Leading in an 'Unthinkable' World - the Transformation to Holistic Community

"Particularly in the wake of the global economic crisis, we need to rethink our values, redesign our systems, and rebuild our institutions to make them more proactive and strategic, more inclusive, more reflective of the new geo-political and geo-economic circumstances, and more reflective of inter-generational accountability and responsibility." (from the Preface to "Everybody's Business" a 'Report of the Global Redesign Initiative')

Because occasionally assessing one's experience can prove helpful in navigating destiny's footpath, I've been pondering the sequence of events and developments lately, that have transpired since our initial City of Peace conference back in November.  This assembly featuring Dr. Doug Bailey, served as a gathering for Roanoke civic leaders, local clergy, and community members, and culminated in an invitation by Carol Tuning, Human Services Coordinator for Roanoke's Homeless Assistance Team (HAT) and Chair of the Blue Ridge Continuum of Care, to co-host a service along with Congregations in Action (CIA) in commemoration of National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day.  The cooperative planning of this event in turn, resulted in a ceremonial observance on December 18th at Greene Memorial Methodist Church.

Also, in assisting a collaborative effort between the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Advisory Council (RVARAC) and the Council of Community Services with con-ducting the Winter Shelter Survey Report (2010), an opportunity was extended in February to meet with members of Roanoke's Economic Development Department who'd also assumed responsibility for heading Richard Florida's Creative Connectors.  In part, but arising primarily from this author's interest in sustainability and social entrepreneurship, the session's dialogue was summarized in an email entitled, 'Bridging Community Connection' and relayed back to those who'd attended.

In an effort to further extend its outreach within the immediate community, 'city of peace' next joined with "S.T.A.R. (Spirit of Tolerance and Art in the Region) in concert with local civic and interfaith groups" to host a BridgeWalk on March 28th as a "means of nurturing 'tolerance, diversity, and understanding in (our) ever-evolving community'."  This site subsequently supported the affair's theme by initiating an 'event page' at Facebook and publishing an accompanying piece entitled, Bridging Community Gaps . . . 'Body and Soul'.

Sneak Peek

Around this same time however, the year-long relationship between Florida's 'creative communities leadership pro-gram' and Roanoke was coming to an unceremonious end.  Much to his credit though, Kirk Avenue Music Hall founder Ed Walker, who with the city had "split the bill for Florida's $50,000" two-day fee, determined instead, now was a superb time to celebrate its "second annual gathering of the tribes". The mini block-party, featuring an appearance by Senator Mark Warner along with My Radio, whose "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" had been showcased in a newly released trailer for The Joneses', bestowed a certain credibility to Roanoke's aspirations of being recognized as 'Virginia's Music City'.

In the wake of all this activity, the article's author also had the privilege of meeting a group of innovators who reflect the very essence of community in Roanoke's Grandin Village, and contribute to their efforts in coordinating events for Earth Day 2010.  It should be noted, these individuals constitute the front line of putting ideas related to sustainable culture into practical application and are thus, well deserving of our respect and admiration for so doing.

An 'Unthinkable' World

"National and local governments are consumed by social and political challenges at home as they contend with crisis-related economic slowdowns and fiscal deficits.  The financial industry has just experienced one of its worst governance failures in history resulting in an enormous privatization of gains and socialization of losses with which societies will be coping for years to come." (from "Everybody's Business: Strengthening International Cooperation in a More Interdependent World")

For a sundry of different reasons, I've developed an astute awareness over the last four years of the existence of disturbing parallels between 1930's Fascist Europe and the postmodern world of today.  Consequently, but from my perspective, a United States' citizenry appears to be adopting a comparable pedagogic subservience to impoverished political ideologies as did the Axis powers prior to World War II.  Therefore, and whether we're especially cognizant of it or not, navigating the didactic of individual choice in our day-to-day socioeconomic relations is assuming almost Biblical significance and likely to prove nearly as vital in shaping our evolutionary future(s).

"Civilization – not the institutional order – is in a critical condition, one brought on by the failure of our intellectual and spiritual immune systems to resist the virus of institutionalism. This crisis is not to be found in Washington, or Detroit, or on Wall Street, but in our thinking about who we are as individuals and as members of society. As long as we revere the interests of organizations more highly than we do our own; as long as we continue to invest the lives of our children and grandchildren as resources for institutional consumption, this crisis will continue unto the disintegration of civilization itself." (Butler Shaffer from, "The Establishment in Crisis")

Consequently, when faced with such pressing realities, it's absolutely crucial we begin to acknowledge that evolutionary

development isn't strictly a given, linear, function.  In fact, and at virtually any point, it's subject to diversions which can transfigure otherwise purposeful objectives into heinous acts of deprivation which subsequently represent an increased likelihood for apocalypse.

