May 31, 2024 • 34 mins
Discover the transformative power of community gardens and the joy of local engagement as we chat with Jordan, who supports School 19, as he shares his inspiring journey with restorative practices. You’ll hear firsthand about the magic of choosing plants and the pivotal role of programs like 4-H and Food Link in fostering connections among students and residents. Let Jordan's adventures in developing a community garden inspire you to cultivate not just plants, but meaningful relationships within your neighborhood.
Experience the vibrant summer culture of Rochester as we highlight the bustling farmers markets and scenic trails that bring our community together. From the fresh produce at the Rochester Public Market to the local treasures at the South Wedge Farmers Market, we celebrate the importance of supporting local businesses and engaging with our food sources. Plus, we’ll take you through the picturesque walking and biking trails of Durand Eastman Park and Turning Point Park, perfect for a leisurely escape into nature that refreshes both body and mind.
Engage in meaningful conversations and discover the necessity of "third spaces" for community engagement, especially for our youth. We explore the benefits of having areas for self-reflection and creativity, and the importance of active listening and empathy in building stronger community ties.
Using the example of the pop culture feud between Drake and Kendrick, we illustrate how even heated discussions can foster connection when approached with understanding. Tune in for practical strategies on navigating conversations and cultivating a sense of community through shared experiences.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Perspective on Peace.
What's up, guys?
You're here with Jordan, I'mhere with Aaron, katie and Mike,
just in case you're wonderingwhy it's been a while since I've
been here.
I've been working in schools,specifically School 19, and this
kind of helps me segue into ourconversation for the day.
One of the things that I'venoticed over the course of this
(00:22):
year is everybody's alreadyready for summer.
Summer is a few weeks away anda lot of my students are already
talking about how they havenothing to do.
So today, our episode is whatthings we can do, what
possibilities, what options wehave during the summer, and what
the summer means for a lot ofus and a lot of our students.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I have a quick question, jordan, what do you do
in the schools?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm a support staff at School 19, and I love
explaining this but I feel likeit's kind of complicated to
explain.
I go pretty much where I'mneeded around the building and I
try to provide as restorativepractices as possible.
So we do restorative circlesaround the building.
When there's certain issueswithin the classroom, I'm
communicating with students,teachers and parents about what
(01:11):
the best options are for a lotof my students in class,
providing a sort of help zonewhen kids and teachers can take
a break throughout the buildingand just being that partner
throughout the building that canhelp wherever I'm available
pretty much.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Okay, thank you for that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I can get us started with our first topic.
Before we even startedrecording, we were kind of
touching up on a lot of ourtopics for the day and one of
those things was communitygardens.
Not only do I work in schools,but also one of my favorite
things and one of the thingsthat we're leaning into a friend
of mine and myself are leaninginto for the summer is community
gardens.
(01:47):
Um, we may have touched on thison earlier episodes, but a
friend of mine named Caden andmyself we are working on our own
community garden.
We got started last summer andwe're really excited about this
year because last summer we werekind of just catching up and
this year we can finally likestart taking steps towards
beautification and getting insome seeds and plants that, like
(02:10):
we get to choose.
Last year we got a bunch ofstuff donated, so it wasn't
really our choice.
We were really excited to justbe growing stuff.
But this year we're reallyexcited about like choosing what
we want.
We just put in some niceblueberry shrubs and so like
we're really excited to see theend game there.
But I think one of the moreimportant topics that goes
(02:30):
around with community gardens iswhat resources a lot of our
students and just people ingeneral have throughout the city
, because I think a lot ofpeople don't know who they can
go to in case they do want toget outside and get involved as
much as possible.
And, as a matter of fact, I'lljust, you know, list them all.
We have 4-H, we have programslike Food Link, we have
Rochester Ecology Partners.
(02:52):
I feel that a lot of theseprograms they of course, do
their own things, but a lot ofthem involve themselves with
getting people outside right.
So what can we do in order toget people more involved in
gardening and not just gardeninglike, just like physically
being outside, right?
What options do we have?
Going to a park, helping peoplethroughout the community?
(03:12):
I know that personally, 4-8works a lot with not only
getting kids outside withgardens, but getting kids
outside to like help out withother community members
throughout the city.
Right Last year we did a bunchof programs where a bunch of
students would come to ourgarden and help out, but not
only that.
We walked around the block.
There was a church there and abunch of them needed help
bringing stuff in, and so, like,we helped them bring stuff into
(03:34):
their church as well, and so Ithink it not only teaches
students and people in the citythat you know these things are
important, but it also gets themreally engaged in what it means
to be a community member.
It's not just about growingplants right.
It's about like being a helpright and knowing the people
around you and knowing that youcan get help, but you can also
be there to provide the help aswell.
(03:56):
I think that is a superimportant.
It's super crucial and it makeswe spoke about this before, but
it makes Rochester like what itis, you know we spoke about
this before, but it makesRochester like what it is.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You know Totally.
And I just also have to saythat Rochester is a city of
community gardens and I don'tknow if everyone knows it.
So this is a great point tobring up, because there are so
many people doing grassrootscommunity gardens and they're
popping up more and more.
