A life of social commitment

Action matters; communities count

Author and activist Paul Loeb comes to Sullivan County

By SANDY LONG

sandylong@riverreporter.com

BETHEL, NY — Another notable person will be making his way to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, for yet another noteworthy event. Author and activist Paul Rogat Loeb will address an audience of community activists at the Sullivan Renaissance Conference and Expo slated for February 3 at the new Bethel Woods Interpretive Center.

Loeb has authored five books, lectured at 400 colleges and universities across the country, spoken at numerous conferences and written for publications like The New York Times, Washington Post, The Village Voice and Utne Reader. His work has been covered by the Associated Press and United Press International and cited in Congressional debates. He has participated in more than 1,000 television and radio appearances.

Loeb’s latest book, “The Impossible Will Take a Little While,” was named the number three political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, and won the Nautilus Award for best social change book of the year.

Loeb will focus his Sullivan Renaissance address on the issues explored in his book, “Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time,” which examines what it takes to lead lives of social commitment despite the many challenges activists face. “We all have our own distinct gifts, strengths, and opportunities to make our lives count. We all have our particular fears, flaws and constraints. But no one kind of person is responsible for healing all the wounds of the world. That has to be a common task. The challenge is to ask what we want to stand for, and to do our best to act on our beliefs,” writes Loeb.

Sullivan Renaissance

The 2007 conference theme, “From Soul to Solar,” will provide “inspiration, tools and resources” to Sullivan County volunteers as they plan actions to improve their communities through wide-ranging projects. Now beginning its seventh year, Sullivan Renaissance is a grant program funded by the Beaverkill Foundation and the Gerry Foundation that awards seed money for beautification projects through a competitive process. The program has funded 167 projects throughout the six villages and 15 towns of Sullivan County.

In addition to enhancing the appearance of Sullivan County, the program aims to promote a sense of pride and spirit in the community. In the past year alone, the work has ignited the combined efforts of more than 3,000 volunteers and numerous businesses, elected officials and organizations.

For Sandra Gerry, chair of the Sullivan Renaissance Steering Committee, inviting Loeb to provide the address made perfect sense, since the many community accomplishments that have come about are the results of actions taken by volunteers who decided to get involved. “Community development starts in one’s neighborhood,” notes Gerry. “From there it can be taken to a broader context. Paul Loeb will help participants assess the great work they’re doing and how they’re getting the next generation of leaders to step up.”

Loeb has written that, “Mobilizing our villages to address larger issues can give us the strength to change political and economic policies. We also gain a community of support, which eases the inevitable frustrations of working for social change. When we don’t act through organized communities, our voices are far less effective... engaged communities teach us that change comes only when we climb the mountain together.”

In bringing this message to Sullivan County, Loeb intends to examine some of the obstacles that keep people from becoming involved. “I’ll be talking about ways that ordinary citizens have been able to effect change. I’ll discuss the notion of ‘the perfect standard,’ the myth that you need to know everything about an issue and be an expert before you begin. That’s disempowering. It’s a significant barrier, and it shouldn’t be. The key is to be willing to learn as you go. Don’t be daunted. Persist.”

The pressure of perfection and the lack of time

Other inhibitors include uncertainty over our ability to deliver what might be asked of us. In his book, Loeb reminds us that while we are waiting for the point when we feel up to the task, months and years can pass by. “The wonder is that when we do begin to act, we often gain the knowledge, confidence and strength to continue.”

Another stumbling block is limited time. Loeb points out that many of us hesitate to act because we’re busy raising children, paying bills and holding down jobs. But our very involvement gives our children a real-life example of what it is to act. As Loeb puts it, “We best serve our children not by hiding from the world, but by giving them models of ways to live with courage and integrity. . . The more they see us responding to the world’s problems, the more they gain a sense of hope and purposefulness.”

Loeb believes that living our own truths within the realities and restrictions of our daily lives is ultimately a gift to those who follow. “If we want our children to lead lives of commitment and compassion, they’re going to need tangible examples of people who act on their convictions with courage and integrity. They’ll need to feel confident speaking out on controversial issues, negotiating conflicts, and cooperating with others.”

It takes a community

Enjoining our actions with those of others strengthens the outcome and helps communities to define their own futures. As Gerry explains in relation to the positive outcomes fostered by Sullivan Renaissance, “By joining with others, we can make a broader impact. By working together, we can raise awareness and get different parts of the county to come to the table to solve the various challenges we face.”

As Loeb writes, “All of us care about something, so there’s no better way to get our fellow citizens involved than to draw out their deepest concerns and ask them to think about public choices that affect their families, communities, and hopes for a better common future.”

At the conference, Loeb will encourage participants to take the messages back into their communities as they work toward defining goals and strategies to achieve them. “Let’s look at our community and ask what’s strong about it, where do we need help, what resources exist to address these problems? How do we challenge our elected officials to open up new possibilities?” asks Loeb. “A community can lead on lots of levels—locally, and by working with elected and corporate leaders.”

Loeb believes that such self-assessment occurs on the personal level as well, that people who choose to act are typically those who want to be satisfied with the person they see in the mirror.

For Loeb, it’s about making choices that can make a difference. “Whatever our situations, we all face a choice. We can ignore the problems that lie just beyond our front doors; we can allow decisions to be made in our name that lead to a meaner and more desperate world. We can yell at the TV newscasters and complain about how bad things are, using our bitterness as a hedge against involvement. Or we can work, as well as we can, to shape a more generous future.”

Loeb is an Affiliate Scholar at Seattle’s Center for Ethical Leadership (www.ethicalleadership.org), a non-profit leadership development and training organization. Additional information on Loeb’s work is available at paulloeb.org.