Simi Valley: The Successfulness Of A Community

What is a Beloved Community? The term first originates from use in the early twentieth century, coined by Philosopher-Theologian Josiah Royce. The Term has, however, just recently received much attention due to great civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. To the King, A Beloved Community was a “ Critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence”. It is an idea meant to be “a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth”. Martin Luther King Junior aimed to end three main “Evils”. These Evils are modernly known as: Poverty, Racism, and Militarism. However as utopian as the idea may sound, the king acknowledged that there would always be inevitable conflict in

In the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman there are many different characters, and even some of them cross paths. A community garden was started in Cleveland Ohio just by one person therefore everyone follows. They all learn how to get along with other people, how to not stereotype so much, and how to depend on each other in their community. All of them struggle with something, whether it's with family, friends, or feeling stereotyped. They learn the importance of a community, and realize how much they really depend on each other. Seedfolks shows that having a community is important for all people to incorporate diversity, culture,and unique stories into their lives. You don't realize how much people depend on their community until its gone. The importance of a community is shown through the characters and shown by how they act, what they say, overall how they are perceived by other people.

A community is a place where people around supposed to be able to live and thrive together. When one thinks of a community, the image that most likely is visualized is one of a place where each person lives harmoniously with all the other members of that community. While this may be the typical image of a community, it is not the realistic view. In reality communities can share both good and bad aspects. In Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom make the argument that the place a person lives ultimately matters over all else; the place which a person lives effects the choices that that he/she makes and determines his/her ability to obtain a

I’m going to give the example of when I enrolled to southwestern college, here they offer me financial help, places such as the library and bookstore that I can get the materials that I need to progress in my work, they offer me help if I plan to transfer and many other things. That is an example of how I rely in this community to support me. This sample shows us too how can a community helps the individual and the great feedback it takes from it. But it can have negative effect, because communities can also assist us in negative behaviors our

Personal behaviors are largely shaped by social pressures—this statement holds more as fact than as theory. Evidently, communities pose as a positive. Why else would they exist if they were not believed to be advantageous? Communities stand as collective forces much stronger than individual forces and additionally, communities exist as oases of social comfort helping one another express emotions and gain acceptance. These positive aspects are blatantly obvious, and there really is no need to further investigate these pros within communities. Instead, there should lie more concern around the proponents of communities that are not obvious: their deleterious effects on the individual. As great as they are, communities also strip away individuality

”For example Patel claims, “...Washington’s ethic, the three pillars on which he believed a diverse democracy would thrive”(patel, 5). This quote dialogue illustrates that if the public is not linked together then they will easily fall apart, therefore, being together will make this nation be successful. This is critical because the United States cannot function if society is separated and in order to accomplish obstacles successfully the nation as a whole must stick together, no matter the different races and opinions within. A moreover example that proves both the author’s point is when Patel asserts,”This nation could well have been a house divided, but today we stand as one…”(Patel, 6). This quote describes that the people as a whole has decided to stand together because in the end when the nation is united the people will accomplish great things. This imperative because being a whole nation is better than being a separated nation due to the fact that the U.S functions properly when it is

It is inevitable that America would not be where it is today if the nation had not celebrated diversity. From the article, “Making the Future Better, Together,” Eboo Patel states that, “America’s genius is to give its diversity of citizens a stake in the well being of the nation,” and goes on to say, “this nation could well have been a house divided, but today we stand as one- that has everything to do with how a previous generation, led my Abraham Lincoln, acted.” In other words, Patel believes that certain events in history contributed to the common good of the country that has affected us in numerous positive ways. For example, marches and protests in the past promoting anti-segregation laws, some of them led by Martin Luther King Jr. himself as pointed out by Patel, have been successful by the

What is the importance of community? Please talk about your experience with working with diverse groups of people and how you interact with others that are different from you in a community setting.

Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.

What is the relationship between the individual and the community? In a community, citizens try to build up the community by working together and share a common goal. The idea behind community building tries to persuade people into providing for their community and be actively apart in building one another up. The purpose of community building is for the community to share a common goal, like people sharing the same beliefs. By bringing forth our individual ideas, together we can build up the community.

“Supporting a strong sense of community” - conflict and lack of collaboration because the team members cannot negotiation together as a team;

As new variations of ‘community’ programs and ‘community’ engagement emerge, many programs and organizations have been created for the so-called betterment of society. The term ‘community’ is particularly vague and value-laden; it is often a term that glosses over the social, economic and cultural differentiation of localities or peoples (Head, 2007). Local communities and community organizations can contribute to the process of social change, but one problem is that the term ‘social change’ can signify different meanings (DeFilippis et al, 2010). For example from the standpoint of this course, we would determine social change as a dismantling and restructuring of the current status quo, but on the other hand certain organizations could describe

community is what the common good revolves around. Focusing on the community as a whole and

The meaning of community covers many areas that are very important to me. First of all, community starts with my family. My parents play a big part in my community, because they have shown me the good and bad things hidden in the surroundings. I remember all the fun times my family and I have had. I remember the days when my parents would wake up early in the morning and take me to the school so I can be there for my band rehearsals, practices or sectionals. I have asked myself why I do not see my parents having a social life. Then I understand now that by taking me and my sister to school day by day as well as the church on Sundays, I realized their commitment in continuing with the support to us, their love and caring. This

Through this class, I understand the general gist of what controls the community in terms of power, organizational strength, and political influences. I have learned about what factors into certain decisions that community members make and what the recent outlook of community participation is. Even though I learned that community participation and involvement in organizations has declined over the past years, it is hopeful to find ways to combat this social apathy that is happening in America today. I enjoyed learning about strategies to help groups of people interact and create an active and responsive community power. The Greene and Haines text was well-organized, strategic, direct, and practical to the subject matter.