So, yeah, raising awarenessabout this is really important,
I think, and even if you're notinto getting your hands dirty,
it's just great to walk throughto become acquainted with the
(04:27):
space, with the area.
It's a great way to just learnmore about your community,
especially for young people, butit's really for everyone.
That's what I love aboutcommunity gardens.
So how, like, what's been yourfavorite part of being part of a
community garden?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I think the best part is I'm thinking of last year
when we, caden and I gotfamiliar with a lot of the
neighbors throughout thatneighborhood and every Sunday we
would host a game of some sort.
So the first week we didbaseball and then the second
week we did kickball, and then,like every week, we would go and
make up a new game.
(05:00):
And, mind you, these werepeople that I didn't know, you
know, weeks before and now, likeI have their number.
Like Paul, he's really close toCaden and I, uh, I still have
his number and sometimes I'lllike test him, like what's going
on, how are the kids doing?
And he, uh, we, like I said wejust started at our garden for
this summer and the other day wewere there and he like pulled
up on us and surprised us and hejust chilled at the garden for
(05:22):
a little bit and and hung out.
So I think that that's like myfavorite part is the fact that,
like, we not only get to providefood and and even with that,
like one of my, one of mybiggest things is like knowledge
as well is like if these peoplecan learn that, like, instead
of going to the grocery storeand paying ten dollars for, you
know, a bag of tomatoes or abunch of onions or or something
like that, and they can grow itin their own backyard.
(05:43):
That's a that's a big thing.
It's like that's a huge thing,right?
Especially when we're living intimes where everything is super
expensive, right?
So to not only provide thatrelationship with someone but to
also like be able to providethat knowledge, I think are like
two very, very big things forme.
(06:18):
Yeah, yeah, that's great.
I'm hearing like a chance forconnection or kind of building
capacity through, definitelyrecommend or urge whoever's
listening to, like, walk downthe street, you know, walk down
the street, you know, walkaround your block.
You'll probably find acommunity garden.
Katie was just saying a secondago this is a community garden
city, so a lot of times, peoplewho have their own community
(06:44):
garden, they're looking for help.
Anyway, they're looking forsomeone to help.
You know, help put beds in orjust to lift something, and so
if you want to, you know, justdo something this summer.
If you want to do somethingyou've never done before or
something that you have, youknow, if you're looking to just
be busy for a little bit, I'mtelling you you can go anywhere
in the city.
You'll find somewhere andthey'll.
(07:04):
If they need help, they'll askfor help and they'll be
available, and so I definitelyurge people to like just go to
your local community garden andsee what's up on there.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I'm loving that and I'm loving when you were saying
oh yeah, we were playing gamesand whatnot too, every week and
you got really, really closewith the people.
I think at the Institute wehost our own community garden
parties every saturday, startingat 1 pm, and it usually that's
um, headed by our greatcommunity gardeners, christina
(07:37):
and alejandra, our mastergardener, and we have community
beds, we have fun and it'salways a great time.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
You know, what I love about the community garden vibe
is that it provides an instantpoint of common ground for
people, and some of the mostinteresting conversations emerge
from people encountering oneanother just in these green
spaces that they're sharingtogether.
There's a connection tocommunity.
There's often like a sharedvibe for wanting good things for
(08:10):
the community be it green spaceor beauty, or fruits and
veggies and it provides likefertile ground no pun intended
for community members to talkabout other things that they
want for the community.
That's been my experience withcommunity garden, one of the
reasons why I really love it,you know.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
And speaking of that, like fresh produce and the idea
of being able to get your ownfruit, produce, veggies from
gardens I kind of want to segueinto something that I really
value in Rochester over thesummer, which is farmer's
markets, and I know farmermarkets like there's that's a
big trendy thing We've seen allover social media, but farmers
(08:48):
markets are one of my favoriteways to lock in with local
businesses, local vendors andalso get fresh products and
produce from local vendors allsummer.
So one of my favorites is theRochester public market.
That's probably our biggest one, I would say, and that's right
downtown and you get a chance tojust walk around, buy whatever
(09:10):
fruits or produce is in seasonand also just meet local
businesses and vendors.
It's a great way to even justlike meet people and get to know
about what the scene inRochester is.
So it's not just like food, butyou can also see local
nonprofits, local organizationsand businesses.
So it's not just like food, butyou can also see local
nonprofits, local organizationsand businesses.
So it's a great way to kind ofget a sense of what's really
going on here in Rochester.
(09:31):
But there's not just the publicmarket, that is like one of our
big ones.
There's also the South WedgeFarmers Market, the Westside
Farmers Market and all of those.
You'll find, yeah, localvendors, farmers, business
people who are just sharing thecommerce space, and it's a great
way to, yeah, just be informedwith what's going on in
Rochester and around us.
So I love those public marketsand the farmers markets.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I just wanted to add a little more.
I know you said that it's notjust about food, and I
completely agree, but to bringus back to to bring us back to
food a little bit, I think it'sjust important to know where
your food is coming from.
You know, I think nowadayseverything has a label on it
with this chemical and thischemical, and I think it's
really important.
