A new era of neighborhood/city relations

Imagine for a moment that you are a spiritual guide and poet. You share your Celtic heritage and love for your native landscape of west Ireland. Your name is John O'Donohue. Now back to reality. Into the river of life experience, you have joined me in taking the plunge, by reading Stories and Journeys. The following words from John O'Donohue, in his poem called "Fluent," captures for me (and I hope for you) the essence of this experience. Just as I do, he uses the river as a metaphor for the flow of life. He writes:
I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.

Unfolding for me in the river of life experience this time is a column, inspired largely, by an article written by Tesha M. Christensen, called "What does 'unbiased' really mean." Upon reading Tesha's commentary, I found my awareness raised. I was engaged to the point of underlining a lot of it and writing in the margins. Typically I don't do this with newspaper articles. I even found myself engaged in conversation with Tesha, even though she was not in the room. Again, not typical! Getting my attention were the following words:
"Recently the city insisted that to access funding, Nokomis East Neighborhood Association had to agree that they won't hire a person who lives in the neighborhood as their executive director."
Back in the day, this elder served several terms, on the Longfellow Community Council (LCC) Board of Directors. During most of that time, if not all of it, Melanie Majors was executive director. Melanie did not live in Greater Longfellow. IT WAS THE CHOICE OF LCC THAT MELANIE MAJORS BE OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NOT THE INSISTENCE OF THE CITY. Melanie served us for 14 years.
For about five years of my life, I did what I could to be part of an effort called Save NRP (Neighborhood Revitalization Program). For about 20 years, thanks to NRP, the city had what I call empowered neighborhood organizations. Apparently, in the eyes of the city, too much empowerment. Now as NRP is allowed to go by the wayside, we have something that appears to be more like city engagement with neighborhood organizations. And what does city engagement get us? The kind of scenario playing out in Nokomis East for one thing.
I am clear in my own view, that what is playing out where the city and its neighborhood organizations are concerned is about power and control. Who wins? Who losses? Who gets to decide? Power and control is THE CONTEXT where the city in relation to its neighborhood organizations plays out. It is a context with a story and a lengthy history. A context that created the need for NRP in the first place. And what enabled NRP to come into existence? It was not at the insistence of the city. Far from it! It was neighborhood leadership going to the state legislature that enabled NRP to come into being.
Today we appear to be entering into a new era of city/neighborhood relations.This is why I appreciated the article by Eric Ortiz in the Dec. 2, 2022 Southwest Connector called "Time to build bridges with the whole community: Neighborhood associations are helping bring people together to create solutions for Minneapolis." In this article, he writes: "Now more than ever, Minneapolis needs connectors for our communities. Neighborhood associations can be leaders in connecting neighbors and helping the city meet the challenges of this moment. Whatever neighborhood you call home, we are all interconnected. That is why we all need to work together to help build bridges, restore trust and find solutions." (Find columns mentioned on our websites.) If we find ways to collaborate and as appropriate have each others backs, this might work.
There are three times when I have been featured in the Messenger in ways not likely in any other media outlet. Today I am learning and growing as a columnist writing Stories and Journeys. Community journalism in south Minnepolis has become an integral part of my life.
Where do you find yourself on this unfolding river of life experience called city/neighborhood relations are concerned? Tell yourself, share with others or tell me at news@longfellownokomismessenger.com.
In gratitude. Stay tuned.