Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Reflections on “Lifelines to Healing,” a new initiative of CCO in KC

"Lifelines to Health" is a beginning movement that seems to me the right mix of working on the grassroots level on a large national problem with global connections. It uses the public health model for analyzing the factors and evaluating the treatment options. And since Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination was cited, I am very impressed with the depth of preparation and professionalism of the presenters including Daniel Damon, paid organizer for Communities Creating Opportunities.

I hope to pursue this initiative personally and think it has potential appeal to Rainbow Peace & Justice generally. This meeting was held on August 19, 2013, at St. Peter's CME in KCK.

The key issue for me is reducing gun violence, and I think creating a link between black congregations where gun violence has been rampant for many years and white congregations newly aroused with Sandy Hook and Trayvon Martin may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of this generation.

My humble initiative to develop the Singing for Peace group at Rainbow is an attempt to give whites a place in this movement for social change along with our black neighbors. I hope that Rainbow P&J will be able to host a congregational workshop for Lifelines to Healing, and that we can host neighborhood "listening sessions" to get first-hand stories of gun violence in Rosedale. This is a traditional organizing technique for CCO and  has proven very effective in the push for health care reform, and I think, for pay day loans.

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