Side By Side(Part 1)

I am launching this blog for a singular reason; to inspire hope in this generation of young people. My entire work career, spanning some 30 years, has been as a guardian of the dreams of the young. I have counseled young people, cooked and cleaned for them, taught them at nearly every level, listened to them, scolded and cajoled them. I have been their confessor, their preacher, their administrator, their friend and on many occasions I have had the great opportunity to be their student. I have stood in witness of their tremendous capacity for truth telling, their amazing resilience, and their open and tender hearts. I have been loved well by young people and I have loved them well in return. So as I turn the corner on this great race through life I have but one mission yet to accomplish with young people. I want to help them build a better world. A world that has at its core a true sense of community. A world built around the noblest concepts of peace and social justice. A world that is alive with all the bright ideas and deep wisdom that humanity possesses. A world that is grounded in the love of self, love of humanity and love of the planet.

I know through experience but more importantly through intuition that if the young will build such a world they will need help from the rest of us. They can’t stand apart from us; they can’t be seen as somehow not needed until a later date. They must be supported, loved, trained, educated and encouraged to lead now. The old notions of young people better seen than heard will have to give way and a new appreciation of the young will have to emerge. A compact will have to be struck with the young that agrees to show them what we have seen (those of us who are older) and invite them to tell us what they are seeing. We will have to figure out together how to reach across the generational divides and become allies and co-creators in a better world.

What of this better world? What is the vision? There have been some promising signs that a better world is possible. The most recent presidential election in the United States and the protests in Iran over questionable election results tell a compelling story. In both instances the motivated work of the young has had a transformative impact. Countless young people labored for a year or more in the campaign to change the direction of this country. They worked phone banks, canvassed neighborhoods, held sit-ins and teach-ins and get-out-and-vote rallies all across the country. They were passionate, they were determined and they were driven by an expert conveyors of a powerful message. A message that resounded with hope and possibility that change was possible. They held us all up, especially those of us who are a little battle-worn and even a little bit cynical.

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Side By Side(Part 2)

I won‘t forget the huge dose of hopefulness that I got when attending a presidential rally in Cincinnati, Ohio on the weekend before the general election last fall. As I stood in the long line that had formed at the gate of the arena where the event was held I was met by a fired up group of young campaign workers. They welcomed me to the event and shared that they were fired up for their candidate.They asked if I wanted to share my email address with them so that I could get personal updates from the campaign as the election progressed. They looked tired, and several shared that they had been working all day in support of the event.Others said that they had traveled a long distance just so they could labor the ten to twelve hours of the event. Yet through it all what was striking was that each and every one of those young people were alive with passion, excitement and hope. I talked to as many of these kids as I could. I asked them why they were there and what they hoped to get from the experience. Almost all of them stated that they were there because they were driven by a conviction that change was possible.

There were elections this summer in Iran. It appears the results were warped by the ruling regime that through its actions nullified the will of the people and gave the election to the incumbent. The people reacted strongly and took to the streets to register their protests. The government did what most governments do when confronted with the exertion of will on the part of the people. They recoiled in fear and let loose the police to threaten, harass, beat and even kill the protestors. Among the protestors, most of whom were young people, was a young woman named Neda. It was reported that she never considered herself an activist but took to the streets on the fateful day she lost her life because she was compelled to add her voice to those who were standing up for the ideal of justice and free democratic elections. She stood up and she showed up. She understood that she could make a difference and contributed her part to making her country and the world a better place. Though she lost her life she reminded a jaded world that young people are prepared now to lead and hold us all accountable to our ideals.

How does all of this signal a better world is possible and that young people possess a window into that world? Well, I think in these instances and in so many others young people are asserting an uncanny faith. Faith not in the traditional sense and not in the traditional institutions but faith in the notion that working on behalf of freedom, social justice, fair elections a better environment and many other causes can result in change and can transform everything in its midst. And I must say with resounding affirmation I completely agree. I believe the work starts with self and migrates out from there. I believe the work requires sacrifice and perseverance. And I believe this generation is up for the challenge! That’s why I am dedicating this blog site and my work at Side By Side to young people here and around the world who want to make this world a better place.

