Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy

Keeping the social in social change

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Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships: A Look at Post World War II America

June 16th, 2010 By Tom Kohler View Comments

The 1950s through 1980s was an era of gaining rights in America. The civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights and disability rights movements took center stage during this 30 year period. I am proposing that we consider the 1990s to present day as the era of responsibilities and relationships and consider the implications of this shift away from structural change and more toward individual actions.

 

The African-American Civil Rights Movement has its roots in organizations like the NAACP, founded in 1909, and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded by A. Philip Randolph in the 1930s. These groups built constituencies and filed lawsuits to address inequities based on race.

 

The Great Depression and WWII took center stage and shifted public attention away from civil rights during the late 1920s through the late 1940s. However, momentum was regained with the Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. Board of Education in 1955, a case backed by the NAACP. Other events that captured the nation’s attention included the Montgomery bus boycott and the Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-ins that spread across the American South.

 

In 1960, in support of these sit-ins, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, was organized. This youthful organization consisted of both black and white college students from 56 colleges who convened on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh, NC. Last year, Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy was proud to host Mr. Chuck McDew, a founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, for a series of gatherings around Savannah. This was part of our effort to remind people of the sacrifice that was made in this country to insure that every person has the right to vote.

 

The women’s movement followed the civil rights movement in the minds of Americans, with women and their allies pushing for equal rights in the work place. Access to jobs and careers, and equal pay for equal work was the rallying cry. Gloria Steinem, who was a member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, gained notoriety as a women’s rights activist, feminist, writer and lecturer during this time.

 

The Gay Rights Movement has followed these two movements, with people calling for the right to be given fair and equal treatment. These rights continue to be debated and contested on a state-by-state basis at present. Last year, Sean Penn won the Best Actor Oscar for his remarkable portrayal of groundbreaking Gay Rights activist, Harvey Milk.

 

The African-American Civil Rights Movement offered a model for the Disability Rights Movement, founded by Ed Roberts, the first student with a disability to attend Berkley in the late 1960s. Ed was the leader of the Independent Living/Civil Rights for People with Disabilities movement that flowered in the 1970s. Berkeley was the first university to have a federally funded Disabled Students Program that created supports for young men and women with physical disabilities to attend college. The L.I.F.E. (Living Independently for Everyone) organization here in Savannah has its roots in Ed Roberts Center for Independent Living at Berkley.

 

Social change movements do not have exacting beginnings and ends. There is never complete and total victory. The fight for rights is hard won and, as time goes by, challenges and tactics changed. By the 1990s it appeared that the era of “movements” was receding. Most people in America had won a reasonable measure of legal and structural equality. There were and are obvious exceptions to this, but in general the laws of our land have been changed in a way that creates more equality for people in the eyes of the law. Implementation is far from complete and certainly, the reality of what we see happening and not happening for people with disabilities in our communities does not always live up to the letter or spirit of the law.

 

I am suggesting that we are at the beginning of a new era today, and that is the era of responsibilities and relationships. Here are several questions meant to enliven discussion around the notion that we have entered a “post rights era” and are at the beginning of a long and hopeful era of responsibilities and relationships:

 

  • In what ways are we as citizens of America, of Savannah, of our neighborhood, responsible for our own actions?
  • In what ways do our actions either encourage or diminish the right that all people have to be welcomed and encouraged - to be a part of community life?
  • Is being welcomed and encouraged to be a part of community life a right or a responsibility that falls to all of us as citizens in order to enliven one another?
  • Do the personal relationships I have with other people reflect a welcoming community or a rejecting community?

 

Here are a few very direct suggestions for honoring the idea of bringing Rights, Responsibilities and Relationships to life in your citizen advocacy relationship and in your neighborhood. All three of these are brought forth in the following suggestions for civic action. There is potential for dozens more direct examples of course.

 

  • Are you registered to vote? Is your protégé (for citizen advocates) registered to vote? If the answer to either question is, “No”, then please consider registering. Your protégé may need some help with this.