Every time I go to the publicmarket we go every Saturday I'm
(10:19):
like doing a walk around, right?
So the first walk around isjust to see prices, just to see
you know what's the best stuff,and then our second run around
I'm like checking in with thefarmers.
You know these are people thatare like putting in work to
provide this good food for us,right?
So, like we should be askingthese questions like where is
this coming from, or or how longdoes you know?
Just knowing and being aware of,like not only where your food
(10:40):
is coming from, but like whatwork goes into actually making
it, it helps.
I think it helps with theappreciation behind it, right?
Especially when you're someonewho does, you know, have a
community garden or participatesin a community garden, you get
to connect with that person,like you were saying earlier,
with someone who, like, growsfood at like such a large scale,
now you're doing it at like aneven lower scale.
(11:01):
You get to connect with them inthat, and I think that that's
like super important as well.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
So just this past week, I think, last Saturday, I
uh got up and my wife and I weended up going to Durand Eastman
park and uh, so you know,there's the beach up there and
all that, and there's also asection of the park that is
trails.
You can get back a bit off thebeaten path if you will, and it
(11:29):
was a fantastic experience andit reminded me how much I
appreciate the amount of trailsthat we have in our general
Rochester region.
And as summer approaches and iscoming in, I think I want to
give a shout out and encouragepeople to look into both walking
and biking trails.
Right, there's a pretty goodamount of it in Rochester, you
(11:53):
know there's.
There's really somethingspecial about being enveloped in
just greenery and not seeingand hearing cars greenery and
not seeing and hearing cars andum, and for me you know it it uh
, it feels like it balances meout, um, and so thinking about
(12:14):
you know how everything ismediated through a screen these
days and we're always connected.
I'm I'm holding out and walking,uh and biking trails as an and
I'm holding out walking andbiking trails as an opportunity
for kind of getting back intouch with ourselves.
(12:35):
It's also a great way ofexercising.
I mean, we were walking aroundand this was probably be rated a
fairly easy trail, at most kindof moderate, and we were
walking around for maybe an hourand a half and, you know, got
my heart rate going and, youknow, just excellent
(13:01):
conversation and it was just agood time.
Excellent conversation and itwas just a good time, and I know
that I haven't pulled out mybike in like some time.
Um, but the fact that we have,like bike trails that connect,
go straight through across thecity, it's a chance to get out
and, um, see the city and maybeyou know, at a pace that you can
(13:25):
actually kind of take in what'shappening around you if you get
out onto some of these biketrails.
Um, so, yeah, I'm all about it.
Uh, I'm all about trail lifethis, this, this summer, both
walking and biking, and so someof the some of the options and
there are a bunch of them but,um, there are some like mixed
(13:47):
use trails where you might seepeople doing everything from
walking to biking, to like inthe wintertime, like skiing and
all this cross country skiingand whatnot.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
But there's, um, there's turning point park trail
, which is down Lake Avenue, um,a bit out into Charlotte, they
got a really nice yeah, yeah, we, but we, every year, we uh, my
friends and I we bike from um,you know where the rose garden
is, and the rose garden all theway down to charlotte, and we
(14:18):
just chill at charlotte for theday.
We bring a bunch of food,waters, maybe like a volleyball
net, and we just spend the daythere.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
That's a nice little troop Perfect, yeah, yeah,
perfect spot.
Let me ask you this what do youknow about around the Quaid Bay
Park West?
You ever heard of that?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
is that near?
Uh, have you ever heard of thewhite lady castle?
Speaker 4 (14:42):
yeah, that's in highland, though, I think right,
or that's no, that's in duran,right, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know
what you're talking about.
Michael's over there chucklingby white lady.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I mean they call her the white lady because she wears
a white dress.
It's like a whole like urbanlegend thing in rochester.
Yep, yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
That is the Randall, yeah, so that's out like toward
the beach.
So this, this is kind of tuckedback behind um, behind Culver
Ridge area and um, the actualentrance to it is, uh, let me
see here, it's on South Glenroad in Irondequoit.
(15:20):
So people, if they look upIrondequoit Bay Park West, I'm
spotlighting that one inparticular because that is has a
feel of being more of a wild,adventuresome trail.
So for people who want toratchet up the experience a
little bit, this trail is alittle more strenuous, it's got
(15:44):
um, it feels it's it does.
It doesn't feel like Rochesterwhen you get out there.
So so, yeah, so I I'm, I'mplanning on making the rounds
this year, both on the bike andby foot.
Um, certainly checking outthose couple that I mentioned,
but you know the list goes on.
Um, there's there's, even atMount Hope cemetery, you know
(16:07):
there's, there's, there's goodwalking to be to be had there.
Um, at our Genesee Valley park,they, they got a series of
trails that you can go on.
Um, you know there's um forbike trails, in the Northeast
quad, where I'm from, there'sthe?
Um, the heck, is it called the?
Uh, the bike path?
The?
Uh, the Conky.
(16:27):
There's a bike path that goeslike along Conky Ave.
Uh, there's, there's, there'sresources in all four quadrants
of the city and I wouldrecommend just just just google
I'm gonna be lazy here googlewalking or biking trails.
