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PERSPECTIVE
- August 2004 by Sylvia L. Lovely The Demand for Innovation In one of the large home stores during recent stormy weather, a voice came over the loudspeaker: “All employees please step to the back of the store. Severe weather approaching.” With that, all the customers looked at one another and began to chuckle, wondering whether they were to leave with stuffed pockets or just leave to brave the elements on their own. Too often, community involvement works the same way. Chambers and rotaries and boards happily recruit the same old suspects – and it’s worked that way for a long time, you say. That may be so, but something new is at play: We who are proudly involved – sometimes with a bit too much pride and smugness – are looking over our shoulders and finding that no one is coming behind; no one is following. We need leaders and followers. However, when leaders are heavily weighted in one sector of the population, there is a tendency to leave all the rest with a resignation to the fate of being neither leader nor follower – of just not caring – out of a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. There are many reasons: Our population distribution has changed, leaving some towns thriving and sprawling into “generica” America, and others dying, particularly the quaint and individualistic towns in the heartland. In both instances, citizenship is not what it was and certainly not what it must be in the 21st century if our democracy is to thrive as we know it. And, there is the world in our faces. One respondent to a news survey said: “To escape the 24/7 news of grim images from around the world, we go into our houses at night, shut the door and watch reality TV to escape the real reality.” On 9/11 gauzy images of patriotism filled the airwaves. Flags were waving, people called relatives and friends long ignored and volunteerism spiked… for a while. But, it quickly went away. It is clear that to change the course of history, we must be methodical, dedicated and committed. We begin by building great communities one at a time. Then, we knit together those communities through the sharing of successes and triumphs. The connecting of one community to another over time will lead to a better region, a better state, a better nation, a better world. One example is the “Get on Board” initiative, a program sponsored by the United Way of the Bluegrass that resulted from a Lexington initiative entitled “Erasing Racism.” There are skeptics who criticize the Erasing Racism initiative, saying it was too little too late. Some argue it was no more successful than other initiatives. Yet, out of summits and community conversations on race, progress is being made. Following training sessions that will make them more qualified than their more traditional counterparts, fresh faces – most of them minority and heretofore not part of the established leadership – will be joining the boards of various Lexington organizations. The larger challenge of the 21st century citizenship will be to find peace in our lives. While our lives are now taking place on a world stage, they still revolve around simple pleasures of hometowns. We must connect to those around us and care about their well-being. The much-heralded “Information Age” has many up and downs that are being ferreted out. One significant downside is that to make a difference, our work must be loud and laden with celebrity. The good news is that it is as it has always been: The smallest of pebbles thrown into the lake can create 1,000 ripples and that is our saving grace. Sylvia L. Lovely
is executive director and CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities. |
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Copyright 1996-2004, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content
is copyright 2004, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
