[Music]
I want you to close your eyes for a
perception perceive thoughts actions
sanctioned into raw data factions think
about it think about the perceptions of
limitation of the name they lose into
stockbroking games because we’re all
broken down into chains of shame
now blame us broken down to millions and
billions of mind-boggling recipes
because everyone is included except me
you heard them equals we yeah we all
right the bus think about it think about
the perception of a mind-boggling
platform on a minimal power black storm
in the midst of this noon storm think
about it perceive about it but
definitely see about it
no assumption now how many of us can
recollect the first time we recognize
ourselves as a part of being part of a
how many of you remember the people that
F entered us into that membership how
many would you think
and who would those people be I’m going
to start out by thinking my grandparents
Alec and Murray Bray Locke by the end of
this talk you’re going to know what I’m
talking about so in 2013 a friend Mike
green and myself went to Thunder Bay
Ontario to work with First Nation
communities in an organization that
looked to equalize justice for poor folk
we were there to do an ABCD workshop no
not a training on the alphabet but ABCD
May
in asset based Community Development it
was developed by my friends John
McKnight and Jodi kretzmann currently at
DePaul University at the asset based
Community Development Institute in
Chicago so to set context for that day
that training that community building
training our First Nation elder got up
he introduced himself he said we aren’t
here to build community we are here to
remember it I was forever changed by the
way he used that phrase the way he used
that word remember remember
in fact the etymology of that word
started out just meaning body parts but
in France in the 14th century it became
being a part of something whole you see
that elder was saying that we’re all
members and to be a member you
contribute something I live in
Indianapolis Indiana I live in a
neighborhood on the cusp of changing
being gentrified it’s 30 blocks
northwest of downtown and the and the
narrative around people in our
neighborhood is that we can’t do
anything we’re broke we need fix it we
use ABCD meaning that we care for our
neighbors we actually give space for
people to contribute we start with the
cup half full rather than half empty we
believe in the notion that every single
person has a gift so in 2000 in 2004 my
journey became to became to find and
uncover the gifts and talents of every
single person in my community find
places for those gifts celebrate those
gifts and utilize those gifts in ways
that build community economy and
the light that became the start of the
roving listener now let me tell you the
first six months of me of my journey
that I uncovered a whole bunch of things
right I walked through the alleys as I
uncombed over 45 backyard gardeners I
wore out three pairs of shoes as I
walked on the porches and discovered
artists that were phenomenal I even
gained a little weight as I stepped into
the kitchens of those poor folk who made
phenomenal food you see this becomes
important because no one thinks of us as
having any value so four years ago I
started to like increase my efforts I
realized that I should not be doing this
work alone you know my friend Dana says
that simple things can be hard so I
started an engagement company called the
large Learning Tree I make my neighbor’s
my business partners and they didn’t
have to put any money in it but I did
require them to add all their social
social and networking capital you know
what that is right
friendships we do trainings around the
country actually around the world on
ABCD community engagement and
controlling our own narratives they make
about 150 bucks an hour
they give 20 percent of that back and it
goes back to our neighbors to support
what they’re already doing the things
that are unseen last year 2016 we
increased our efforts we received the
grant from a local organization called
reconnecting our waterway they gave us
sixty seven thousand dollars there’s a
story behind that but it was a sign that
things were rapidly changing in my place
it was being gentrified 20 years it
wouldn’t be looking the same and most of
us won’t even know our neighbors but
since we were uncovering the gifts of
people we needed to make it visible and
we need to make investments we took 80%
of that money and put it into the hands
of poor people we are poor we did a few
key things that was very important we
hired neighborhood staff right consisted
of the four of us
Maurice Broadus he’s a novelist in my
neighborhood he uses this gift as a as a
novel writer to create portfolios of joy
of my neighbors we called him the dream
catcher then my neighbor who’s here with
me while styled a producer his title is
the roving illustrator he’s kind of a
researcher he uses his gift as the sound
engineer and a photographer to make the
invisible visible last but not least we
have Amanda wolf her title is the
executive spirit she keep us legal she
do all our books and she keep me in line
most of my friends know that I’m an
administrative nightmare yeah I am some
of the things that emerged out of our
place was there were artists that
started to emerge there were parties we
made sure we invested in those things we
also said that if you could be a part of
this only things we require that you
didn’t do things that are obscene or
illegal we said to people that whatever
you do you can’t do we’ll do it alone
and you have to fail at a minimum of
three times now does anybody know why I
said that anybody anybody because
studies show that people on the margins
are penalized for failing even though
that
dispel all the time and they create
beautiful work there were block parties
house parties that bought over 1300
people over a summer these were all
people struggling with problems even
myself with mental illness but they
actually were making things building
things these things we didn’t do they
were already there we started we started
to emerge 50 huge 50 residents around
our neighborhood that created these
exhibits on abandoned homes there were
stories of us there became big huge big
block parties as we gave our neighbors
to say all you have to do is bring three
people together and we invested in the
well good