Rochester, new york.
Um, you know people are alwaysdiscussing this stuff on uh
(16:47):
reddit as well, r-e-d-d-i-t.
If you want to get like theskinny on some good places.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So highly recommend it yeah I also just wanted to
add a quick thing.
I love that you pickspecifically like trails and
like biking and walking, but Iwanted to just say this was
another one of my talking pointswas like conversations about
like people just need to likeneed things to do, and I think
this ties into like um, like theKia boys, and a lot of what we
(17:23):
see going on in Rochester is Ithink people just don't have
third spaces, they don't haveactivities to to get into when
there's nothing else to do.
And I think that um to to pointout biking trails, hiking trail,
like that's something that Ifeel like like my family never
does, Like a lot of my friendsdon't do, but it is so fun, and
(17:44):
not only that, even when I feellike I don't really feel like
going on, just going for a walk,it provides you with something
to do right, and other ideascome from that right.
It sparks that creativity,right, and you mentioned
something earlier that reallygravitated to me.
It was you get a chance tobetter understand yourself or
(18:05):
better find yourself.
Yeah, I feel like that's like abig thing for me is like a lot
of times we're in theseenvironments and even with
yesterday we went to visit thewhat was it called yesterday.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
The.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
VR thing gives you a chance to like reflect right.
I'm like what are you goingthrough right now?
You know what can you be doingright now, and I think that
that's super important.
I'm sorry, I kind of cut youoff there, Mike.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
No, it was cool.
We went to the U of R and wevisited their pop-up for, like
mindful and like restorativepop-up that uses virtual reality
, that was really engineered andspearheaded by a take five
student that's graduating geneva, geneva hinkson yeah, and she's
(18:50):
yeah, we'll send links for thatbecause that thing's amazing.
It was, it was really cool,yeah, and then, like she's
gratefully like donating it tous.
So yeah be on the lookout forhow we use it, because it's
going to be amazing.
You have a chance to deescalateyourself.
Yeah, I loved what everyone wastalking about so far.
(19:11):
Okay, summer's happening, it'swarm out in Rochester Usually
it's freezing cold, there's snowout, but like we get to go
outside now, people are goingoutside, so that's a chance to
connect with nature, connectwith yourself, connect to local
businesses and connect to yourneighbors around you, and we
brought all that together.
(19:32):
But, like, I'm also thinkinglike what gets in the way of
connection misunderstandings,miscommunication and I'm
wondering like, okay, I think insummer, times can get heated,
blood can get boiling and, withthe election coming up, like
we're going to be talking arounddifferences and I'm wondering
(19:57):
how do we talk arounddifferences?
And I'm wondering how do wetalk around differences?
What helps that?
And I'm really wondering whatare our non-negotiables for
being able to talk?
What do we need to be able totalk with someone who's
different from us?
Is there an understanding?
Is there a framework?
Yeah, to have a productiveconversation over something
(20:22):
you're different.
If we were to take somethingthat's a little bit lighter, oh
man, jordan, how do you talkwith somebody who thinks Drake
is winning the rap battle?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
That is a great question, mike Oof, I think okay
.
So my friend gave me a solutionto a problem I was having a
long time ago with my parents.
We would always get into thesearguments and I feel like this
kind of the idea of what I'mabout to say.
It goes without saying, but Ithink that sometimes, when we're
(20:59):
in the heat of the moment, whenwe're talking to someone and we
want to be right, so bad weforget to do it.
Um, just listen, you know.
Um, I think that a lot of timeswe're so already, you know
we've got our idea alreadyloaded in.
You know we're we're, we'realready ready to like throw
something back that we're notwilling to like hear out what
(21:19):
the person is saying or wherethey're coming from.
Um, in this case, we all knowdrake lost, right, but but I'm,
if someone is arguing that I, Ineed to hear why, right, I need,
I want to be able to have thatconversation to learn about,
like, you know what yourperspective is, right, um, and I
(21:40):
think also, and this, thatconversation, I think, in the
grand scheme of things, is solike unimportant.
I don't care if you know you'residing with Drake that much,
right, because there's other.
I think there's other thingsfor us to be talking about, and
(22:16):
that conversation between Drakeand Kendrick it can get to
plenty other conversations.
I think that it's a it's a bigconversation on like trauma and
what that means for people.
I think that throughout thisbeef back and forth, they
brought up other people's traumaand I influence that famous
people have on pop culture andthe fact that we have 40 and 50
year old grown men dissing Drakeon Twitter and like that's like
a big thing.
The fact that Metro Boomer canget on social media and be like
(22:38):
yo, you guys make other songsthat like speak to this beef.
It's crazy, because that'sexactly what advocates for
Palestine have been asking for,right.
It's for famous people to likesay something or provide
something right.
