Common Good Collective

Reader, Sabbath: Time for the Unexpected, Structure Of Belonging, The Abundant Community Permalink

Jeff Lunden: Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir Takes On New Meaning

Here’s a surprising statistic: According to a survey by Chorus America, one in six Americans, or 54 million people, sing in choral groups, whether that’s community, school and children’s choirs, religious groups or professional ensembles. But since stay-at-home orders have been issued across many states, choral music here and around the world has completely stopped. It turns out singing is a perfect way to spread coronavirus. So, what’s a choral singer to do? Well, one could join a virtual choir, and that’s what over 17,000 people did.

Ten years ago, a teenage fan recorded herself singing the soprano line from one of Eric Whitacre‘s choral pieces and posted it on YouTube. And it gave composer-conductor Whitacre an idea: What if he could get several singers to record themselves in their rooms, doing one of his pieces in the same tempo and key, then stitch the videos together and make a virtual choir? Read more

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

Krista Tippett: John Lewis Reminds Us that “We Are the Beloved Community”

Earlier this week, we lost a giant of the Civil Rights era and a champion in Congress, Representative John Lewis. He and his comrades in the long fight of freedom were guided by a vision of The Beloved Community. The King Center website reads,

“Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.”

This is what Dr. King and Rep. Lewis spent their entire lives fighting for. We at Common Good Collective hope to continue their work as we encourage our community to become change agents that build a sense of belonging, eliminate economic isolation, and buttress the significance of place with equitable policy and practices.

We Are the Beloved Community | John Lewis

Al Etmanski: Preserving The Social Innovations Emerging From The Pandemic

The pandemic has shown that Canadians are really good at taking care of each other.

We do so on the front lines providing health care, keeping our food safe, educating our children or making sure that government cheques are written and delivered in a timely fashion. And we do so as generous “care-mongers” accompanying a child with a disability into the hospital to assist with her medical needs, stepping in to support overworked staff at long-term-care homes where an outbreak has occurred, sewing and distributing masks for those who are homeless, making sure an elderly neighbour gets groceries and is socially connected, and taking care of all matters great and small on the home and neighbourhood front.

This rich mixture of paid care and natural caring is getting us through the pandemic. It proves that social resilience is a balance of naturally supportive relationships and professional supports. Too much intervention undermines natural caring and increases dependency. Too little and individuals, families and communities are left on their own to deal with economic realities and changing life circumstances that are not their fault and beyond their control.

Getting that balance right after the pandemic will help us reweave our social safety net. Its flaws have been exacerbated by the pandemic especially for people with disabilities, seniors, those who experience systemic racism or mental illness and who are poor, homeless or in an abusive relationship.

Promising responses from governments could lead people to conclude that reforms like Basic Income and cleaning up long-term-care facilities are just around the corner.

Saying it is so doesn’t make it so.

How can we make sure this opportunity for real change doesn’t slip through our fingers?

Here are five ways civil society can preserve the best of the social innovations that have emerged during the pandemic and build a supportive apparatus around them. Read more

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Imagination: The Prophetic Act of Living an Alternative Narrative, Reader, Significance Of Place, The Abundant Community Permalink

Pascal Sabino: Chicago Teens Are Turning A Liquor Store Into A Pop-Up Food Market

A West Side liquor store is being transformed into a pop-up food market after Austin teens were given the chance to come up with solutions to their neighborhood’s challenges.

Much of Austin is considered to be a food desert. The pop-up market will be opened at 423 N. Laramie Ave., and within a half-mile radius around that site there are 12 liquor stores but only two markets where people can buy fresh food.

The youth-led project got its start when By the Hand Club for Kids held listening circles after the George Floyd protests against police violence. Young people got to voice their feelings around the inequity that led to the lack of resources in their neighborhoods. They said they were frustrated the few grocery stores in the area had to shut their doors temporarily after being looted. Read more

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Leaving Egypt and Pharaoh, Possibly: Freedom for A New Story, Reader, Significance Of Place Permalink

A Better Tomorrow for the Muscogee People is Finally Here

Jonodev O. Chaudhuri is a lawyer, community organizer, and ambassador for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. On Thursday, July 9th, the US Supreme Court ruled that half of Oklahoma is within Muscogee territory. In his opinion piece written for the Washington Post, Chaudhuri reflects on the significance of this monumental decision as well as explaining what this means for the Muskogee people and their neighbors.

Mamagee, my aunt, was our last living matriarch. With her death, we lost our family’s last fluent Muscogee speaker. And I lost an irreplaceable connection to who we are as Muscogee people.

I thought of her last Thursday. I screamed with joy when I read the first paragraph of Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch’s majority opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma. And I beamed with pride when I ran upstairs to tell my two boys that their reservation had not been destroyed. I thought of Mamagee, and I cried.

For generations, our people have persevered through insurmountable loss. Our ancestors survived the massacres committed by Andrew Jackson and the U.S. military. We survived the loss of our homelands and the Trail of Tears. My grandparents survived allotment in 1906, although we lost our family’s land as a result of deception and fraud. My mom and Mamagee’s generation survived violent boarding schools and federal policies designed to eradicate our Muscogee language. Read more

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