Mel King

“A Vision for Our City”

from Chain of Change: Struggles for Black Community Development.

1981: South End Press.

Where are we all going? Unless we have a vision of where

we would like to be, based on the values we consider to be

essential and indisputable, we cannot map out a plan forgetting

there, or for changing what needs to be changed to build the city

we want to live in. We cannot move ahead without an overall

philosphy or direction. Coming together around a particular

crisis or a single issue like the Viet Nam War, nuclear power or

housing is not enough. Our work for this new decade is to bring

people together to define the basic values that must underlie

each effort we undertake.

We must develop a full-scale vision of where we want to be

so that every individual, every group, can clearly see how their

work fits into the whole and contributes to the full resolution of

the issues which are shaping our times. Otherwise we will

continue to work in fragmented cells, unable to draw suste-

nance from each other, and unable to see the ultimate goals. To

My own vision, of the city we can build together, is based on

a belief that people can and want to struggle through to a better

place. I also believe that people are not content simply to survive

the rough times coming. People are seeking a higher level of

community consciousness, in the process of figuring out how to

survive and grow. My beliefs are based on several assumptions.

First, that people neither want to oppress nor to be

oppressed.

Second, that people want change that allows them to

express their creativity.

Third, that people are curious about self and others,

and seek new discoveries.

Fourth, that people want positive and humane individ-

ual and community experiences, based on love and

respect.

Fifth, that people want to be in harmony with their

environment, using the environment and technologies

to provide opportunities for needs to be met, not for

greed to be fed.

And, finally, that people want to keep a clear perspective; to

understand why we are here; and to understand our relation-

ship to the universe.

I assume that we are not there yet and know that people are

very often scared to do what is necessary to get us closer to the

vision. For me, the people who are working at making all this

come true for themselves and others are expressing the highest

form of human development, which comes from a sense of

neighborly love. We, as individuals and as community, need to

be about getting people to deal with fears which immobilize us

and bar us from our basic instincts toward growth, change and

harmony.

Our fears often are fed by the pressure of problems which

appear to be becoming more intense: scarce jobs, lack of afforda-

ble housing, food shortages, depletion of energy and other

natural resources. Fighting against these problems can be the

basis of alliances, but fears can only be alleviated if we also come

together on the basis of common commitment to internal demo-

cracy and citizen involvement. We must advocate resistance to

the deeper issues of racism, sexism, classism and exploitation.

At the same time we must not be afraid to confront difficult

issues on which alliance members have differing feelings. The

alliance will fall apart if people are unwilling to struggle through

the issues which divide as well as come together over those

items which naturally unite us.

My vision is based on the belief that people are willing to go

through the difficulties of confrontation because we know,

from experience, that being honest supports learning, growth,

and liberation based on humane values. The main purpose, the

main value behind so much of our struggle, past, future and

present is to create "community." By that we mean the human

context in which people can live and feel nutured, sustained,

involved and stimulated. Community is the continual process of

getting to know people, caring and sharing responsibility for the

physical and spiritual condition of the living space.

Why then is "community" so important? It is a matter of

humanity. Creating and maintaining community is the best way

to meet people's needs. People relate better, more completely in

a community. Working with their neighbors people can accomp-

lish an amazing amount of good which simply will not happen

under an impersonal government program. We need to make

use of the person next door and not depend on people outside

the community to solve our problems and satisfy our needs.

People flourish in a more personal environment, their strengths

can be cultivated, their weaknesses can be improved upon, with

the support of neighbors who possess complementary skills and

strengths. "Community" counteracts the frustration, deper-

sonalization and fragmentation which our current society for-

ces on people.

"Community" is important for establishing a common

bondedness, for creating a sense of identity, for maintaining and

creating cultural continuity, for giving social expression to one-

self as a part of a larger whole. "Community" promotes self-

development beyond the immediate family, toward involve-

ment in ever-widening breadths of community, city, state,

nation, world, and universe. "Community" is the base from

which people can begin to understand what else is going on in

the world.

The impact of foreign policy is felt in heating oil prices and

gasoline costs; land values change on the basis of city and

national policy. Food prices shift with the truckers' strike over

fuel prices. All of these forces make more sense if a person is

involved in a "community" where there is some possibility of

reacting with unity and creativity as such problems threaten the

stability of the whole "community."

