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On October 10, 1911 – 100 years ago today – California held a special election to consider a variety of political reforms such as:

• Should women have the right to vote?  (This had been on the ballot 15 years earlier in 1896 but it didn’t pass).
• Should the public have the ability to put citizens initiatives on the ballot for approval directly by the voters?
• Should voters have the right to recall politicians they do not like?
• Should voters have the right to over turn laws that they do not like?

California voters did approve the reforms for “direct democracy.”  These were in response to a political system seen as in thrall to special interests. But 100 years (and 348 initiatives) later, while Californians poll as wanting to keep these rights, many also recognize how the initiative system in particular has ironically become its own victim of special interests. The folks at PPIC have prepared a quick primer on public attitudes and potential reforms for California’s initiative process.

And, yes, one hundred years ago today, voters also gave women the right to vote in California.  But it was a cliffhanger.  Early results looked like it was not going to pass.  But as the votes were counted, the tide finally turned.  It came down to just about a one vote difference per precinct which made California the sixth state that gave women this right and doubled the number of female voters.  That helped create the momentum to give all U.S. women the right to vote in 1920.

There are many ways to celebrate this important anniversary. Many communities and historical museums have activities and exhibits honoring women earning the right to vote. Prominent government reformers will be gathering at an all day conference in Sacramento to discuss how to improve direct democracy.  Also in Sacramento today, we’ll be celebrating this anniversary by helping lead voting and civic engagement workshops at the VALUE adult learner leadership conference in Sacramento.  I believe there’s no more appropriate place to be.  As VALUE USA President Faye Combs has shared, “I was an active voter for years.  But I always relied on my husband’s recommendations.  It wasn’t until I had the Easy Voter Guide that I was able to make my own decisions.” Let’s celebrate the rights of all citizens to vote AND to get nonpartisan information that helps them be independent voters.

CKG Associate Mony Flores-Bauer shared this update:

My husband and I hosted our neighborhood’s  “National Night Out” on August 2nd. It’s been our pleasure to organize and host this for four years now and it gets bigger each year. Our goal is to promote “more partnerships among residents and police departments, reduce crime and increase neighborhood spirit.”

This year we had about 60 adults and 30 children in our front driveway and garage — new neighbors and long standing neighbors all getting acquainted. As always, the visit from a shiny police car and a tour of a big fire truck were the highlight of the evening.

Neighborhood map

Our City Councilmember Jane Brunner was among the early arrivees as she had
dozens of National Night Out events happening that evening in her district. Here’s a short video clip of her comment about creating a safe neighborhood via “National Night Out.” Something as simple as helping people to get know their neighbors and neighborhood can make a big difference.

At Common Knowledge Group, we try to walk our own talk about community building.  Susan started an annual neighborhood barbecue ten years ago and now residents rely on the gathering as an important way to stay caught up with each other and local developments.  A Pew Report published last summer showed that 19% of Americans know all of their neighbors and another 24% know most.  But that means that close to 3/5 do not have strong knowledge of their neighbors.  Talking face to face was the primary source people had for getting information about what was happening in their community.

Adult literacy students across California are participating in ALLI, the Adult Literacy Leadership Institute, sponsored by the California State Library.  ALLI is completely peer led, with the prior year’s participants leading the sessions for a new class. The ALLI learners have undertaken advocacy for literacy, created educational videos in Spanish and English about voting and community involvement, led voting workshops and stepped out in their communities.

These are busy men and women, working jobs, supporting families and extended families and squeezing in class and tutor time to build their reading, writing and language skills.  Yet they are also active in their communities, volunteering in many settings, helping at local schools,  speaking out to help others.

“If I could volunteer 24/7, I would. You get to find out who you are.”  – Larry Washington, ALLI learner

Check out all four new videos from the ALLI team:

• Get Involved in Your Community
• Volunteer at Your Local School
• Speak Out for Literacy
• ALLI:  Learners Becoming Leaders

This spring and summer, our colleague Emily Thompson provided invaluable support — especially on the new videos and bi-lingual interviews – before she went back to graduate school. She brought some background in community engagement but had little exposure to the processes of local government.  We found her reactions helpful and refreshing:

The experience of my first public hearing was completely different than what I had imagined. I pictured a big, round, wooden table in the middle of a room, with both the public officials and various community members spread out around it. In my version of the public hearing, everyone played more or less the same role in determining what actions were best for the community; everyone was able to share their opinions, make corrections and offer ideas.

When I visited a public hearing about affordable housing one afternoon, the scene was nothing like what I had visualized earlier. At the end of the hall, the public officials sat up high facing the public behind a long table. Members of the community were scattered below around the auditorium. A single microphone stood on a small podium, facing the housing committee, away from the rest of the community. I felt anonymous and anxious.

