Christian License Plates?

I can think of a lot better ways to express my faith. (Click)

Streets of Hope Book Review

Last week, while on vacation, I started reading the book Streets of Hope. It is the true story about a section of Boston called Dudley Street, and there battle for community control over there neighborhood.

In the 1980's there was a concern that the City of Boston was developing a "revitalization" plan for Dudley. A decade earlier Bostons South End was "revitalized". By this I mean that the old abandoned building were bought up by land speculators, apartment building were transformed into condominiums, and the a predominantly poor neighborhood was replaced with an affluent neighborhood in a short time. Another word for this in gentrification. Upon hearing rumors of the city's plans the neighborhood quickly organized and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DNSI) was born. A community group with complete community control, funding from Bostons largest philanthropic organizations, that would stand up for the communities rights sometimes in partnership and sometimes in opposition with the city government. Over the next several years, DSNI put together there own revitalization plan that allowed the hundreds of parcels of abandoned land to be developed into new housing (apartments and private homes) at a cost that was in line with the income level of the neighborhood.

There are several things that were important to me in this book. First DSNI was a community based organization, not an organization in a community. It was run by the community, with a strong commitment from neighbors. Many times there meeting would have 200 + people in attendance. They listened to peoples concerns and reflected them in there actions. Many times we call in the experts to "fix" the problems in our society, who often times make broad sweeping changes without input from the people who will have to live with the consequences of those decisions.

Secondly there relationship with the City was a cautious association. The authors talk about politicking as usual, getting the mayor to back what they want in order to get the rest of the city officials and employees to act on there requests. But what they understood was that they were setting the terms and if the mayor was not responsive they would act. One great story was how they were able to get the hundreds of abandoned cars removed from the streets. During an election year they took bumper stickers from the Mayors re-election campaign and plastered the all over the abandoned cars to draw attention to them. The cars were removed shortly there after.

Lastly, I am utterly amazed at how they were able to get so many people involved. Having been part of an organization that labeled itself as a grass roots organization, and having done a lot of work in my neighborhood, I am all to familiar with doing a lot of work and getting the same 4 people to turn out to a meeting. I believe there success was in there ability to create a broad organization. If the community started talking about an issue they would respond. There was not any discussion about weather or not it was part of there "mission". When a need was pointed out they organized people to meet that need. Over the years DSNI has not only created and implicated there own neighborhood revitalization plan, but have worked on a number of issues including; a trash dumping campaign, jobs, teen empowerment, Multi-cultural festivals, Anti red-lining coalition, daycare, food project, ext. (See time line) No issue was to small or to difficult to be addressed. I believe this was a key to there success. No one would be turned away. If you had an issue that you were passionate about most likely there were working on that issue.

Posititive use

Living in an area like Dorchester for the past three years you see a lot of misuse of public space. For the past several months a group of us have been trying to change that in our own unique way. Every Thursday we gather to walk our dogs. Its nice to see that the City has noticed. (Click)

Architecture Colbert Style

Steven Colbert say that America needs better buildings.

Vacaton: Part 1

For the past three years I have gone on vacation with two good friends. California twice, the Florida Keys last year and this year we are in the Pacific Northwest. Portland and Seattle to be specific.

The first leg our our trip, thus part 1, has been in Portland. We are visiting friends that we knew from our church back in Boston. To me the best way to describe Portland is to point you towards the blog Stuff white people like. There are a lot of white people in Portland, and bikes, and dogs. Don't get me wrong I like all of these things, but having lived in Dorchester for two years it's a little strange to see so many white people in one town.

While we were in Portland we went to Multanomah Falls, just outside of the city. A stunning waterfall, a must see. We also went to the Zoo, and had dinner in the pearl district. We also visited our friends church on Sunday, Moasic. It was a good service, and for me it was good to worship. Having not been to a formal service in about a year, I have missed connecting with god in that way.

Today we are on to Olympic National park then to Seattle.

Sometimes we just go upstairs

Well, it's been a while sense I blogged last. I guess I haven't had much to say lately.

Today I took my friend Keith, and met my fiends Steve and Chrissy at the Bikes Not Bombs Green Roots festival. IT was a small but cool event what had a lot of sustainable companies and booths, as well as....you guessed it bikes.

My friends Steve and Chrissy live in Texas for a while and continues to be amazed when they see things like this. I guess after living in Boston for 10 years you get use to it. But there are many people and organizations in the Boston that are socially conscious, more so than most places in the US.

There were a few cool bikes there too. I saw a tandum bike, a recumbent bike and even several bikes used for hauling things. (Check out the new Amsterdam Project.)

The hightlight in my mind was watching a guy build a composting toilet. He brought the one that he uses in his house, in Boston.?! Yes he brought his own toilet. One observer asked "What do you do if you have ....... intestinal problems?" to which he replied "Sometimes we just go upstairs"

Colbert Theology

Do we really follow Jesus? Or do we follow Paul? Or perhaps do we follow our church pastor? As I understand Jesus, he wants us to follow his example. Many in the fundamentalist Christian Tradition, I believe follow Paul, or other theologians rather than Jesus. Why is this? My guess is because it is easier to discuss what the after live will be like rather than strive to bring Gods kingdom to earth by loving our neighbor.

Steven Colbert's recent interview with Tony Perkins brings this dynamic to live. Colbert asks Tony, where in the bible does Jesus talk about homosexuals. To which Perkins comment, Paul does.