City-Wide Dialogues on Boston’s Ethnic & Racial Diversity
Spring Dialogue Series Starting 3/26/08
Barack Obama talked to us honestly about race. Boston residents can do the same next week with fellow residents at a new dialogue series starting the evening of March 26 at a location adjacent to Back Bay Station. Read on…
Break Barriers & Make New Friends in a new dialogue series beginning March 26 at a location one block from Back Bay Station on the Orange Line (location provided when you register). We’ll engage in honest, respectful discussions that go beyond the superficial to discuss the difficult past and present as well as our visions for the future in a richly diverse city and country. We’ll talk about living & working together, plus inclusion, safety, changing neighborhoods, gentrification, etc.
This series begins Wednesday, March 26 and will meet for four consecutive Wednesdays, until April 16. All dialogue sessions will meet 6:30-8:30pm. Register online at www.bostondialogues.org or call 617-318-1257.
Participation is free but advance registration and a commitment to attending all 4 sessions is requested. Group size is limited to 20 diverse participants, so register ASAP to assure a seat. If this group becomes oversubscribed, City-Wide Dialogues will be holding additional dialogue series this year, dates to be announced, and all registrants who did not get a chance to take part in the March 26 group will be invited to participate.
City-Wide Dialogues groups are composed of diverse Boston residents and co-facilitated by two trained volunteers of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Participants increase understanding and build new trust, relationships and friendships across racial and ethnic lines. There are occasional uncomfortable moments as participants recognize their own long-held assumptions and stereotypes, but it works. Over 1300 people have participated, giving overwhelmingly positive feedback about the experience.
Our organizers recognize that an underlying key to achieving civic goals in a diverse society – in housing, jobs, schools, health care, public safety, etc. – is the quality of our human relationships as we try to live and work together. Facilitated dialogues on racial, ethnic and economic diversity help forge better relationships. In the dialogues we acknowledge the painful past and share visions of a Boston and a United States that is respectful, fair and inclusive of everyone.
Register online at www.bostondialogues.org or call 617-318-1257.
