they have endured. Gloria Allen, the namesake of the documentary Mama Gloria, certainly doesn’t. Like so many Black women before her, Mama Gloria wagers that respectability can protect her from being mistreated, believing “if you act like a lady, you’ll be treated like a lady.”

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Possibly: Freedom for A New Story, Structure Of Belonging, Wilderness: Sharing and Reorientation Permalink

#RememberTulsa

The stories we tell ourselves about who and what we are have immense power. In the case of the Tulsa Massacre, the false story that has become the mainstream recollection of this event has held back reparations, healing, and the trust of Black residents of Tulsa in their representatives. Blessedly, some people and documents survived to provide an alternative story — the truth.

Warning: This article contains language that may be offensive to some.

#RememberTulsa
by Michael Harriot

On the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre, let’s acknowledge that what happened in Greenwood was not a spontaneous eruption of hatred.

That’s the narrative that America likes to portray, but what happened on May 31, 1921 is an example of systemic racism.

First of all, we have a false notion that Tulsa was an oasis of exceptional Black people. It wasn’t even the most popular “Black Wall Street.” Look up the Hayti neighborhood in Durham. Look up Boley, Oklahoma. Look up Richmond’s Black Wall Street. And this is not to dismiss Tulsa. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t feed into the narrative that Black ownership and success is extraordinary. Every time Black people are left to their own devices, excellence emerges.

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Possibly: Freedom for A New Story, Reader, Structure Of Belonging Permalink

A Place to Heal

This week marked the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, a tragedy that sparked an uprising across the world. Neighborhood by neighborhood, people saw each other and the places we call home with new eyes. As our stories blossom with new imagination and insight, we take the broken people, relationships, systems, and lands up into our hands, mourn what has been lost, and begin the labor of repair.

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Leaving Egypt and Pharaoh, Poetry for Building Community, Structure Of Belonging Permalink

“Choi Jeong Min”

Names are sacred gifts that connect us to family, country, and culture. For some of us, the shadow side of humanity attempts to twist our names into weapons of oppression and humiliation. In the midst of this reality, Franny Choi explores the challenge of showing up as her full self in a hostile world.

Choi Jeong Min
by Franny Choi

For my parents, Choi Inyeong & Nam Songeun

in the first grade i asked my mother permission
to go by frances at school. at seven years old,

i already knew the exhaustion of hearing my name
butchered by hammerhead tongues. already knew

to let my salty gook name drag behind me
in the sand, safely out of sight. in fourth grade

i wanted to be a writer & worried
about how to escape my surname — choi

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The Ripple Effect of Police Brutality

Today we commemorate the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Against all odds, his life and death has made a generation-defining impact on the world. One aspect of Floyd’s impact is how police brutality effects us mentally and emotionally, especially those who bear witness to it in their own neighborhoods.

The Mental Health Risks of Secondhand Exposure to Police Violence
By Johanna Wald

In 1986, the Surgeon General released a report entitled The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking, concluding that secondhand smoke was a major health risk to nonsmokers. Since then, the research linking secondhand smoke to a host of health ills, including heart disease, lung cancer, and childhood asthma, has become even more robust.

Current estimates are that it causes the premature deaths of 41,000 adults and more than 400 infants each year.

We are now learning something similar about the long-term mental health risks of secondhand exposure to police violence, especially for children of color.

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