This morning, I finally got a chance to read the New York Times Book Review, and the front page featured reviews of two books about the negative impact of smart phones and social media on our (and our children’s) ability to have actual face-to-face conversations and community. Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age sounded particularly interesting.
The review struck a chord with me because of the great experience we had the other night hosting the first of a series of ADA house parties in Eastern Sussex, designed to build progressive community and increase civic capacity.
Our allies upstate are often surprised to hear that we have a very large number of progressives down here in Red Sussex (and I don’t mean Communist Red) — and our community is growing quickly. An increasing number of people are rising up around issues of shared concern and joining or forming organizations focused on progressive goals, general or specific.
Yet many people are not yet mobilized. Every day Mikki and I talk to people who want to get more involved in working for progressive change at the local, state, or national level — and we want to get to know them all better.
We definitely need to make some changes here in Eastern Sussex. And while there are a lot of great groups already convened, we look forward to using our time to help take the progressive community to the next level through community organizing in our homes — and on our streets!