So now we know that it'spossible and these are
conversations that only comefrom us having conversations
about the beef between Kendrickand Drake, right, and so I think
(22:59):
that me siding as to who's oneisn't as important, but, like
there are things, there arenuances that come from that
conversation, and so I thinkjust being open and being able
to listen for a few minutesbefore we're just throwing ideas
, Although it's jokes like theDrake and Kendrick beef has
(23:51):
really shown me that people dohave the capability like you
said, jordi to come into thesame room, do it for something
in popular culture.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I think we can also do that across so many different
other realms of our life and Ido think that for me, one of the
biggest barriers is justgetting people into the same
space, and there is just so muchvalue in bringing people who
normally wouldn't be in the sameroom together into the same
room and into the same space,and that's what I love about
things like our communitydinners and we've had things
like roundtables and dialoguesthat bring people across
differences, across generations,race, age, everything into the
(24:17):
same room to talk acrossdifference and hopefully we can
have the same.
You know hype and excitementabout talking about community
issues as we can with Drake andKendrick, but I think that that
does show that we're capable ofdoing that.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, I appreciate both of your answers and some of
the obstacles for us having agreat conversation and talking
across differences is, one, noteven interest in listening and
two, getting across thosebarriers of difference.
And two, getting across thosebarriers of difference Like,
okay, I'm usually around peoplethat think like me, that speak
(24:51):
like me, sometimes, that looklike me and the opportunity, a
safe opportunity to go out.
I think that's very, veryvaluable and I'm also hearing
the chance for bigger topicsthan these surface level things
that might start theconversation are really, really
(25:14):
important, and I saw you aboutto speak, aaron, I was just
going to add that I thinkthere's something to be said for
getting people in the samespace.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
So oftentimes when we're debating things online, we
kind of come into these spaceswith a certain position, a
certain attitude and there's acertain ease to move toward
entrenched extremes.
That is, I think, moredifficult to maintain when
you're looking at someone in thesame space, seeing people like
(25:50):
process and respond to what'sbeing said and shared in real
time.
There's a humanizing effectthat being in the same space can
have, in my experience, some ofthe challenge and some of what
ultimately is an ingredient fora successful dialogue across
differences just crossing thatinitial hurdle of getting people
to share space.
(26:10):
And so there needs to be acertain confidence about safety,
literal, physical safety.
In my opinion, there needs tobe an expectation and a thought
that a person's views areactually going to be allowed to
be aired.
Tacking those things on to whatyou all have already shared.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
This is something that I wanted to add.
It kind of seems prettyminuscule, but it's something
that I've noticed throughworking at School.
19 is another thing is, as we'rehaving conversations, just
checking in, usually when I'mtalking to students and even
some of my fellow staff duringthe day.
It's like when we're talking andI'm talking to students and
even some of my uh, uh, some ofmy fellow staff during the day.
It's like when we're talkingand I'm really getting into
(26:50):
whatever conversation I'mgetting into or we're debating
something, I'm like, okay, well,did you understand that?
Or do you know, like usuallywith my kids, do you understand
what this word means?
Or, or like those check-ins inthe middle of like your long
drawn-out.
It allows you guys to actuallylike engage, you know, make sure
that they're like listening towhat you're saying, or that
(27:10):
you're listening to what they'resaying, or or or following
certain tones or the way thatthe person you're talking to is
looking.
I think that, like stopping inthe middle and checking it is
like super important.
I know it seems like it's justlike a random detail, but it's
like, I think, in my opinion, avery, very big detail when
you're having conversationsabout things that you just don't
(27:31):
agree with other people.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
If I have something to get off my chest and maybe
it's different from what youbelieve, if you're willing to
listen and understand and hearme out, I think that does a lot.
So I'm hearing how do we talkacross differences, have
productive conversations and,like, still be in community?
(28:02):
I'm hearing okay, you got tolisten, you got to be safe.
You gotta meet up withdifferences in a space that
provides that safety, well-beingand care.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I think to be a little uncomfortable people are
going to disagree with yousometimes and I think that
nowadays we're like you,speaking to the unsafe kind of
idea.
A lot of times, especiallynowadays, you disagree with
someone and it's like the end ofthe world.
You know, um, cancel cultureand everything but like level of
understanding is a really bigthing.
(28:34):
I think that there areconversations where things are
taken to the extreme, butusually by having that level of
understanding and being willingto have a conversation with
someone who disagrees with you,it's very big.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, I think maybe we've been socialized and maybe
it's just the way it is.
But, like Twitter, fingers aremade for war, you know.
But when you come acrosssomeone's actual humanity and
you're in the space with them,unless you're socialized and
have stark belief, you startliking another person, maybe not
even liking, you start noticingthat there are another human
(29:10):
being who lives, breathes, hashardships and like, goes through
it just like you.
I know learning differentmethods of speaking to be heard
without doing harm, a lanonviolent communication, has
been very, very helpful.
I know being able to listen andunderstand and still bring up
(29:32):
difference has been very, veryhelpful.
All these different tools thatwe have to be heard to speak
without hurting.
I think they're very, veryvaluable as we start to get
outside, as our differencesstart to get put under a
microscope, and start to getoutside as our differences start
to get put under a microscopeand start to divide us.
So we have workshops on that.
That's like one of our mainthings.
(29:55):
We try to host spaces wherepeople feel safe and can learn
and be in community.
That's what it's really reallyabout being community.
I'm wondering if there's anylast thoughts that you guys want
to bring up.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I am wondering before we close up.