     

  • Are you connected to a local political party? Party politics are a great way to meet people and have a common goal. Many times the local offices of the Democratic and Republican parties are looking for folks to help with all sorts of volunteer jobs. See if there’s some way you and your protégé can become part of your party’s electoral efforts.

     

  • Is there a particular candidate you or your protégé would like to support? Maybe someone is especially open and willing to work on issues that are important to you. Get behind that person and help them get elected. There are lots of jobs for volunteers in a political campaign.

     

  • Can you and your protégé work together to see the position various candidates hold on issues that are important to you? See the reference to America According to Conner Gifford at the end of this article.

 

The bottom line here is that taking the time to help someone participate in the democratic processes of our country is time well spent. If you are a citizen advocate, consider making sure your that protégé has the opportunity and help they need to vote and become active in the process, and to understand the issues that are important to them.

 

Here is some information that can get you started:

 

Voter registration in Savannah:

1117 Eisenhower Dr # E

Savannah, GA 31406-3929
(912) 790-1520

 

Contact information for local political parties:

Chatham County Democratic Party Headquarters
109 W. Victory Dr.
Savannah, GA 31405
912-790-8683
http://chathamdems.com/
Meetings 2nd Monday of the month at 6 pm.

 

Chatham County Republican Party Headquarters
11 E. 73 Street
Savannah, GA 31405
(912) 927-8440
www.savannahGOP.org
M - F, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm

 

These websites explain how our democratic/election process works in America:

http://www.comportone.com/cpo/govment/articles/dmprocss.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_American_election_system_work

 

The book America According to Connor Gifford, by Connor Gifford, tells the history of America written by a man with Down syndrome. The key themes include: civil rights, women’s rights, why wars begin, religious freedom and individual responsibility. The book changes stereotypes and perception about those with Down Syndrome, Autism, and other special needs.

 

ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in non-violent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom. http://www.adapt.org

Many Hands, One Heart: A Recap of the Annual Covered Dish Supper…

May 20th, 2010 By ashley View Comments

Thanks to the hundreds of people who helped create the experience of our 32nd Annual Covered Dish Supper and Annual Meeting this year! We wanted the evening to reflect the spirit of our work - lots of people, lots of action, lots of love.

 

Thirty tables were decorated, each by a different volunteer. Thirty different sets of china, placemats and centerpieces…All were different, and each a reflection of the table decorator’s personal sense of community. We had homemakers, handymen, baristas, bread makers, attorneys, architects, artists and art students… all creating their design of community.

 

Hundreds of people brought delicious food. Trey Matthews and Michael Strickland covered platters with shrimp, cheeses and fruit for the appetizers. Gary Mueller smoked his famous Boston butts, Mr. Gadson rolled up with black eyed peas and mac and cheese, Suzanne Aiken served up some delicious homemade lasagna and Cindy Vaughn Sinclair shared a delicious cheesy chicken pasta. Add the salads and salsa, veggies for vegans, fried and roasted chicken, mashed and scalloped potatoes, pastas, squash casseroles, stewed corn and cakes and pies as well. More than 300 people made it through the buffet lines just fine.

 

The music was eclectic. The band SOAP rocked the social hour reception. Our very own “Yes You Can Community Choir” led by Jessica Feucht, Mae Ola Mason and Bill Smith opened with Imagine and closed with Lean on Me. Thanks to the singers and musicians including Ellen Gross, Mike English, Rigel Crockett, Regina Thomas, Chuck McDew and Betsy Cain and the wonderful sound technicians from StageFront Presentation Systems. And thanks to everyone who jumped in big and bold from the floor to sing along.

 

Master of Ceremonies Wade Herring kept the evening flowing and introduced four citizen advocates who turned into storytellers for the evening.

 

  • Phil Peterman has been an advocate since 2007. “I was an angry young man many years ago. I am trying to help an angry young man find his way today.”