The smaller size and potential familiarity of the neighbor-

hood makes it more possible for people to take interest in what is

going on, whether it is a neighborhood band, sports teams, the

repair of sidewalks or streets, or the budget for major commun-

ity projects. The neighborhood is a base and stepping stone to

broadening involvement.

If it is these human aspects of community which are most

crucial, the definition of community development immediately

takes on dimensions quite different from the traditional urban

renewal or bringing in new industry. Community development must

lean heavily on human development --the most natural ingredient

for developing the best possible resources in a community are

the people themselves. It is not the physical structures, or the

dollar signs that count in the end, but the way people feel about

themselves, each other and the place they live.

Using a people-oriented definition of development, a com-

munity becomes more developed as it becomes more diverse,

incorporating more cultural and ethnic traditions, and develop-

ing the skills and confidence to solve their own problems.

Long ago, in the first New Urban League Black Paper writ-

ten in the summer of 1967, we sketched out our definition of

community and development,

We envision a community in which technology, mate-

rialism, the profit motive and notions of "progress"

take a back seat to humanism and human dignity.

We envision a community in which there evolves a

new morality based on the richness of human possibili-

ties and the depth of human communication and self-

respect.

"Community control," a vision for the Boston Black com-

munity since the decade of the Sixties, is not a simple idea. It

means, in my mind, people taking responsibility for making

decisions in their communities. On the one hand, this involves a

collective approach to all community problems and issues:

working together. On the other hand, from a personal perspec-

tive, taking responsibility entails understanding that you have

not got it made until you can help others to get where you

are or beyond. Otherwise you will always be defending what

you've got, and you cannot work with other people under those

circumstances. As people work together and look out for each

other, those most in need will be able to rise up, pushing all of

society in an upward, forward movement. In this sense respon-

sibility means looking out for yourself through looking out for

others.

Ideally, a community approach to problem solving involves

the greatest number of people possible. The more people

involved, the more creative the solutions will be and the greater

likelihood of people participating directly in shaping their com-

munities and themselves. In reality, however, it is difficult to

organize many people and to set up systems which encourage so

much involvement. If we want to develop such a community

problem solving process, we have to learn more about group

dynamics.

These definitions say a lot about how we want our city to

look even with the politics of scarcity pressuring us. In my mind,

the community we envision, pieces of which we have been

building for years, will be constructed around these values:

Sharing: people freely offering to each other what they

have, knowing that they will be able to do more, in the end, and

to have more for everyone, if resources and skills are pooled.

Decisions about distributing and utilizing our resources are the

most difficult we will face in the 1980's. We must have a sense of

interdependence, abandoning the idea that every person can

make it on his or her own. It has never been true, despite our

American mythology; even the Pilgrims desperately needed the

Native Americans to survive. It has been that way right from

the beginning. Only when we admit that we are all in this

together will resources be distributed equitably.

Compassion: people empathizing with each other, knowing

that so long as one person is hungry or enslaved or oppressed,

we are all diminished. The situation in South Africa is compell-

ing because we know that if it is possible there, it could happen

to us here, too. Active opposition to that oppression is the only

effective and meaningful expression of compassion.

Creativity: people using their skills and talents fully, to

solve problems rather than to make money or to beat someone

else out. We are clever enough to solve problems in ways that

will benefit us all by creating jobs or products we need. An

intensive energy and water conservation campaign could pro-

vide a significant number of jobs, while making it possible to

save a noticeable proportion of the amount of energy and water

now consumed. Composting organic wastes can produce topsoil

for city greening and food production (trees and shrubs also

reduce energy consumption and improve air quality). Compost-

ing would help solve the increasing problem of urban waste

disposal. Incineration of other wastes can produce heat which

can generate electricity, or, used directly, heat buildings or

provide steam for industrial purposes. Co-generation is a tech-

nical term for maximizing the energy from one function (such

as incineration) by using otherwise wasted heat to generate

electricity or steam for other purposes. The term should be

applied to many other efforts that we should undertake to

coordinate and cooperate in problem solving creatively.

Respect: people recognizing the value of other people and

our other natural resources. It is vital to our survival that we

return to respecting the earth and the incredibly delicate and

complex natural systems which we continue to abuse (although

they have shown remarkable resilience, they do not have infi-

nite endurance for abuse). We breathe this air, too, and people of

color need to be a part of anti-nuclear battles and all other

efforts to safeguard the condition of our environment. Our

technology is only as good as we make it; the ultimate responsi-

bility for its consequences falls on each of us, whether inventor,

operator, or bystander. We must respect each other: