Changing the World…One Conversation at a Time

Michael A. Stusser

I recently had a conversation with a total stranger about what keeps us up at night. Nice old Jewish woman, Goldie, was losing sleep over the state of the environment and what we’re leaving behind for the grandkids. I nodded in agreement, and talked of my own fears about the government’s massive deficit and how it would also be passed on. Together, we were trying to find ways to repair the world.

My chat with Goldie wasn’t a random interaction on the bus or in line at the supermarket – it was a concerted effort called a Listening Campaign, organized by Sound Alliance – a partnership of over 50 religious congregations, labor organizations and civic non-profits – to identify common concerns in the community.

Based on Saul Alinski’s vision of building relationships around shared values, unions and community groups have been holding House Meetings all over the country for the last few years. The idea is that, through one-on-one conversations – face-to-face meetings that take place in houses and churches – two people who have never met can share personal stories, hopes and (mainly) fears that concern them. From these grassroots house meetings, common issues are emerging (affordable housing, health care, education, immigration). For those who want to take the next step, “Research-Action Teams” are formed to find ways to turn shared problems into solutions. At that point, the professional staff (from organizations such as the Industrial Areas Foundation and Just Congregations) step in, leading trainings and teaching organizing skills. In many states, citizen groups have written initiatives for affordable housing or developed transportation packages.

Unlike the gridlock we see in Washington D.C., this bi-partisan model seems to be working. In Boston, conversations came full circle: a bunch of Yuppies with ailing parents in elder care homes and a bunch of underpaid and overworked Haitian nurses at these facilities joined together to create a Patient/Worker Bill of Rights. Sometimes, the listening campaigns lead to smaller efforts. A group in Los Angeles, for example, wondered why some of their older members weren’t coming to church as often, and found that many had been priced out of the local area, and could no longer walk or easily drive. The congregants formed a van pool that picked up the BlueHairs, helping them out the door and back into the pews. In the Pacific Northwest, seniors are encouraging non-college-bound high school students to stay in school, by helping them find career paths of their own (OpportunityWorks). To each his own: maybe you’ll find a way to ban cell phones in restaurants….

I got involved through my visionary rabbi at Temple Beth Am (Jonathan Singer). Members mingled with men and women from other churches and denominations. It was a diverse group (for Seattle), and the most refreshing aspect (aside from seeing people of color), was that no one arrived with a pre-conceived agenda. Though many of us may have issues close to our hearts (EarthFirst!), the collective wasn’t there for Gay Pride or Protesting the War or Separating Church and State; we were there to share – and listen. The idea is that, with an Interfaith network, ya get more bang for your political buck (and I’m not talking about the kind of bangs that are strapped to your chest and exploded at checkpoints). Crossing racial, religious, ethnic and age boundaries, the conversations allow for the possibility that the common spiritual component we share can overcome differences and guide a community to social good…Muslims sitting with Christians, sitting with punk rockers! What’s next? Dogs and cats!? Oh my!

It seems funny that a Listening Campaign is now considered an innovative approach to engaging the community in political solutions. Used to be the local mayor would chat with patrons at the saloon about all the bottles and kegs strewn on Main Street, and round up some fellas (inmates) to clean up on a regular basis. In 1751, Dr. Thomas Bond and Ben Franklin founded the first public hospital "to care for the sick-poor and insane who were wandering the streets of Philadelphia." Now that we’re in a global community, with global problems (Global Warming, WTO, hunger, economy, epidemics, etc.) it’s hard to know where to start resolving our issues. Do I trust that Hillary is going bring me affordable health care in the next few years? Can Barack single-handedly bring down my kids’ class size? Will Mr. McCain’s “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” proposals get me out of massive credit card debt? Doubtful. What’s needed, once again, is for individuals - neighbors, congregants, drinking buddies  – to chat about things that are on their minds, brainstorm ways to fix ‘em (look at DonorsChoose.org), and take (small) steps that actually help folks ‘round here. Sounds almost simple when put that way.

The other night I was chatting with my son, Riley, after he’d delivered a slice of his birthday cake to our elderly neighbor, Ruth. “Must be hard for her to go down all those steps and drag groceries and recycling around, huh?” he noted. Usually at this point I’d go into my parental soapbox-mode, rambling on about how well the Japanese take care of their aged, recycling rates in other countries, and how Bush has stolen money from Ruth’s Social Security to pay for an unjust war. This time, I just sat and listened as he began formulating ideas and solutions of his own. “What we could do,” he went on, “is make a ramp – I could use it part-time for skateboarding – and level out all those steep places…”

Michael A. Stusser’s work often appears in the Seattle Weekly and the New York Times Syndicate. His new book, The Dead Guy Interviews: Conversations with 45 of the Most Accomplished, Notorious and Deceased Personalities in History (Penguin) is now available in bookstores.

www.michaelstusser.com