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The Big Community

The Big Community

Our work at Side By side is informed by our concern for peace and social justice… period! That’s what it is all about for us! Where we might be different from others who have similar interests is that we go about our work with a sense of hope and optimism. Our work is grounded in the belief that united in community people can push for change and construct a world that is more just and more peace abiding. We believe that community is key.

We are also aware that there is a “system” in place that wields power and control over the lives of people here and around the world. The system holds hostage the real desires of people everywhere to live in peace and harmony and respect. This is not the “bogeyman” for in many respects we are the system because it is so deeply sewn into the fabric of our daily lives. The building of community can defeat the system.

On a regular basis I’ll post some of my thoughts about The System here:

The System
Alvin Herring © 1998-2009


Systems of human relationships have always been global but only now do we have the technology to see and feel the extent to which all of our lives are part of an interdependent web. The present global system is governed by a set of simple rules that generate a staggering complexity; one that requires a massive amount of power and resource to maintain.

There are primary human needs that all people are trying to meet:

o Physiological Needs - physical sustenance;
o Safety Needs - shelter, work, energy
o Social Needs - family/clan/kinship/lineage identity, relationships, work,
esteem

•There are some needs that only those with resource, power and opportunity get to meet. Those are the self-actualization needs.

•There is an imposed and false competition for the resources to meet the primary needs.

•This competition is governed by power, race, gender, class, age, physical ability, social status, nationality, religion.

•The numerical minority has become the holder of power and determines the rules of the system, hands out the rewards, and impose the sanctions.

•The numerical majority are made to get in line and accept handouts of resources, access and power.

•The world system is presently constructed to involve us in competitive and destructive relationships with each other.

•The system has us believe that resources are scarce and we must compete with each other – even to the point of death - to get our share.

•The system is governed by and is a slave to a “market mentality” –everything is reduced to a commodity and all relationships are defined by market rules of interaction.

•The system does not value all life equally…value is allocated along power and resource lines defined by the market and assessed value by the system.

•The system dictates to us what our fair share should be. We are convinced to seek more than we presently have but never enough for true parity and power.

•The system reinforces the submergence of our innate human need for connection and community and replaces that with an egocentric self-absorption and indifference to the needs of others .

•The system touts a “rugged individualism” and sanctions any attempt to unify the people across identity lines.


•The system is based on a power standard that reinforces that “might makes right.”

•The system presents materialism as a moral and ethical code.

•The system teaches that it is better to consume – even over-consume - than to produce.

•The system teaches us to view the planet as a resource factory with an infinite capacity to withstand the destructive changes we make to it; to be used, exploited, dominated and then cast off.

•The system encourages a schizophrenic relationship with spiritual faith or moral guidance - embracing it on the surface, abandoning it when economic or power interests are involved or creating warped versions of it to conquer and subdue.

•The system uses war and violence as tools of oppression and coercion and plays on our fears of the “other” to get us to go along.

•The system requires markets for economic expansion and uses the machinery of war to open those markets.

•The system seems not to value peace because conditions of peace do not allow for the best environment for unilateral market penetration, market expansion and market hegemony.

•Aggression; violence; war, religious fundamentalism; zealous nationalism; ethnocentrism; gender oppression; ageism; sexual identity phobias; “able-bodiness;” and environmental degradation are the preferred tools the systems uses to impose order, create false dichotomies, set up unfair competition, exploit resources, transfer wealth from the powerless to the powerful and disabuse the powerless from challenging the system.

•The system has determined that war is better than peace; more is better than less, all is better than some, aggression is better than reason.

•The system abhors diversity and elevates one sense of cultural expression over others, ultimately seeking to obliterate difference. To execute this, the system foments fear and suspicion among groups and offers “culturelessness” and color-blindness as “safer” substitutes.

•The system teaches a deep and abiding dissatisfaction with life and the living process encouraging us to seek shallow resolutions to majestic questions and pursue immediate personal gratification over a conscientious search for what is right.