Along these same lines, but in practical terms, perhaps no one was any more central in negotiating and hence affecting, the underlying structure of the contemporary (global) economic/monetary system to which I've already alluded, than John Maynard Keynes. As "a delegate of the British Treasury" to the Versailles Conference which set the terms for the payment of reparations following World War I and author of The Economic Consequences of the Peace, Keynes' input was especially instrumental in forming the International Monetary Fund as an elemental component of the Bretton Woods System at the end of World War II.

"The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and co-operation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." ("Adolf Hitler's religious views" from, My New Order - 1941)

Towards Holistic Community

What has become increasingly obvious with the passage of time however, is that the sheer magnitude of change occurring around us is nothing less than epochal.  From an integral perspective however, that is, one viewing evolutionary development as a process weaving its way through premodern, modern, and postmodern unfolding (see, "Economic Timeline from an Integral Perspective"); all within the context of four interrelated dimensions of reality (see AQAL), 'the future holds phenomenal potential for human realization'.  Yet, and at the same time, perhaps a caveat should be issued; 'if we don't first annihilate each other in getting there'.

As a result, the technological advances undergirding our current realities have brought about a clash, or perhaps more accurately, a convergence of cultures along with their respective worldviews, on a scale that's rarely, if ever, occurred be-fore.  Similarly, the 'truth claims' associated with these cultures, as translated by science, theology, or philosophy, are evincing new borders of contact and communication for interaction and relationship between previously disjoined agents, members, and players.

Yet, interestingly enough, it's at this point of encounter, not only is the role of government its most captivating, but the prospect of a 'risen Christ' likewise, most consummate.  Considering the matter of governance, Butler Shaffer has written a fascinating, if not exhaustive, exposition entitled, Boundaries of Order wherein he boldly proposes the ownership of private property as a social system.  If nothing else, Shaffer's treatise is an astutely articulated, yet scathing condemnation of the State's incapacity "as a pyramidal model" to serve "any socially useful end", owing primarily to a necessitated reliance on violence in fulfilling its decidedly collectivist agenda (see "Private Property as a Social System").

Yet somewhat oddly, the extent to which this viewpoint resounds a comparable theme to that of 20th Century French cleric André Trocmé (1901-1971), is intriguing to say the least.  Having experienced the needlessness of World War I firsthand, this same background "cemented his orientation as a pacifist" early on.  Consequently, on the first Sunday following France's surrender "to the Nazis" in June 1942 and its subsequent agreement "to arrest and deport" on demand, exiles fleeing the Third Reich; Trocmé and fellow pastor Edouard Theis "preached about resistance:

Jewish Children Sheltered in Le Chamon-sur-Lignon

Tremendous pressure will be put on us to submit passively to a totalitarian ideology. If they do not succeed in subjugating our souls, at least they will want to subjugate our bodies. The duty of Christians is to use the weapons of the Spirit to oppose the violence that they will try to put on our consciences. We appeal to all our brothers in Christ to refuse to cooperate with this violence…"

Thus, having established the L’École Nouvelle Cévenole with Theis in 1938, Trocmé became a key figure in the region's forming of "a massive, organized network to protect and even educate Jewish children who had been taken out of internment camps".  Operating in covert resistance to Hitler's Final Solution to the Jewish question, community members "opened their homes to the refugees, sometimes to stay, sometimes to wait until accommodations could be arranged elsewhere or until they could be smuggled across the Swiss border."  Ultimately, this unified effort is said to have "provided a haven or safe passage" for between 2,500 to 3,500 refugees (see, Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution).

"All of us, Christian and non-Christian alike, are responsible for the hunger, injustice, egoism, exploitation, and wars that devastate our time. Christians bear special responsibility: knowing that God can change both people and their situations, the disciple of Jesus can help bring into being God’s future for humanity." (André Trocmé from the Preface to Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution)

Amazingly enough however, and as a heroic testament to his community's power to stand down oppression, Trocmé seems to direct credit for that feat towards far loftier aspirations in, Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution (1961).  So, while his underlying premise on one hand is exquisitely simple, at the same time it's radically powerful in positing his conclusion that -- Jesus Christ's mission on earth, proclaimed the arrival of God's Kingdom based on Jubilee principles of the Old Testament.  In a very cogent exegesis then, Trocmé outlines the scriptural foundation of a social order reflecting the immutable plan of God's intended will for world justice and humanity's liberation from the imposed tyranny of debt, slavery, and oppression.

Bridging Community Gaps . . . 'Body and Soul'

"S.T.A.R. (Spirit of Tolerance and Art in the Region) in concert with local civic and interfaith groups, is hosting a BridgeWalk at 3 pm on Sunday, March 28th as a means of nurturing 'tolerance, diversity, and understanding in an ever-evolving community'."  This article affords a 'backdrop' in support of the event.