     

  • Mike Drabeck has been an advocate since 2004. “Peter is part of our family. Our boys have known him their whole lives… he is Mr. Peter to them.”
  • Lyle Mackenzie is the son of citizen advocate Malcolm Mackenzie and has grown up knowing Malcolm’s protégé for almost 20 years. “I was 12 when this story about my dad being a citizen advocate was written. I stand here tonight, age 25, happy to read it and hoping to become an advocate one day myself.”

     

  • Louisa Abbot has been an advocate since 1994. “Teresa helped me raise my children. My daughter Julia, just back from college, came tonight so she could see Teresa.”

 

Our set up crew made sure that everything was in place. Thanks to head planner Kristin Russell, Laura Greene Smith, Susan Earl, Ben Oxnard, Sylvester Brown, Alice Kohler, Maggie Grimm, Ali Wyland, Simone Wilkinson, Sabrina Manganella Simmons, Mary Simmons and Savannah Simmons, Emma Varland, Sienna Varland, Delores Wilson, folks from HostSouth and Theresa Reed from the Savannah Station.

 

Greeters included Dicky Stone, Robert Cohen, Irving Tate, Tammy Stokes, Gordon Matthews, Sean Brandon, Herman Days, Laura Greene Smith and Sha Dishong.

 

Our kitchen and beverage crew, led by Rebecca Freeman from Lulu’s Chocolate Bar, kept food and drinks flowing. Thanks to Jamie Maury, Dan Snyder, Jerry Wright, Robyn Joffe, Sam Carroll, Suzanne Aiken, Delores Wilson, Timmy Welter, Simone Wilkinson, Carmela Aliffi, Juanita Tucker, Brad Baugh and Sebastian Edwards.

 

And we can’t forget the clean up crew who worked until 10 p.m. to make sure that the Savannah Station will have us back again next year. Thanks to Rob O’Brien, Pat O’Brien, Jeanne O’Brien, Ann Fuller, Rebecca Freeman, Joel Varland, Simone Wilkinson, Sam Spencer, Alix Baptiste, Laura Greene Smith, Delores Wilson, Juanita Tucker, Mike Williams, Kristin Russell, Brad Baugh, Robyn Joffe and Sam Carroll.

 

If we left your name off of this quick list, we apologize and to all we offer a big thank you!

A powerful way to be together in Savannah…

May 18th, 2010 By Tom Kohler View Comments

“This is the best looking group of people I have ever seen.”

 

These were the words of Master of Ceremonies Wade Herring at the Annual Meeting and Covered Dish Supper as he looked out over the more than 300 people gathered to celebrate at the Savannah Station last Thursday night.

 

Wade is an attorney, partner and part of the management team with the largest law firm in Savannah. He chairs the Board of Directors at Savannah County Day School. He is used to being around “powerful people,” the “right people” as you hear said over and over and over in Savannah.

 

More than 20 years ago, Wade met a powerful person. His name was Earl Brooker and when the two men met, Mr. Brooker was tied down in a chair at Georgia Regional Hospital. Being a citizen advocate for Mr. Brooker turned out to be a powerful and sobering experience. Eventually the State of Georgia had its way, and sent Mr. Brooker deeper into its institutional system, and disconnected Mr. Brooker from his family forever, rather arranging for he and his family get useful help. This is something Wade reflects on to this day.

 

The power that Wade saw in the room on Thursday night is the power of people from many walks of life walking together. It’s the power of seeing people who wheel instead of walk being part of the common journey. It’s the power that comes when the word TOGETHER becomes skin and bones real in front of your very eyes.

 

It’s the power of realizing that as long as we have this notion about only having the “right people” in the room - that we will never get it right.

 

Let’s keep working to get the TOGETHER part right.

 

This the new way to be TOGETHER in Savannah.

Assumptions We Make . . .

