Over 80 residents from a dozen northern suburbs gathered together on a frigid Thursday evening, December 12th, at the Art Center of Highland Park, to gain inspiration and organizing partners as we choose to take action for welcoming, just, and sustainable communities in the new year. We thank Forefront for making this event possible.
"Yes, In My Back Yard"! This was the resounding theme.
Lali Watt, former Wilmette Trustee and long-time activist, kicked off the evening by sharing lessons she learned along the way.
Among them are making sure you "know the facts" about an issue rather than make assumptions.
Know how decisions are made in your community.
Become a decision-maker yourself.
Play to win, even as you know it could take years.
And "don't lose heart.”
Tanya Jenkins (center) Executive Director of Curt's Cafe, and Andy Amend (right), who, with Alena Laube (left), led the establishment of this social enterprise in Highland Park about 7 years ago, shared this story as a concrete example of how you can use any of the Principles of the Welcoming Community of the Justice Project to make a difference across age, race, and class. Tanya moved everyone in the room with her stories of how young people who were literally "thrown away" by parents and society found support from the Curt's Cafe staff and volunteers, and from customers who come in for the lattes and the warmth of community.
Then attendees gathered at their round tables by suburb to get to know one another and plan for action. This was an opportunity for those who launched the Justice Project and created Justice Day in 2015 to reconnect and “catch up” with each other and introduced new groups and individuals to the Project.
Here's a very brief summary of themes brought up by table. This is just the beginning! Please watch for a communication from Action Ridge and the Justice Project about future collaborations.
If you have any questions or want to connect to one another in your communities, contact ActionRidge2017@gmail.com.
Deerfield: Coming together to protect immigrants, doing community education and just getting organized!
Evanston: Bringing people together, block by block, and across generations.
Highland Park: Resurrecting "community dinners" to bring people together.
Morton Grove: Addressing "opaque" decision-making by Village Board. Wanting to protect immigrants who could be targets of federal deportation.
Northbrook: Building grassroots coalition and community education around civic engagement.
Park Ridge: Addressing community divisiveness and racism. Being an upstander.
Skokie/ Wilmette/ Winnetka: Addressing shortage of local media to give public the facts the way Lali described it. For example, there are more suppositions than facts about why rats are proliferating.