dwell of the people that are in our
place you know I was I think back on
this and I’m I’m wondering where did I
get this inspiration from why am I so
passionate about this
why are my neighbors so passionate about
this it isn’t my education not my formal
education I never graduated from high
school but I can pin this back to the
memory of my grandparents and the
stories that run through this house for
the 43 years I’ve been on this earth and
longer now my grandfather it goes that
my grandfather planted a tree when my
mother was born in 1952 they live in
Indianapolis in the swamp
they all had cinderblock houses it was a
place where the Kankakee River float
underground into a place that we call
Beck’s Lake it was also where the
hospital dumped a biohazard as the
children and that neighborhood would
walk over see no one treated them as
they were sacred now my granddad was an
artisan a storyteller his mediums
included cooking
we’re carving and singing and he was a
hell of a landscaper like people used to
go to his little square in the yard and
say do not step on Uncle bus grass aka
granddad because that’s sacred he was
kind of a neat freak
now grandmama she worked hours and hours
at food service that notre-dame and when
my mother became a team that tree
started to grow and in times of crisis
the young people were gathered around
that tree and my grandfather would
actively tells stories and do magic
tricks and as they would leave that tree
he would remind them that life is truly
abundant you see my grandfather and his
neighbors knew what was sacred now my
friends would laugh at me when I say
this but it takes this type of structure
that they were cultivating you know I
say that because most people find me the
most random person in the world but I
was at the Kettering Foundation in Ohio
and I heard Dave Matthews the president
say not now wait not Dave Matthews of
the Dave Matthews Band but the former
president of the University of Alabama
he was talking about these type of
structures him and Edgar Codd they
talked about blogs versus squares to me
it was like amoebas versus skeletons you
see it take square structures to build
this building they have schematics
they’re not flexible and they shouldn’t
be you don’t want a person like me
building this and they’re very
predictable
now blob structures are much more
complex they’re flexible they’re
seemingly unpredictable but you can move
I believe that we should use blob
structures to cultivate community but if
we’re going to do this there are some
principles there’s the structure the way
we do this in the way we first start is
we have to have a commitment to hunter
your work under your work ensure that
the practice of this culture will keep
going a hundred years after we leave
this place almost like trees now are
y’all getting the picture
you know granddad and his neighbors
built this and cultivate this type of
structure they may space for every
person in the life of the community they
may space for the contributions of their
gifts they care for the well-being of
one another
they celebrate it and more importantly
they did what I’m asking you to do they
[Applause]
[Music] you
I want you to close your eyes for a
perception perceive thoughts actions
sanctioned into raw data factions think
about it think about the perceptions of
limitation of the name they lose into
stockbroking games because we’re all
broken down into chains of shame
now blame us broken down to millions and
billions of mind-boggling recipes
because everyone is included except me
you heard them equals we yeah we all
right the bus think about it think about
the perception of a mind-boggling
platform on a minimal power black storm
in the midst of this noon storm think
about it perceive about it but
definitely see about it
no assumption now how many of us can
recollect the first time we recognize
ourselves as a part of being part of a
how many of you remember the people that
F entered us into that membership how
many would you think
and who would those people be I’m going
to start out by thinking my grandparents
Alec and Murray Bray Locke by the end of
this talk you’re going to know what I’m
talking about so in 2013 a friend Mike
green and myself went to Thunder Bay
Ontario to work with First Nation
communities in an organization that
looked to equalize justice for poor folk
we were there to do an ABCD workshop no
not a training on the alphabet but ABCD
May
in asset based Community Development it
was developed by my friends John
McKnight and Jodi kretzmann currently at
DePaul University at the asset based
Community Development Institute in
Chicago so to set context for that day
that training that community building
training our First Nation elder got up
he introduced himself he said we aren’t
here to build community we are here to
remember it I was forever changed by the
way he used that phrase the way he used
that word remember remember
in fact the etymology of that word
started out just meaning body parts but
in France in the 14th century it became
being a part of something whole you see
that elder was saying that we’re all
members and to be a member you
contribute something I live in
Indianapolis Indiana I live in a
neighborhood on the cusp of changing
being gentrified it’s 30 blocks
northwest of downtown and the and the
narrative around people in our
neighborhood is that we can’t do
anything we’re broke we need fix it we
use ABCD meaning that we care for our
neighbors we actually give space for
people to contribute we start with the
cup half full rather than half empty we
believe in the notion that every single
person has a gift so in 2000 in 2004 my
journey became to became to find and
uncover the gifts and talents of every
single person in my community find
places for those gifts celebrate those
gifts and utilize those gifts in ways
that build community economy and
the light that became the start of the
roving listener now let me tell you the
first six months of me of my journey
that I uncovered a whole bunch of things
right I walked through the alleys as I
uncombed over 45 backyard gardeners I
wore out three pairs of shoes as I
walked on the porches and discovered
artists that were phenomenal I even
gained a little weight as I stepped into
the kitchens of those poor folk who made
phenomenal food you see this becomes
important because no one thinks of us as