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Beginning last year, and as many already know, the City of Roanoke partnered with Richard Florida's Creative Class Group in a community project comprised of 30 (local) connectors formed expressly to vitalize our 'regional economy'.  As one of the most popular and 'best-selling' authors on the topic, Florida's "basic thesis" in The Rise of the Creative Class centers on the idea "that the economy is transforming, and creativity is to the 21st century what the ability to push a plow was to the 18th century. Creative occupations are growing and firms now orient themselves to attract the creative."  Consequently, the "urban lesson of Florida’s book is that cities that want to succeed must aim at attracting the creative types who are, Florida argues, the wave of the future" (see Edward L. Glaeser's, Review of The Rise of the Creative Class).

Well, uhh Duh!  Good, so being the intelligent and high functioning individuals we are, we're all in agreement and working on the same page with this then . . . right?  Right?  I mean that's our shared objective, wooing or otherwise nurturing a 'creative class'.  After all, Roanoke's cultural heritage is second to none, affording the richest of seed beds from which societal greatness has, in times past, almost magically sprung forth and flourished.

As proof of our city's merit on this count, yet lurking under the shadow of rather dense racial overtones, there was a brief point in Roanoke's earlier history that it afforded creative space and refuge on Henry Street to one of the most prolific, if not obscure, innovators of the 20th century.  Born in 1884, Oscar Micheaux was the first African-American to produce a 'feature-length' film and easily the most prominent contributor to the entire 'race movie' genre, literally inspiring dozens of completed projects over the course of his career (see Oscar Micheaux - Wikipedia).

Making his "first trip to Roanoke" in 1921, Micheaux had already begun filming "on location" in the surrounding vicinity by 1922.  With an opening of the 703 seat capacity Strand Theatre (later the 'Lincoln', pictured at right) in 1923, he established "an office" and operated "the Oscar Michaeux film Corporation" there from "1924 until 1925".  Conveniently, he also chose "the Hotel Dumas" just across the street, for his local residence during this same period.  Thus, but while in Roanoke, with the financial support of "(l)ocal investors", Micheaux was able to render "a total of eight films using nationally known as well as local actors and settings from the Gainsboro neighborhood".

Too, because of its proximity to the Hotel Roanoke, a number of the most prominent jazz musicians of the era "including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller", "Ethel Waters", "Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Fats Domino," and "Dizzy Gillespie" typically stayed "at the Hotel Dumas" (pictured above) following their performances.  Consequently, but over a span of the three decades witnessing an end to World War I on through the Great Depression and World War II, the Gainsboro area in general, and Henry Street in particular, became a sparkling testament to the vibrancy of the region's African-American culture (see National Register of Historic Places Registration Form).

Today however, in stark contrast to the rich aura of this cultural (i.e. artistic) heritage, it's disconcerting that a looming penumbra of dominant (and let's face it) 'white', societal mores should yet, so insistently cast its pallor across our city's contemporary landscape.  During the societal tumult that was the Roaring Twenties however, and at a time when many of the churches in Roanoke's extended downtown section had been only recently constructed, a young, Hollywood-based film industry, catapulted to success in part with its 1915 Klan-glorifying production of, The Birth of a Nation; towered omnipotently over the toil of Oscar Micheaux.

Nevertheless, and having already obtained a modicum of commercial acceptance himself, Micheaux enlisted the talent of a 27 year-old actor named Paul Robeson to make "his film debut" playing the dual role of Reverend Isaiah T. Jenkins and his brother Sylvester, in Body and Soul (1925).  Where mainstream cinema at this juncture still portrayed Black Americans in varying stereotypes of "comedic caricature", the aspiring filmmaker instead spun an intricate story of an "escaped prisoner" plotting to swindle a town's parishioners of their offerings while masquerading as a preacher.  Ironically however, when Micheaux "applied for an exhibition license from the Motion Picture Commission of the State of New York, it was denied approval on the grounds it would 'tend to incite to crime' and was 'immoral' and 'sacrilegious'" (see Body and Soul - Wikipedia).

Without minimizing the complexity involved, Roanoke's Creative Communities Leadership Program (CCLP) represents a very practical, yet significant step in engaging its citizens in the development of "a more authentic, sustainable and prosperous community" (see Creative Connector Description).  In this same respect, these 'connectors' have subsequently translated the "four T's" Florida equates with actually realizing these objectives (Talent, Technology, Tolerance, and Territorial Assets) into separate initiatives.  Consequently, S.T.A.R. (Spirit of Tolerance and Art in the Region) in concert with local civic and interfaith groups, is hosting a BridgeWalk at 3 pm on Sunday, March 28th as a means of nurturing "tolerance, diversity, and understanding in an ever-evolving community".  Beginning at the O. Winston Link Museum, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on steps towards social justice and unity in route to the Henry Street (e.g. Martin Luther King Memorial) Bridge.