I'm sure folks are wonderinghow they can get involved with
us here at the Gandhi Instituteover the summer.
Is there anything that y'allare looking forward to that we
are offering coming up in thesummer?
I'll say, for me, one of themis the community dinners that
we'll be having throughout thesummer months, once a month, and
(30:31):
they're going to be outside,which is our favorite thing.
You know, if you've come to acommunity dinner in the fall or
winter, we're usually cozyinside the house, but once the
summer months come and once theflowers start to bloom, we love
to move outside and it's a greatway to, yeah, connect with our
community garden and ourcommunity members.
So, yeah, that's a great way tocome and get some food, bring
(30:52):
yourself and your appetite andcome and visit us and connect.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
What are y'all looking forward to?
I'll make mention of ourbreakfast chats that are going
on second Tuesday of each monthbright and early Chats for folks
to come by have a bite to eat,check out the Institute grounds
and offices, have a chat with atleast myself and Michael, who
hold down these spaces, andwhoever else comes from the
(31:18):
community.
Think of it almost as a earlymorning version of the community
dinners, in the sense thatpeople can come together and
begin to share what's on theirmind and what's important to
them and connect to the GandhiInstitute here.
So that's the second Tuesday ofeach month.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I'm really looking forward to our de-escalation
workshops.
If things get heated, how doyou get out safe?
How do you get out with respect?
And practicing how to do thatis really, really important as
things heat up socially andphysically.
Jordy, you were talking aboutcommunity gardening and I know
(31:58):
we have some offerings aroundthat and yeah we do like
gardening parties during thesummer.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Right, I know that they're every Saturday, but can
one of you guys give ouraudience a description of like
what we usually, what thatusually entails or what we
usually do?
Speaker 3 (32:14):
That is a chance.
Our gardening parties are achance for you to come and hang
out with our garden managers,alejandra and Christina, and
we've got our big communitygarden here with different
veggies, produce flowers, soyou'll have a chance to get your
hands dirty wherever you'reinterested in.
So there's weeding, there'swatering, any kind of
(32:34):
maintenance that you can help uswith Our other tasks around the
Gandhi Institute as well.
And, yeah, just a good way tochat and meet new people and
learn more about this directcommunity that we're in.
So you can come and join us onSaturdays and no gardening
experience prior is necessary.
You can come with whateverlevels of gardening experience
you have.
(32:54):
And, yeah, come and get yourhands dirty with us.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Yeah, that's great.
So garden parties, we gotbreakfast chats, we got
community dinner.
You know we love food.
Um, we have our de-escalationworkshop coming up.
Uh, in the fall we'll have somenon-violent communication
series so we can kind of get topracticing the nuts and bolts of
(33:21):
how to, of non-violentcommunication that seeks to
understand and be heard andspeak towards those universal
needs to be understood, to havepeace to be seen.
And I think the last thing everrevolving is like we have our
online grief circles.
Every Thursday at noon you havea chance to meet up with
(33:43):
individuals who have somethingheavy on their heart, or maybe
like medium heaviness, and, yeah, process it.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
I think that chance to also process when things get
hot is very, very useful.
All right, I feel like gettingout and walking the trail soon
and got me going.
But yeah, this has been a goodconversation, yo, it is Peace,
peace.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
See you next time.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Peace indeed.
Welcome to another episode of Perspective on Peace.
What's up, guys?
You're here with Jordan, I'mhere with Aaron, katie and Mike,
just in case you're wonderingwhy it's been a while since I've
been here.
I've been working in schools,specifically School 19, and this
kind of helps me segue into ourconversation for the day.
One of the things that I'venoticed over the course of this
(00:22):
year is everybody's alreadyready for summer.
Summer is a few weeks away anda lot of my students are already
talking about how they havenothing to do.
So today, our episode is whatthings we can do, what
possibilities, what options wehave during the summer, and what
the summer means for a lot ofus and a lot of our students.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I have a quick question, jordan, what do you do
in the schools?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm a support staff at School 19, and I love
explaining this but I feel likeit's kind of complicated to
explain.
I go pretty much where I'mneeded around the building and I
try to provide as restorativepractices as possible.
So we do restorative circlesaround the building.
When there's certain issueswithin the classroom, I'm
communicating with students,teachers and parents about what
(01:11):
the best options are for a lotof my students in class,
providing a sort of help zonewhen kids and teachers can take
a break throughout the buildingand just being that partner
throughout the building that canhelp wherever I'm available
pretty much.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Okay, thank you for that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I can get us started with our first topic.
Before we even startedrecording, we were kind of
touching up on a lot of ourtopics for the day and one of
those things was communitygardens.
Not only do I work in schools,but also one of my favorite
things and one of the thingsthat we're leaning into a friend
of mine and myself are leaninginto for the summer is community
gardens.
(01:47):
Um, we may have touched on thison earlier episodes, but a
friend of mine named Caden andmyself we are working on our own
community garden.
We got started last summer andwe're really excited about this
year because last summer we werekind of just catching up and
this year we can finally likestart taking steps towards
beautification and getting insome seeds and plants that, like
(02:10):
we get to choose.
