{"id":1460,"date":"2016-11-29T22:34:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T06:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2018-05-16T10:09:26","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T17:09:26","slug":"moving-forward-post-election-penny-u-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=1460","title":{"rendered":"What should a concerned citizen do? November 15, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penny University \u2013 \u00a0a week after the 2016 election<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

We need to connect. We need to talk together.
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2014\u00a0\u00a0a Penny U participant<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Co-organizer Edward Wolcher and I have been hosting Penny U<\/a> at Town Hall since fall 2014. We\u2019ve generally had 20-30 people show up for the conversations that take place around small tables. Penny U has been a place to talk, not just listen. The discussion has been lively, and people leave energized. But, Town Hall sold over 250 tickets for the Penny U on November 15 when the topic was, \u201cPost-election: What\u2019s next?\u201d Our retiring U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott was definitely a powerful draw. He helped set the stage with a few remarks\u00a0during the introductory part of the program and received a standing ovation for his long service.<\/p>\n

Among other things, Jim told us that we all have to speak out, and we have to organize. \u201cIf we don\u2019t speak up for other people and take on these issues, the hate will continue to seep into our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to say:<\/p>\n

We all want a nice quiet life; we don\u2019t want to get involved in all this. But, folks, there\u2019s no way out of this, you don\u2019t have a choice. The fact that you came out tonight means that you can be a choir that goes out and tells the rest of the city. We have to come together as a community around the issue of the common good. What\u2019s good for Jim McDermott and his family has got to be good for everybody else in this whole city, and in this whole state, and this whole country. But it has to start somewhere and it can start with something like this Town Hall. We each have a responsibility to do our part. 250 people are a lot of people to be out there, churning and stirring people up. As Benjamin Franklin said, \u201cIf we don\u2019t stick together, we will hang separately.\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also quoted Frodo from J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings<\/em>: \u201cAll we have to do is to decide what to do with the time that is given to us.”<\/span><\/p>\n

While many people in the hall came specifically to hear Jim speak, at least 200 people stayed for the conversations that followed. After Jim\u00a0left to catch a red-eye back to the other Washington (something he hadn\u2019t done for years, but did to be with us), we all\u00a0moved downstairs from the Great Hall\u00a0and began talking\u00a0together around small tables or in small circles of chairs in\u00a0all parts of the lobby.<\/p>\n

From the Great Hall stage Edward and I had posed two questions to prompt conversation:<\/p>\n