{"id":1493,"date":"2016-12-31T14:33:43","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T22:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2017-02-28T13:55:33","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T21:55:33","slug":"so-many-ideas-so-much-to-do-what-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=1493","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSo many ideas, so much to do!  What next?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1546\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1546\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1546\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Collapsible-force-crop-6-crop.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"410\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Collapsible-force-crop-6-crop.png 504w, http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Collapsible-force-crop-6-crop-300x158.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">So many ideas, so much to do<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Building community in our new political reality<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>A post-election Penny U update<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As it did for many people, the 2016 election sent me on a search to figure out how my life would change, or, more accurately, how I would adapt my life in response to new realities. What can <em>I<\/em> do?<\/p>\n<p>Immediately after the election, I was grateful to have already planned a post-election Penny U conversation at Town Hall. Pulling the event together gave me a place to direct my energy and a way to feel that my action might be useful to others. It filled a void and gave me a sense of purpose. The large turnout that evening prompted my co-organizer, Edward Wolcher, and me to schedule a follow-up discussion two and a half weeks later.<\/p>\n<p>We organized the second post-election Penny U around the main themes that emerged from the first one, and we also offered participants the chance to add topics not already on our list. Slightly over 100 people attended. We began, as Penny U\u2019s do, with a short introduction giving some background, presenting the topics, and describing specifics of the process this time, which went like this: Topics were assigned to tables around the room. After the opening, everyone headed to the table topic of their choice. If groups got bigger than about 5-6, we encouraged breaking them up into smaller groups at one of the extra tables scattered around. We also asked someone at each table to take notes.<\/p>\n<p>Topics focused on what we, individually and together, can do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hold the media accountable \/ understand the news we consume (2 groups)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Protect individual &amp; civil rights \/ fight racism, sexism, homophobia (3 groups)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Build understanding &amp; develop conversation with the \u201cother side\u201d (2 groups)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Review, revise, change the U.S. voting &amp; election process<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Communicate with current legislative bodies (1 group + an advance email)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Organize to change public policy from outside the current party structure<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Educate ourselves \/ improve our education system<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hold face-to-face conversations within &amp; between specific actions<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Help coordinate many different efforts and a more cohesive movement<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Resist cultural normalization of the way language has changed (added)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As after the November Penny U, we collected a substantial pile of notes. I continue to be impressed by how carefully and clearly most of the notes are prepared. In both Penny U sessions, my own were definitely the messiest notes and the hardest to decipher. This time, rather than try to summarize the wide range of topics and conversations, I\u2019ve simply transcribed the notes \u201cas is,\u201d with a few minor adjustments for clarity.<\/p>\n<p>You can find the complete set <span style=\"color: #008080;\"><a style=\"color: #008080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Penny-U-notes-Dec2016-transcription.pdf\">here<\/a><\/span>. Because of its\u00a0length you might want to just zero in on the topics that interest you the most.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>So, what do we do next?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>After I\u2019d sent the notes to participants and now that I\u2019ve posted them here, I\u2019m thrown back to the question I faced immediately after the election, the one postponed by my focus on organizing the two Penny U\u2019s. In a recent op-ed in <em>The New York Times<\/em>, Paul Krugman expressed a dilemma that feels real to my experience:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #008080;\">Personally, I\u2019m still figuring out how to keep my anger simmering \u2014 letting it boil over won\u2019t do any good, but it shouldn\u2019t be allowed to cool. This election was an outrage, and we should never forget it.&#8221;<em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2014 \u00a0Paul Krugman<sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Opportunities to engage, to protest, express our anger and dissent, resist\u00a0policy changes, and change our own behavior pour in every day, through email, the news, personal conversations and observations. In fact, so many come that they often feel overwhelming. Given that none of us can do everything, even though that\u2019s my initial instinct, I ask myself again, \u201cWhat can I best offer\u00a0given who I am? What\u2019s <em>my<\/em> piece of the puzzle?