I was a little late so I missed the introductions and they did not have their names in front of them. Who were these people?  After a while it was clear to me that if I wanted to contribute anything to the meeting, I would have to go up to the front of the room and search through the stacks of papers, written using words and acronyms I didn’t understand. I would have to collect my thoughts into one well-crafted, brief, cohesive statement, and I would have to do it in their language, on their terms, because I wouldn’t get a second chance. The physical space felt exclusionary, as if the room itself was divided between “us” (the people) and “them.”

But shouldn’t we be working together? Instead of fostering an “us vs. them” mentality, how can “we” (all of us) create spaces that are more welcoming and participatory dialogues that promote mutual understanding?

I see potential in changing the format of public hearings and City Council Meetings:  using language that is accessible to everyone, meeting in places and at times that are not only convenient for the larger community, but comfortable for them, too, and allowing people to speak up more than once -facing their friends and supporters as well as the board. These are all ways to help eliminate the physical and psychological divide between Board members and community members.

Beatriz Garcia, community leader in Novato, CA, talks about her transformation from isolation to engagement, and how her library-based literacy program helped.

I wasn’t happy with myself being at home, in my house, watching TV. I thought, this is not something that’s good for me, I want something more, I want to grow. When we feel isolated, we need to look for help. At first I was embarrassed. I thought I should do it by myself, that it’s not okay to ask for help.  But I was wrong.  We need other people.

I knew about the Marin Literacy Program at the library. When I started with my tutor Harriet she inspired me a lot and pushed me to do things that I’d never think to do before. She asked me what things were pushing me down, and I said because I didn’t speak English. She said, “But you can speak English now!” I was very unsure of myself, and she helped me with my self-esteem, I didn’t want to be hiding under my rock, I wanted to go out.

Now I feel like a bird out of a cage, because I can do many things that I didn’t do before.

First I registered to take classes at College of Marin to learn English, then I started a new job and working to become a citizen.  My tutor helped with the whole process and all the applications, practicing my conversation so that I would feel confident at my interview. Then the next step was to get my drivers license. Now I feel like a bird out of a cage, because I can do many things that I didn’t do before. I can work, I can drive myself there and I can communicate, that’s the best part. My son has helped me a lot because I want him to be proud of me. You have to be an example for your son and be proud of yourself.

I am working as an assistant in the Montessori school helping the teacher. At the school I help them with reading, putting together and preparing information that goes home, and translating all the information, making sure everything is in English and Spanish. There are a lot of parents that don’t speak English, and I help them talk to the secretary and principal, as a translator. If they have concerns, they come to me. Now I am working hard at school to become a registered nurse.

All the time I am looking for things that I need because maybe other people need the same as me. At first I hesitated to ask for help, but people want to help. I’m not afraid to ask now.

Beatriz is also the PTA president of her son’s school. She started a homework club after school and next year plans to help open a day care program there as well.

Beatriz is a graduate of the Adult Learner Leadership Institute and serves as a peer mentor to other adult learners.  She also received an award from WE LEARN and has been published in Women’s Perspectives: A Journal of Writing & Art by Adult Learners. Check it out here!

Some of you may have read Richard Louv’s earlier book Last Child in the Woods where he introduced the concept of “nature deficit disorder” that affects children.  I’ve been enjoying his new book The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder which also talks about how badly adults need contact with nature for their health, sanity and to keep our creativity alive.

Yes, we are living in an exciting time technology-wise which is concurrently increasing our need to replenish ourselves with time in the natural world.  Think about this from Louv (p.38): “We may be developing a hybrid mind. The ultimate multitasking will be to live simultaneously in both the digital and the physical world, using computers to maximize our powers to process intellectual data and natural environments to ignite all of our senses and accelerate our ability to learn and to feel; in this way, we could combine the “primitive” powers of our ancestors with the digital speed of our teenagers.”

I also highly recommend my colleague Catriona MacGregor’s book Partnering with Nature which just won a Gold Medal in the Nautilus book awards.

Organizing Parent Leaders in Richmond, CA from New America Media on Vimeo.

Politicians are strange creatures, says politician Omar Ahmad. And the best way to engage them on your pet issue is a monthly handwritten letter. Ahmad shows why old-fashioned correspondence is more effective than email, phone or even writing a check — and shares the four simple steps to writing a letter that works.

Local politics — schools, zoning, council elections — hit us where we live. So why don’t more of us actually get involved? Is it apathy? Dave Meslin says no. He identifies 7 barriers that keep us from taking part in our communities, even when we truly care.