HOW CAN YOU GO ABOUT IDENTIFYING A UNIFYING COMMUNITY SPIRIT?
Individual inspiration: It is possible that a creative individual who understands the viewpoints within the community can articulate a community spirit that will resonate deeply and broadly, as occurred in Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Both Orlando and Pittsburgh’s quick articulation of a community spirit followed a tragic hate incident, but later we will examine discussions of a community spirit in Vancouver and Columbus, which occurred without such an incident.
Tim Hindes, an artist living near the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, created the “Stronger Than Hate” image after the deadly attack that took place at the synagogue on October 27, 2018. The image takes the old U.S. Steel logo (popularized today by the Pittsburgh Steelers), three diamonds within a circle. The image replaces the top diamond with a Star of David, and replaces the words “US Steel” with “Stronger Than Hate.” With his post of the image, Hindes wrote: “Before it was the logo of a globally popular football team, the three diamonds were the product which helped develop the foundation of many cities across the globe – steel. Like Pittsburgh and its residents, steel is strong.” Hindes stated that his anger and sadness led him to doodling. His friends convinced him to post the final image to Facebook, and it went viral from there. The image has been re- posted across the internet and has been used in fundraising, on t-shirts, and more.
Suppose a community does not have someone like Tim Hindes in Pittsburgh who intuits a statement of community spirit and a logo that resonate deeply and broadly in the face of the challenges that this community faces. Absent such an individual, the community might decide to convene a creative group of people who can work together to formulate a community spirit that will inspire the larger community. Such a group can build on each other’s ideas to come to consensus on aspects of the community spirit. That consensus can then be tested.
Because the sponsor or convener of this group plays such a central role, it may help to first consider whether potential participants will perceive that group’s sponsorship as credible and unbiased. The convening group can aid in that perception by communicating their goals and objectives openly and transparently, and striving for inclusive participation. They will also need to be able to secure sufficient resources to see the process through to conclusion.
“I think Pittsburgh demonstrates how a community can come together to console the Tree of Life victims in Squirrel Hill, a very diverse and close neighborhood, and to condemn racial hatred and prejudice.”– Dan Sandman, former vice president, U.S. Steel.
Two examples highlight the challenges inherent in reaching consensus on a community spirit. First, the division and dissension being experienced nationally can also be present at the community level and serve as motivation for people to try to develop a shared community spirit. Those divisions, however, can also make it more difficult to achieve that result. For example, those who suffer the most as the result of division may resist envisioning an aspirational community spirit that does not recognize past discrimination. (We discuss below Danville, Virginia where a project called History United precedes an effort to form a united aspiration.) Second, you will be asking meeting participants to consider not only what would motivate them, but also what would motivate the overwhelming majority of residents – including people with whom they might not normally agree.
Because this conversation involves so many challenges, you may want to do more than simply engage an experienced facilitator (though that should help). This section offers considerations regarding three parts of the process for articulating a spirit:
- How Do You Select and Prepare a Group to Identify Your Community Spirit?
- How Can Meetings Be Structured to Achieve Consensus on Ideas that Might Resonate Broadly and Deeply as the Community Spirit?
- How Can a Community Try Out the Ideas?
This guide distills experience in several communities and by the Divided Community Project when it used this process to articulate an American Spirit.