The People, Yes is about hitting the streets (shelters, jails and other avenues found on the other side of the digital divide) to find new voices to add flavor to a local community blogosphere.
More than ten years into this Age of Information, large populations of people exist around the world without either the means or know-how to operate online, thereby greatly reducing their individual opportunities to participate in a wired, networked, global economy.
Just as important (if not more so) as community conversations move from town halls into the online space, these same men and women become sequestered from political, topical and personal conversations that shape their neighborhoods, towns, cities and districts.
With a lower socio-economic status and a intense daily grind to simply keep afloat, people can become lost in the shuffle, marginalized, and in many cases, forced to participate in a service-based economy in order to survive, let alone advance.
Who has time to dream or simply hear their own voice within the context and constraints of these conditions?
The People, Yes has similar aspirations to Global Voices, but with two significant differences:
We're creating both an organization and a platform to develop and extend community relationships from online to the real and back again. By enabling people who are interested in sharing their personal experiences and POV's with the world via a collaborative blog -- and one day a social network -- we hope to bring attention to an under-represented slice of local community.
(shot by Mikey aka DaSkinnyBlackMan)
Our hope is that the entire community will benefit from the contribution of unheard voices, perspectives and dreams. As new voices join the mix, stereotypes will begin to shift, issues can be examined in a new light and cross-community consensus can be forged out of a newfound mesh of diverse online personalities.
As participation grows and the blog gains a greater footprint online, we plan on developing a sponsorship and donation model:
We also plan on applying for grants & funds that can further our efforts.
Finding people who have severe DD status (i.e. homeless, incarcerated, etc.) isn't tough. What's tough is the follow-up and support necessary to teach digital skills and keep their voices active. At some point we plan to create digital mentor programs so Greensboro citizens can volunteer their time and become one-to-one mentors.
Money: My one developer buddy is building the blog in his (less than) free time, but all *platform ideas* are sitting on the shelf. I'm hitting the streets when I can, but due to my consulting work, I have very limited time to dedicate to ED activities regarding vision, outreach, recruitment, planning, etc. I'd like to be able to dedicate a majority of my time to TPY and hire a few developers/designers, but I'm sort of at a loss for how to proceed.
I'm sure there are plenty more obstacles, but we'll make it happen
(shot by lisa scheer)
The People, Yes is attempting to empower people (within Greensboro, NC) with the skills to digitize their voice. We're working actively in the homeless community to get people to publish from any of the library branches. Down the road, we'll expand into other digital divide communities (e.g. the jail system), as well as open up the platform for any Greensboro resident to publish their voice. The goal is to expand the participants in our local online conversation and create a more cohesive sense of community and shared humanity.
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Comments
It's about time
What a great idea. You got my vote.
Top ten!
I'm proud to give this project one of my ten votes for the NetSquared Technology Innovation Fund.
--ivan (Anti-Genocide Community proposal)
I think this is an excellent
I think this is an excellent project with realistic and attainable goals. I hope that it will educate the public and those who participate about compassion and acceptance. I think it will be a learning process for all involved and a boost of confidence for the participants, not only in themselves but in the city of Greensboro and it's people.
What's the outcome
One result for me, as a Greensboro resident, is that I'd get a place online where I could post, or see some of this stuff: the poems, the artworks, the rants. And for the folks, The People, who are producing the works, it would provide an outlet for artistic expression and healing—and an audience.
Like this video I made of John, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwLcmFYreiE, or my friend Ingrid. John might not ever feel the joy of seeing his name in print in a phone book (that's real joy), but with TPY, he could see himself online. There's something very, "guess I'm not so insignificant" about looking googling yourself.
As for Ingrid, technology has helped her discover the writer in herself who is struggling with an eating disorder, and the grief over the recent suicide of her lover. Only since myspace has she connected with folks, and started writing about it; the grief and her pain. I've asked her to send me some poems. If she didn't have a myspace page, I don't think we ever would have connected like this (printed with Ingrid's permission): Life with Ed. (Eating Disorder, not erectile disfunction!) This eating disorder that I have.Is from me my joy stealing.
It seems no-matter what I do.
Theres just not a lot of healing.
That I can see of going on.
I just don't feel a lot of hope.
Of ever getting any better.
I'm really at the end of my rope.
I've never felt so intensely.
The pain I've had all along.
Its really increased extensively.
I fear somethings terribly wrong.
It causes such pain and anguish.
That leaves me very insecure.
I've given up on hopes and dreams.
Of there ever being a cure.
For the many who have suffered.
On their quest to feel more whole.
They've not only nearly lost their lives.
They've almost lost their very soul.
To Ed's insidious nature.
As he attempts to hurt and maim.
To those who's lives he's come into.
He never leaves the same.
exactly
that's exactly the outcome we're shooting for. not only building skills, but a greater sense of self through iterative posting and feedback. thanks so much, molly.
INSPIRATION
I missed the deadline to edit the submission itself, but I wanted to add a few links of inspiration for the project:
Bruce Sterling's closing presentation at SXSW2006:
my post
video
This particular stanza from Carl Sandburg's poem, The People, Yes:
Also, I forgot to mention that I'm currently (loosely) working with Food not Bombs and the Greensboro Public Library in our early stages. FNB feeds the homeless on Monday nights at the library, and I've been showing up to introduce the idea behind the project (in the Winter, the library was kind enough to provide a venue for the meal, as well as projection equipment).
Once we get a bit further along, I hope to partner up with more local groups like the Beloved Community Center.
Nothing like it
An excellent idea and worthy
An excellent idea and worthy project. This is one of the few ways people marginalized by the technology age can actually be heard. I hope this continues to grow.
Empowerment
I love the focus of this project as empowering folks whose voices don't usually get through. I think your comparison to Global Voices is apt, as at last year's conference Ethan Zuckerman said of citizen journalism, "Don't speak. Point!" In other words, the voices are there -- the best service we can provide is to help amplify them.
It also reminds me of a digital version of the Street Sense homeless newspapers that exist in many cities (here's DC's). I think it's an excellent initiative, grounded in really solid empowerment.
--ivan (quixotic1.com/Genocide Intervention Network)
empowerment
ethan has been an inspiration to me for years since we worked together at tripod. i'm lucky to be able to call him not only a friend, but after running into him at last year's beyond broadcast, a board member of TPY. he wrote a fantastic post last year about the future of advocacy -- a pre-cursor to the netsquared talk -- which to this day keeps the project in focus.
yes, street sense is an interesting comparison, though i do like to differentiate the project in a few specific ways:
1) while we're looking to put sponsorship money in the writer's pockets, we're also going to be introducing digital publishing skills to the participants, which hopefully increases the more each person publishes and works with personal blogging mentors.
2) we're starting off in the homeless community, but we plan on moving into other digital divide challenged communities, and ultimately, allow local bloggers to easily cross post to the conversation.
the goal is empowerment, but also growth -- both individual and community centered.
thanks for the feedback, ivan!