May 7th, 2010 By Tom Kohler View Comments

Long time citizen advocate Linda Wittish wrote this several years ago. It continues to be provocative. See what you think. Your comments are welcome …

 

Every person matters. If we believe that, we have a responsibility - an obligation - to protect and encourage one another.

 

Every person has talents and gifts and contributions to make to other people and to our community. There are strong forces at work in our society that undermine that assumption. People can be trapped in roles that can overshadow their role as a citizen of our community. Sometimes a person is seen only as a problem or as a project. Individuality, the essence of the person, becomes hidden.

 

The world we live in chooses to segregate people viewed as different or less valuable away from the ordinary activities and opportunities that are part of being a citizen in our community. This must be questioned and challenged. Entering into a personal relationship and finding ways to help someone participate in community life can do this.

 

Being separated from community sets up barriers and devalues people’s perceived worth. This leads to more rejection and negative stereotypes being reinforced. This devaluation is dangerous and puts people in harm’s way and at greater risk of being hurt. Once a person is seen as part of a devalued group of people, a different set of rules begin to apply.

 

Coming into a reciprocal relationship with a person who has been devalued opens up powerful opportunities for people to learn. That learning process teaches us that a lot of what we thought or grew up believing isn’t true. It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion, the more you peel back the closer you get to the truth.

 

We are inviting people into relationships where there will be great joy and struggle. This is a rich and real journey. This is the journey we all face in our lives. We are asking people to go on this journey together.

 

We assume that people will choose to go on this journey and make a commitment to the well-being of another person. The relationship will be built on finding common interests and finding ways to create more commonality between one another.

 

Personal commitment is the most powerful form of action over time. This forms the foundation for action and encourages people to be bigger and better citizens.

 

There are many hidden and unexpected teachers among us. We hear about them from people we call advocates. This is the power of our idea.

From programmatic to poetic…

April 9th, 2010 By Tom Kohler View Comments

I had the good fortune to be with new citizen advocate George Barrow the other day. He said, “The idea of citizen advocacy doesn’t read as well as it plays.” The definition and description on our written materials did not excite him - the hearing of real citizen advocacy stories did.

 

After I wrote the following for a funding opportunity, I noticed the same thing. The first two paragraphs are programmatic. From there on it becomes more poetic. See what you think…

 

Chatham Savannah Citizen Advocacy is a 32 year old grass roots advocacy organization devoted to providing protection and advocacy to people in Savannah and Chatham County who are being abused, neglected or having their lives otherwise diminished because of prejudice toward people with disabilities.

 

The organization recruits, orients and matches local citizens as advocates. Each advocate is paired with one person who has a developmental disability and is asked to work to “understand, respond to and represent the other person’s interests as if they were the advocates own.” In other words, we challenge and encourage people to be more responsive and responsible to one another and to learn from each other. Our driving questions are “What can people come to mean to one another?” and “What can people come to mean to the common good?”

 

You will find examples of people who got tired of taking their protégé back to the state institution after visiting with them and who have adopted that person, people who have questioned, challenged and changed state level Medicaid policy so they could get their protégé out of a nursing home and set up in his own home, people who have welcomed their protégé as a member of their family at Thanksgiving and Christmas, people who have called their high school buddies who own businesses to find their protégé a job. There are hundreds of stories of hundreds of local people voluntarily engaging in the life of one other person and working to help that person have a better life.

 

The citizen advocacy program is not a place. It is an idea. The idea is that someone (Tom Kohler in this case) asks people to sit down and think about something important. The important thing they think about is who they are as a human being and what they can do to help someone have a better life. The program starts there. From there people from all walks of life step into personal relationships with individual people who are pushed to the bottom and edge of life in Savannah and are asked to question and change that. It’s not a facility or a therapy. It’s a growing pattern of responsible individual personal relationships among people.

 

We gather as a group once each year in the Springtime. We have “the biggest and best covered dish supper in Chatham County.” Three hundred people bring food and drink and flowers and stories and one another. We see one another. We see possibility. We see what we can be.