Citizen Solution: How You Can Make A Difference

6. ISAIAH’s Worldview

6ISAIAH’s Worldview A broad, bipartisan citizen group skilled at tackling tough public problems shows how attention to the cultural and values dimensions of issues can generate new power and energy. O  , ,        election, more than four thousand members of the  group gathered at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul to proclaim their faith in democracy.  is a multiracial, nonpartisan, economically diverse organization with eighty member Protestant and Catholic congregations in the Twin Cities and its suburbs and in St. Cloud, a small city fifty miles away. The event testified both to the diversity of ’s membership and the clout and effectiveness of the organization. A delegation came from African American congregations in the St. Cloud affiliate, the Great River Interfaith Partnership (), fresh from a successful campaign against racial profiling that had resulted in agreements with the police department to curb the practice. Thirteen St. Paul congregations celebrated their role in the selection of a new St. Paul police chief. St. Paul  had recently also pressed successfully for a Hmongspeaking advocate on domestic violence in the police department. Twenty-six member congregations in Minneapolis reflected on their C H A P T E R T I T L E • 89 neighborhood outreach initiative, a series of discussions and one-onone meetings with communities in the city to discover issues for action, launched the previous June. The eight congregations of ’s northwest suburban caucus publicized their success in preventing a growth-management plan under consideration by the planning commission , which in their view would have severely decreased the number of affordable housing units for low- and moderate-income families. Suburban church ladies mingled with inner-city residents. Fifteen hundred people came from Our Lady of Guadalupe, Ascension, Santo Rosario, and a dozen other Latino churches. More than forty state legislators were there, mixing with church bishops and business and labor leaders. The mood was upbeat and also, often, challenging. “In one of the most divisive and contentious election seasons in recent history, there has been a tremendous focus by media and political parties on what divides us,” read the press release. The group opened with an old internationalist hymn, “A Song of Peace” (“This is my home, the country where my heart is, / Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine, / But other hearts in other lands are beating, / With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine”). The program included music by South African partners. It adjourned to “America the Beautiful.” The opening liturgy struck a note of unity: “People of God, we are not alone. God calls us out of our isolation into a powerful community where the values of our faith will be heard and will be seen. . . . We need no longer tolerate injustice , oppression, and exploitation.” Scripture readings included a passage from the Koran. The design of the gathering was intended to illustrate public life itself—showing the possibilities for alliances among a mix of different interests and views. It also aimed to get out the vote for the coming election. Most importantly, it launched what leaders called a Faith in Democracy Campaign. The campaign addresses four issues intended to advance toward “a Minnesota with justice for all.” At the gathering, plans were shared for a public education effort aimed at 90 • T H E C I T I Z E N S O L U T I O N more state funding for schools. The public transportation campaign sought to “invest in a transportation system that works for all of us, including those without cars.” The domestic violence initiative called for more funding to keep shelters open and provide services to victims. And, in anticipation of what would be a growing focus on immigration reform over the next two years, the civil rights for immigrants initiative called for passage of the Minnesota  Act that would allow immigrant children to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. It also called for public conversations across the state “to produce immigration reform that addresses systemic problems, inequities, and injustices .” Jacqueline Belzer, Latino organizer for , followed up with dialogues.1  is characteristic of broad-based citizen organizations, as they are called, distinctive citizen groups with a populist flavor that have spring up over the last generation in cities across the country. I have heard similar issues and themes discussed in many such gatherings. Current generation broad...