having any value so four years ago I
started to like increase my efforts I
realized that I should not be doing this
work alone you know my friend Dana says
that simple things can be hard so I
started an engagement company called the
large Learning Tree I make my neighbor’s
my business partners and they didn’t
have to put any money in it but I did
require them to add all their social
social and networking capital you know
what that is right
friendships we do trainings around the
country actually around the world on
ABCD community engagement and
controlling our own narratives they make
about 150 bucks an hour
they give 20 percent of that back and it
goes back to our neighbors to support
what they’re already doing the things
that are unseen last year 2016 we
increased our efforts we received the
grant from a local organization called
reconnecting our waterway they gave us
sixty seven thousand dollars there’s a
story behind that but it was a sign that
things were rapidly changing in my place
it was being gentrified 20 years it
wouldn’t be looking the same and most of
us won’t even know our neighbors but
since we were uncovering the gifts of
people we needed to make it visible and
we need to make investments we took 80%
of that money and put it into the hands
of poor people we are poor we did a few
key things that was very important we
hired neighborhood staff right consisted
of the four of us
Maurice Broadus he’s a novelist in my
neighborhood he uses this gift as a as a
novel writer to create portfolios of joy
of my neighbors we called him the dream
catcher then my neighbor who’s here with
me while styled a producer his title is
the roving illustrator he’s kind of a
researcher he uses his gift as the sound
engineer and a photographer to make the
invisible visible last but not least we
have Amanda wolf her title is the
executive spirit she keep us legal she
do all our books and she keep me in line
most of my friends know that I’m an
administrative nightmare yeah I am some
of the things that emerged out of our
place was there were artists that
started to emerge there were parties we
made sure we invested in those things we
also said that if you could be a part of
this only things we require that you
didn’t do things that are obscene or
illegal we said to people that whatever
you do you can’t do we’ll do it alone
and you have to fail at a minimum of
three times now does anybody know why I
said that anybody anybody because
studies show that people on the margins
are penalized for failing even though
that
dispel all the time and they create
beautiful work there were block parties
house parties that bought over 1300
people over a summer these were all
people struggling with problems even
myself with mental illness but they
actually were making things building
things these things we didn’t do they
were already there we started we started
to emerge 50 huge 50 residents around
our neighborhood that created these
exhibits on abandoned homes there were
stories of us there became big huge big
block parties as we gave our neighbors
to say all you have to do is bring three
people together and we invested in the
well good
dwell of the people that are in our
place you know I was I think back on
this and I’m I’m wondering where did I
get this inspiration from why am I so
passionate about this
why are my neighbors so passionate about
this it isn’t my education not my formal
education I never graduated from high
school but I can pin this back to the
memory of my grandparents and the
stories that run through this house for
the 43 years I’ve been on this earth and
longer now my grandfather it goes that
my grandfather planted a tree when my
mother was born in 1952 they live in
Indianapolis in the swamp
they all had cinderblock houses it was a
place where the Kankakee River float
underground into a place that we call
Beck’s Lake it was also where the
hospital dumped a biohazard as the
children and that neighborhood would
walk over see no one treated them as
they were sacred now my granddad was an
artisan a storyteller his mediums
included cooking
we’re carving and singing and he was a
hell of a landscaper like people used to
go to his little square in the yard and
say do not step on Uncle bus grass aka
granddad because that’s sacred he was
kind of a neat freak
now grandmama she worked hours and hours
at food service that notre-dame and when
my mother became a team that tree
started to grow and in times of crisis
the young people were gathered around
that tree and my grandfather would
actively tells stories and do magic
tricks and as they would leave that tree
he would remind them that life is truly
abundant you see my grandfather and his
neighbors knew what was sacred now my
friends would laugh at me when I say
this but it takes this type of structure
that they were cultivating you know I
say that because most people find me the
most random person in the world but I
was at the Kettering Foundation in Ohio
and I heard Dave Matthews the president
say not now wait not Dave Matthews of
the Dave Matthews Band but the former
president of the University of Alabama
he was talking about these type of
structures him and Edgar Codd they
talked about blogs versus squares to me
it was like amoebas versus skeletons you
see it take square structures to build
this building they have schematics
they’re not flexible and they shouldn’t
be you don’t want a person like me
building this and they’re very
predictable
now blob structures are much more
complex they’re flexible they’re
seemingly unpredictable but you can move
I believe that we should use blob
structures to cultivate community but if
we’re going to do this there are some
principles there’s the structure the way
we do this in the way we first start is
we have to have a commitment to hunter
your work under your work ensure that
the practice of this culture will keep
going a hundred years after we leave
this place almost like trees now are
y’all getting the picture
you know granddad and his neighbors
built this and cultivate this type of
structure they may space for every
person in the life of the community they
may space for the contributions of their
gifts they care for the well-being of
one another
they celebrate it and more importantly
they did what I’m asking you to do they
[Applause]
[Music] you
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