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next steps for Penny U are still unclear. The focus that Edward and I gave the two post-election conversations responded to the circumstances of the moment. How could it now respond most effectively to current or future circumstances?<\/p>\n<p>For guidance, I\u2019ve paid close attention to responses we\u2019ve received after the second Penny U. A friend, Warren Wilkins, wrote, thanking us for the platform \u201cprovided for those of us who were floundering around in our several states of incredulity\/depression\/etc. I suspect we\u2019ll all head off on our own trajectories now.\u201d But, he added, \u201cI would guess your platform has shortened the launch window for many. It certainly did for me.\u201d This reinforced my sense that Penny U isn\u2019t itself a natural action-oriented organizing body, but might be a place where someone could find a specific way to engage their energy and their skills.<\/p>\n<p>Mary Holscher, another participant, made this point\u00a0even more clearly. She wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #008080;\">I was in group 3, \u2018Protect individual &amp; civil rights \/ fight racism, sexism, homophobia.\u2019 I came away from the afternoon feeling disturbed and agitated \u2013 so many ideas, so much to do, what next???\u00a0\u00a0I found the conversation quite fragmented and not that enjoyable. I came out of it, though, knowing I didn\u2019t want to just stay in my Phinney Ridge neighborhood, which is mostly progressive but also mostly white and middle class.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\">\u201cThat night (evidently as I slept) something seemed to have resolved itself, and I woke up with a clear sense of priorities and direction, clearly inspired by the comments in our group on working with immigrants and Muslims, on being proactive, rather than simply reactive; on assessing one\u2019s own strengths. I chose to sign up as a volunteer for Young Women Empowered (Y-We),<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0which I\u2019d been considering in the very back of my mind for a few months but hadn\u2019t taken any action on. A big reservation I\u2019d had was that it was at El Centro de la Raza, which seemed too far away. Knowing that I need to get out of my mostly white neighborhood spurred me to action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\">\u201cEven though I found the afternoon quite agitating and wasn\u2019t sure if it was helpful, I do think it spurred me to both clarity and action about my own direction. So thank you! Even if I never come to another Penny University, I\u2019m very glad I came to this one.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mary&#8217;s\u00a0story was satisfying for an organizer who badly wanted the conversations to be useful. But her message also guides and inspires me as I wrestle with this\u00a0part of my original what-can-I-do? question: \u00a0How can Penny U best serve as a forum in the future?<\/p>\n<p>A initial thought follows in the next post, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/?p=1550\">A bigger choir, a countervailing force.<\/a>&#8221; Your suggestions, comments, and stories are welcome!<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>\u00ab\u00ab\u00ab\u00ab\u00ab\u00ab\u2022\u00bb\u00bb\u00bb\u00bb\u00bb\u00bb<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> Paul Krugman, \u201cThe Tainted Election,\u201d <em>The New York Times<\/em>, op-ed, December 12, 2016.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0Mary Holscher also wrote: \u00a0 \u201cWhat draws me to Y-We is that it is multi-generational, multi-racial, focused on young women\u2019s empowerment, and has a joyful spirit (a joyful spirit turns out to be imperative for me right now).\u201d And she\u00a0shared a few excerpts from the organization\u2019s website: <a href=\"http:\/\/youngwomenempowered.org\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\">youngwomenempowered.org<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cY-We empowers young women from diverse backgrounds to step up as leaders in their schools, communities and the world. We do this through intergenerational mentorship, intercultural collaboration, and creative programs that equip girls with the confidence, resiliency, and leadership skills needed to achieve their goals and improve their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe serve young women ages 13-18. Our youth and mentors come from of a wide range of backgrounds representing diversity in family, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, politics, and education. Currently, 70% of our youth are first generation immigrants to the US and 80% of the youth and 50% of the adults are women of color.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1332\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/cropped-9099-Logo-red_D-nick-squared-150x150-e1482614888138.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"35\" height=\"35\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building community in our new political reality A post-election Penny U update As it did for many people, the 2016 election sent me on a search to figure out how my life would change, or, more accurately, how I would adapt my life in response to new realities. What can I do? Immediately after the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-after-the-2016-election","category-penny-u"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7pXN0-o5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1493"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1646,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions\/1646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.annefocke.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}