Last year we got a bunch ofstuff donated, so it wasn't
really our choice.
We were really excited to justbe growing stuff.
But this year we're reallyexcited about like choosing what
we want.
We just put in some niceblueberry shrubs and so like
we're really excited to see theend game there.
But I think one of the moreimportant topics that goes
(02:30):
around with community gardens iswhat resources a lot of our
students and just people ingeneral have throughout the city
, because I think a lot ofpeople don't know who they can
go to in case they do want toget outside and get involved as
much as possible.
And, as a matter of fact, I'lljust, you know, list them all.
We have 4-H, we have programslike Food Link, we have
Rochester Ecology Partners.
(02:52):
I feel that a lot of theseprograms they of course, do
their own things, but a lot ofthem involve themselves with
getting people outside right.
So what can we do in order toget people more involved in
gardening and not just gardeninglike, just like physically
being outside, right?
What options do we have?
Going to a park, helping peoplethroughout the community?
(03:12):
I know that personally, 4-8works a lot with not only
getting kids outside withgardens, but getting kids
outside to like help out withother community members
throughout the city.
Right Last year we did a bunchof programs where a bunch of
students would come to ourgarden and help out, but not
only that.
We walked around the block.
There was a church there and abunch of them needed help
bringing stuff in, and so, like,we helped them bring stuff into
(03:34):
their church as well, and so Ithink it not only teaches
students and people in the citythat you know these things are
important, but it also gets themreally engaged in what it means
to be a community member.
It's not just about growingplants right.
It's about like being a helpright and knowing the people
around you and knowing that youcan get help, but you can also
be there to provide the help aswell.
(03:56):
I think that is a superimportant.
It's super crucial and it makeswe spoke about this before, but
it makes Rochester like what itis, you know we spoke about
this before, but it makesRochester like what it is.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You know Totally.
And I just also have to saythat Rochester is a city of
community gardens and I don'tknow if everyone knows it.
So this is a great point tobring up, because there are so
many people doing grassrootscommunity gardens and they're
popping up more and more.
So, yeah, raising awarenessabout this is really important,
I think, and even if you're notinto getting your hands dirty,
it's just great to walk throughto become acquainted with the
(04:27):
space, with the area.
It's a great way to just learnmore about your community,
especially for young people, butit's really for everyone.
That's what I love aboutcommunity gardens.
So how, like, what's been yourfavorite part of being part of a
community garden?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I think the best part is I'm thinking of last year
when we, caden and I gotfamiliar with a lot of the
neighbors throughout thatneighborhood and every Sunday we
would host a game of some sort.
So the first week we didbaseball and then the second
week we did kickball, and then,like every week, we would go and
make up a new game.
(05:00):
And, mind you, these werepeople that I didn't know, you
know, weeks before and now, likeI have their number.
Like Paul, he's really close toCaden and I, uh, I still have
his number and sometimes I'lllike test him, like what's going
on, how are the kids doing?
And he, uh, we, like I said wejust started at our garden for
this summer and the other day wewere there and he like pulled
up on us and surprised us and hejust chilled at the garden for
(05:22):
a little bit and and hung out.
So I think that that's like myfavorite part is the fact that,
like, we not only get to providefood and and even with that,
like one of my, one of mybiggest things is like knowledge
as well is like if these peoplecan learn that, like, instead
of going to the grocery storeand paying ten dollars for, you
know, a bag of tomatoes or abunch of onions or or something
like that, and they can grow itin their own backyard.
(05:43):
That's a that's a big thing.
It's like that's a huge thing,right?
Especially when we're living intimes where everything is super
expensive, right?
So to not only provide thatrelationship with someone but to
also like be able to providethat knowledge, I think are like
two very, very big things forme.
(06:18):
Yeah, yeah, that's great.
I'm hearing like a chance forconnection or kind of building
capacity through, definitelyrecommend or urge whoever's
listening to, like, walk downthe street, you know, walk down
the street, you know, walkaround your block.
You'll probably find acommunity garden.
Katie was just saying a secondago this is a community garden
city, so a lot of times, peoplewho have their own community
(06:44):
garden, they're looking for help.
Anyway, they're looking forsomeone to help.
You know, help put beds in orjust to lift something, and so
if you want to, you know, justdo something this summer.
If you want to do somethingyou've never done before or
something that you have, youknow, if you're looking to just
be busy for a little bit, I'mtelling you you can go anywhere
in the city.
You'll find somewhere andthey'll.
(07:04):
If they need help, they'll askfor help and they'll be
available, and so I definitelyurge people to like just go to
your local community garden andsee what's up on there.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I'm loving that and I'm loving when you were saying
oh yeah, we were playing gamesand whatnot too, every week and
you got really, really closewith the people.
I think at the Institute wehost our own community garden
parties every saturday, startingat 1 pm, and it usually that's
um, headed by our greatcommunity gardeners, christina
(07:37):
and alejandra, our mastergardener, and we have community
beds, we have fun and it'salways a great time.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
You know, what I love about the community garden vibe
is that it provides an instantpoint of common ground for
people, and some of the mostinteresting conversations emerge
from people encountering oneanother just in these green
spaces that they're sharingtogether.