What's Next? . . . Fence Moving!

metanoia - "a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done" (from the Blue Letter Bible)

Since launching this blog site following a seminar featuring Dr. Doug Bailey in early November, a number of those who attended the original conference have inquired more recently, "What's next for 'City of Peace'?".  To help in exploring some possible answers, George Kegley has written an excellent review of the workshop entitled, "Urban Congregations Must Move Fences, Not Build Them".

As it relates to the underlying themes of 'radical truth telling' and 'social justice', but especially since discovering Butler Shaffer's, Boundaries of Order: Private Property As a Social System, Dr. Bailey's analogy of fence moving as a means of better fostering an intricately knit community, impresses me as being particularly profound.  Yet, no more so than the implication for this 'change' as a movement of practical transformation in terms of mission, with the potential to transcend various levels of human experience all the way from third world village to our local neighborhood(s).

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed (metamorphoo) by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

Banksy Hacks the Wall

Yet, because even a rudimentary study of the Old Testament reveals an ongoing and rather persistent rebellion on the part of God's elect (e.g. the nation 'Israel') in ignoring some of the most basic tenets of His will, what kind of future might actually await our own citizenry for imposing on subsequent generations a seemingly irredeemable national debt?  Similarly, but perhaps more importantly, what natural circumstances will befall a people who no longer hold to the idea of natural (e.g. Divine) provision and have subsequently become both the world's greatest debtors and its most exploitative consumers?

Consequently perhaps, now might be an appropriate time for the Christian Church to reevaluate the worth of self-assessments based exclusively on a history of its own rusting prosperity and instead, consider weighting its present condition in terms of 'Christ-likeness'.  Fortunately for us however, the bigger picture isn't all one of doom and gloom, there's more than adequate reason for hope.

"A New Era Has Begun"

"A new era for the human race has clearly begun. When I compare the state of people’s awareness today with what it was just a few years ago, remarkable changes are taking place.  People are finally waking up to the fact that the world of big money, big media, and big business is taking them absolutely nowhere except into degradation, alienation, and slavery.  People are finally becoming cognizant that their destiny lies in their own hands and within their own consciousness." - Richard C. Cook, from "A New Era Has Begun"

There are those too like Roger Walsh who in a paper subtitled, "Key Ideas for a World at Risk", expresses a well qualified viewpoint similar to Richard Cook's that 'religion' has the capacity to "catalyze" human development and if that possibility were "widely appreciated" to in turn, "transform the culture".  The type of 'religion' to which Walsh refers however is not the "conventional narrative religion" with which most people are familiar, but something he calls "transconventional psychotechnologies".

Where conventional narrative religion typically arises from a group's shared belief in a unifying 'story' or narrative, the "central theme" of transconventional psychotechnologies is by contrast, the possible necessity of training "the mind (and metaphorically the heart) in order to foster mental and spiritual maturation and well-being".  Walsh substantiates this point further by noting that "(p)reliminary research on meditation supports the idea that it can foster certain kinds of development (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006)".

Consequently however, there is also a shared responsibility (or 'exemplar' as Ken Wilber has called it) on the part of those same practitioners to "foster (their) own psychological and spiritual maturation".  For example, rather than rigidly observing less creative or interactive forms of 'traditional' charity, individuals instead engage in what Walsh describes a "millennia old" variety of service (Karma Yoga) as a means of transforming "one’s work in the world into spiritual practice".

Presence, Prayer, Peace . . .

There seems to be a contradiction between the needs of the Knowledge Era and the reality of centralized power (Child & McGrath, 2001) that leadership theory has not yet addressed.  "The dominant paradigms in organizational theory are based on stability seeking and uncertainty avoidance through organizational structure and processes . . ."  Uhl-Bien, Marion, and McKelvey, quoted from "Complexity Leadership Theory"

Banksy Hacks the Wall

From my perspective, the 'City of Peace' workshop did a brilliant job of providing a forum and framework for a diverse group of civic leaders from various sectors of our local community to further explore ways together, for contributing even more effectively to Roanoke's overall health and economic vitality.  This group then, represents nothing less than the potential to inspire and instill 'can do' attitudes much in the way that Congregations in Action has been doing in the area's public schools for some time now.

The key here however, whether addressing issues of homelessness, education, or economic vibrancy, is that we do so with an appreciation that we're not just witnessing a phenomenal point in history involving unprecedented creativity, innovation, and learning, but we're actually participants in its unfolding.  I hope we'll continue to both celebrate and honor that in relation to one and other . . . and in rejoining Dr. Bailey, Namaste.