Redeeming Hope - Our Way Back Archives

"Our Way Back" archive

Thoughts on Our Way Back - Dateline Youngstown (14:50) - Last week I saw the face of America’s future, and it was a good one. Most of us know Youngstown, Ohio, for everything it has lost over the years; now, we can take a cue from something it has gained. Get to know the new mayor, Jay Williams. In 1999, my colleagues and I wrote a report with the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation about Youngstown, entitled Waiting for the Future. Back then... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Thoughts on Our Way Back – Dateline Atlanta (15:59) - Earlier this week I had the good fortune of meeting an angel. Her name no less was Katrina. She brought a message about the poverty in our midst. Katrina – or Miss Trina as local folks like to call her – is a slim African American woman who works in the tucked away, poverty-ridden Atlanta neighborhood of Pittsburgh. She makes her home just one neighborhood over. After my talk on Tuesday night, Katrina showed me... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thoughts on Our Way Back – Dateline Newark (11:47) - Yesterday, the headline of USA Today’s top story read, “Katrina inspires record charity.” That’s great – but as I sit in Newark, NJ, I know it’s not enough. We are a society that is awfully good at charity, but not nearly good enough at change. I have long believed that Americans are a generous and compassionate lot. Our response to 9/11 was heart-warming. Now, after the Asian Tsunami and then Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma,... | 0 Comments

Thoughts on Our Way Back – Dateline Pittsburgh /Portland (10:52) - I want to return to a topic I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, and which keeps coming up in my travels across the country: the trap of becoming mechanistic in our public work. Last week, I was in Pittsburgh to talk with state directors and senior staff of the national organization Communities in Schools; this is an incredibly dedicated group of people working to make sure that all kids are prepared for their... | 0 Comments

Thoughts on Our Way Back - Dateline Las Vegas (15:29) - During one of my book events this week in Las Vegas, a person asked me about how I see race playing into the issues surrounding the people’s retreat from public life and politics. I believe it plays a big role, and it is an issue we must squarely address in our society. | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thoughts on Our Way Back - Dateline Las Vegas (13:45) - As I travel the country talking about Hope Unraveled and the conditions of American public life and politics, inevitably someone asks, “It’s all so overwhelming, what could I ever do to make a difference?” The negative conditions we face, and the sheer magnitude of the challenge, can be overwhelming. I remember a woman from Richmond, VA., one of the people I interviewed for the book in 1998, turning to me and saying, “If you look... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Thoughts on Our Way Back - Dateline Seattle (19:14) - I’m writing from Seattle where I released my new book, Hope Unraveled: The People’s Retreat and Our Way Back. What strikes me most in my conversations with people is the extent to which we have become mechanistic in our response to a fundamentally human condition. Here’s what I mean. Over the last four days, I have been attending the national Conference on Foundations Community Foundation annual conference. I have spent 15-hour days talking with community... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments