Community Voices producer Omopé Carter Daboiku considers community, she sees a plurality. Her reflections take us from eastern Ohio to the Miami Valley.
Omopé Carter Daboiku: Community, it's what we make it. According to Wikipedia, a community is any group of people bound by something in common, like language or culture, or a particular interest such as a sport or art form. Those gathered in Ironton, Ohio, my hometown, for its 155th Memorial Day Parade, are bound together by civic tradition. Subscribers to Performance Series could be considered a community. I know many social media users feel they are in community with others and even develop a unique language amongst themselves.
In reality, we can be part of several communities at once, either overlapping like Venn diagrams, or in separate circles, extending from our own self interest. Personally, I belong to several communities, geographers, historians, Earth stewards, advocates for social and environmental justice. In each of them, I find emotional support and inspiration.
However, the word 'community' often invokes an entire city's population in relationship to its government, a kind of 'us and them, push me, pull you' situation where prickly edges make for raveled relationships. When this happens, instead of creating a social quilt made of civic contributions, citizens can find themselves pitted against each other in strained competition for limited resources. When this happens, the sense of unity is shattered, and individuals may feel stranded, alone and hopeless. The dilemma is not just local — its global. But repair has to begin on the local level.
As we continue to manifest our 21st century of recorded human history, my ask is that all communities have decent housing and affordable healthy food. Daytonians and humans all over the world should be valued and educated well enough to understand and participate in decision making that affects us collectively.
I ask that we give all children a sense of purpose, self-worth and multiple opportunities to find their superpowers so they can contribute to the advancement of our society.
With intentionality, we can weave a web of civic unity, a beloved community that is as responsive and resilient as mother spiders, beautiful examples. I know we can make it. I know that we can. I know we can work it out.
West Dayton Stories is produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices and is supported by CityWide Development Corporation. For more information on the project, visit wyso.org.
