Honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
by
Julie Fanselow
January 16, 2006
|
|
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
“Our whole idea was inspired by the theme ‘Telling Our Stories of Democracy’ and using study circles as a model for engaging our whole community in decision making and problem solving,” says the Rev. Mary Council-Austin,
Martin Luther King envisioned an America where people of different colors and creeds could talk, work, and pray together. He spoke of a time when the “jangling discords of our nation” could be transformed into “a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” Participants in last fall’s meeting of the Study Circles Resource Center in Northbrook, Ill., embraced this vision, too.
King’s timeless wisdom and the high-energy study circle gathering encouraged community leaders in Fond du Lac, Wis., to launch new dialogue-action circles this winter. “Our whole idea was inspired by the theme ‘Telling Our Stories of Democracy’ and using study circles as a model for engaging our whole community in decision making and problem solving,” says the Rev. Mary Council-Austin, special assistant to the president for diversity at Marian College.
On Monday morning, more than 200 Fond du Lac-area citizens from many fields -- including government, education, law enforcement and health care -- gathered at a community leadership breakfast on the Marian College campus. The King Day event was part one of a two-part kickoff that will set Fond du Lac on what Council-Austin calls “a journey of dialogue” to address three key areas: children and schools, business-education partnerships and workforce development, and developing budgets that reflect human struggles and needs.
The actual circles will begin in late February, which Council-Austin says will give organizers time to convince community leaders that action-oriented dialogues aren’t simply a feel-good exercise, but a creative process that lifts up many voices to bring substantive, mission-driven change to the way a community addresses its problems. “People are ready to do something more meaty” in a nonviolent, nonpartisan atmosphere," Council-Austin says.
The (SCRC) national gathering "helped newer programs like ours gain clarity on what is possible.”
As a special guest to the breakfast and a community worship service the night before, Fond du Lac welcomed Robert Zellner, who worked with King during the civil rights movement, and who has since been a college history professor, educational consultant, and civil rights lecturer. Zellner notes that King was active in the Highlander Folk School - now the Highlander Center - in Tennessee, which helped pioneer “learning circles.” “We now have scientific evidence that group thinking is very powerful, to combine all knowledge together, especially if there is an action component,” he says. “That would be very much in Dr. King’s philosophy.”
Wisconsin organizers actually became aware of Zellner via Dianne Rulnick, who attended the Northbrook meeting and who works with Zellner on the Southampton (New York) Town Anti-Bias Task Force. The Northbrook networking didn’t end there. Council-Austin says talking with folks from the Kansas City, Kan., study circles about their after-school programs also inspired her city’s delegation, and they hope to launch similar programs in Fond du Lac. The national gathering “helped newer programs like ours gain clarity on what is possible,” she adds.
Did you attend the SCRC national meeting? What connections did you make? Tell us your story!
Local Martin Luther King observance starts Sunday
(http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060112/FON0101/601120685&SearchID=73232439785783)
Bob Zellner
http://www.bobzellner.com/cv.htm
Highlander Center
http://www.highlandercenter.org/a-history2.asp
Learn more:
Racial Equity
Tell us your story now!