•The system does not value the lives of women and sees them as commodities to exploit and dominate.

•The system does not value children and sees them as commodities to exploit and dominate.

•The system does not value the elderly and sees them as resource consumers, expendable, and “in the way.”

•The system uses men as tools and teaches them to disregard life, living, loving and being. Men of color, economically oppressed men, men with mental and other disabilities and men who are damaged by war are warehoused in money making prisons without the hope of rehabilitation and subject to state execution.

•The system places humanity on an island, alone in the universe, afraid of our mortality and in denial of our linkages to each other, the planet and then universe.

You and I must change the system … isn’t it time for a change?

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The Big Community Club

The Big Community Club Movement

The Big Community Club Movement was begun by Side By Side to help middle and high schools provide leadership training opportunities for students who care about their school and want to help in the work of building bridges of respect and understanding. The Big Community Club Movement is available to students who want to learn how to help build a campus community that goes beyond tolerance, one that truly welcomes and embraces diversity.

Further, The Big Community Club Movement offers training to adult staff members in the skills and strategies that enable them to work effectively in coalition with their students. The Big Community Club Movement teaches students how to tackle the tough inter-group issues in school but also offers them:

• strategies for building campus sprit and interest among students in their school

• leadership training that focuses on service, ethics and a respect for the unique gifts of all students

• opportunities to learn how to build coalitions across group lines

• skills and practice in handling inter/intra-group conflict

• training in creating on-campus service activities that build community

• anti-bullying training

• anti-racism training

• anti-homophobia training

We call it a Movement because we are interested in linking schools across the country through our website, through chat rooms, video conferences and a national gathering.

The Big Community Club Concept

• Organized clubs on high school and middle school campuses

• Clubs virtually connected across the country

• Annual national gathering

• Clubs will be open to all students and include representation from students, faculty, administrators, and support staff within the school

• The primary focus is to create respect for diversity, build community and develop school spirit

• Skill training and development will be a key activity of the club

• Areas of training and skill development:

» leadership

» communicating across group lines

» coalition building

» anti-bullying training

» anti-racism training

» anti-homophobia training

• Service activity on campus and in the community will be another primary focus of the club

• Clubs will organize celebrations, rallies, assemblies and other special gatherings throughout the school year.

Contact Side By Side to bring the Big Community School Movement to your school: http://www.sidebysidecampus.org/

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Service & Action

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” ~ Aboriginal activists group, Queensland

Famed boxer and humanitarian, Muhammad Ali once said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Those words ring with a resounding truth for those of us who are intending to be about peace and social justice. In fact, many who have labored their whole life in service to others regard that service as the defining activity that informed their lives with meaning and passion. I believe that the choice to serve is the choice made by a mature mind and an open heart.

Our intelligence tells us that the world is filled with injustice. Children are starving, adults cannot find work, elders go unnoticed, there is famine, and war and strife. These things are apparent and eat at our consciousness. Our heart tells us that people feel alone, scared, desperate and unsafe. It is only when we allow our head and our heart to engage that we can see our way clear to act. The act that is transformative in an unjust world is the act of service.
Service is a peculiar activity. It is not charity. The world and its people don’t need another well-meaning “do-gooder” who assuages the pangs of conscious and guilt by acting in a charitable way. Charity is a one-way proposition that leaves one superior and in the “giving” position and another inferior in the “receiving” position. Service is something else entirely.
Service is the act of seeking out answers to profound questions about the nature of life and the capacity of humanity. Service is about testing out your head and heart against the struggles of the world. Service is about placing your body, mind, and spirit “in the gap” where need and lack have a stronghold. Many have even described service as the act of submerging your own needs and wants so that the louder needs and cares of others can be heard.

To serve also means to struggle. The thing that we in the developed world struggle with most is our sense of displacement and alienation from ourselves, from others and from the very planet on which we live. Service requires that we acknowledge that struggle and understand that we can learn how to handle that struggle by connecting with others who too are struggling. Our struggles might be different than others but we are all united in a quest to find safety, peace and fulfillment. When one is engaged in struggle one understands the solidarity that exists between people.

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