When We All Get Together ...

What a day of rejoicing it will be!

The most Wonderful Things Happen on the Way to Peace ... people unite in solidarity, problems get solved, and questions are answered. In the midst of this wonderful place where wonderful things happen, people walk their talk and make a difference. Oh, what a day of rejoicing it will be when people can actually believe in that most Wonderful Thing! called peace. The truth is that it is what we believe does become the change we wish to see. For some, you have to see it to believe it, but for visionaries such as our ancestors, Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they had to first Believe. My friend, Audria Scott Williams, a modern-day visionary--believes. That is why she spearheaded the 13 Moonwalk 4 Peace and why she joined community leaders, activists and others in a walk around Houston. For several days, the mantra was "pass the peace so that peace can increase."

     I believe the children are our future. But, as one of my mentors helped us to understand (thanks, DeLloyd Parker), actually we are our children's future and unless we start believing that we can create a brighter future, it won't--can't happen. In Houston, David DeFabo took two young Houstonians under his wing and gave them cameras. David and Kayla took their jobs seriously as they participated in the Houston walk through Third Ward. The idea for this initiative is called "Through the Eyes of a Child" and for the rest of the walk (through 11-11-11), children across the country will be photographing their communities and showing the world the best and sometimes the worst of what they are inheriting. This is also about preparation. The children learn that they have ideas and can use their gifts and talents for the good.
     Many know that communities around the U.S. are struggling in a variety of ways. Unemployment is high. Housing is expensive and too many homes have been foreclosed on. There are such disparities between the poor and the rich that the middle class is suffering more than ever before. Yes, too many are falling through the different cracks of society because we have not figured it out. However, much of our problems can be solved if we'd put our heads together. Problems are being solved in certain pockets of the Houston community and we are seeing families that do more than survive, but thrive.

     One such community organization is Shape Community Center. Like its name, its mission is to shape lives and build communities because they believe that "strong families make a strong nation." There are so many ways that problems are being solved, and so many ways that people are working together. So, where are these stories? How do we learn to take what is constructive and replicate it in other communities?
     In Atlanta during the first two weeks of this new decade, Audri and I, along with friends and colleagues in Houston, Texas proved that that communities can unite. And in the midst of these events in Houston, Texas, my friend Sister Mama Sonya came up with an idea: A Bus Walk to Atlanta, Georgia on 11-11-11! You gotta believe it to see it. She saw it. And now we have, too. It is catching, after all.
     So, this is just a tease. We've got a plan and are working to make it more and more of a reality. We know that we have all been on this journey to meet one another in an explosion of peacemaking like never before. Ready for the ride? Stay tune and we'll tell you more.
     Peace. Peacemaking is a reality.