There's a connection tocommunity.
There's often like a sharedvibe for wanting good things for
(08:10):
the community be it green spaceor beauty, or fruits and
veggies and it provides likefertile ground no pun intended
for community members to talkabout other things that they
want for the community.
That's been my experience withcommunity garden, one of the
reasons why I really love it,you know.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
And speaking of that, like fresh produce and the idea
of being able to get your ownfruit, produce, veggies from
gardens I kind of want to segueinto something that I really
value in Rochester over thesummer, which is farmer's
markets, and I know farmermarkets like there's that's a
big trendy thing We've seen allover social media, but farmers
(08:48):
markets are one of my favoriteways to lock in with local
businesses, local vendors andalso get fresh products and
produce from local vendors allsummer.
So one of my favorites is theRochester public market.
That's probably our biggest one, I would say, and that's right
downtown and you get a chance tojust walk around, buy whatever
(09:10):
fruits or produce is in seasonand also just meet local
businesses and vendors.
It's a great way to even justlike meet people and get to know
about what the scene inRochester is.
So it's not just like food, butyou can also see local
nonprofits, local organizationsand businesses.
So it's not just like food, butyou can also see local
nonprofits, local organizationsand businesses.
So it's a great way to kind ofget a sense of what's really
going on here in Rochester.
(09:31):
But there's not just the publicmarket, that is like one of our
big ones.
There's also the South WedgeFarmers Market, the Westside
Farmers Market and all of those.
You'll find, yeah, localvendors, farmers, business
people who are just sharing thecommerce space, and it's a great
way to, yeah, just be informedwith what's going on in
Rochester and around us.
So I love those public marketsand the farmers markets.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I just wanted to add a little more.
I know you said that it's notjust about food, and I
completely agree, but to bringus back to to bring us back to
food a little bit, I think it'sjust important to know where
your food is coming from.
You know, I think nowadayseverything has a label on it
with this chemical and thischemical, and I think it's
really important.
Every time I go to the publicmarket we go every Saturday I'm
(10:19):
like doing a walk around, right?
So the first walk around isjust to see prices, just to see
you know what's the best stuff,and then our second run around
I'm like checking in with thefarmers.
You know these are people thatare like putting in work to
provide this good food for us,right?
So, like we should be askingthese questions like where is
this coming from, or or how longdoes you know?
Just knowing and being aware of,like not only where your food
(10:40):
is coming from, but like whatwork goes into actually making
it, it helps.
I think it helps with theappreciation behind it, right?
Especially when you're someonewho does, you know, have a
community garden or participatesin a community garden, you get
to connect with that person,like you were saying earlier,
with someone who, like, growsfood at like such a large scale,
now you're doing it at like aneven lower scale.
(11:01):
You get to connect with them inthat, and I think that that's
like super important as well.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
So just this past week, I think, last Saturday, I
uh got up and my wife and I weended up going to Durand Eastman
park and uh, so you know,there's the beach up there and
all that, and there's also asection of the park that is
trails.
You can get back a bit off thebeaten path if you will, and it
(11:29):
was a fantastic experience andit reminded me how much I
appreciate the amount of trailsthat we have in our general
Rochester region.
And as summer approaches and iscoming in, I think I want to
give a shout out and encouragepeople to look into both walking
and biking trails.
Right, there's a pretty goodamount of it in Rochester, you
(11:53):
know there's.
There's really somethingspecial about being enveloped in
just greenery and not seeingand hearing cars greenery and
not seeing and hearing cars andum, and for me you know it it uh
, it feels like it balances meout, um, and so thinking about
(12:14):
you know how everything ismediated through a screen these
days and we're always connected.
I'm I'm holding out and walking,uh and biking trails as an and
I'm holding out walking andbiking trails as an opportunity
for kind of getting back intouch with ourselves.
(12:35):
It's also a great way ofexercising.
I mean, we were walking aroundand this was probably be rated a
fairly easy trail, at most kindof moderate, and we were
walking around for maybe an hourand a half and, you know, got
my heart rate going and, youknow, just excellent
(13:01):
conversation and it was just agood time.
Excellent conversation and itwas just a good time, and I know
that I haven't pulled out mybike in like some time.
Um, but the fact that we have,like bike trails that connect,
go straight through across thecity, it's a chance to get out
and, um, see the city and maybeyou know, at a pace that you can
(13:25):
actually kind of take in what'shappening around you if you get
out onto some of these biketrails.
Um, so, yeah, I'm all about it.
Uh, I'm all about trail lifethis, this, this summer, both
walking and biking, and so someof the some of the options and
there are a bunch of them but,um, there are some like mixed
(13:47):
use trails where you might seepeople doing everything from
walking to biking, to like inthe wintertime, like skiing and
all this cross country skiingand whatnot.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
But there's, um, there's turning point park trail
, which is down Lake Avenue, um,a bit out into Charlotte, they
got a really nice yeah, yeah, we, but we, every year, we uh, my
friends and I we bike from um,you know where the rose garden
is, and the rose garden all theway down to charlotte, and we
(14:18):
just chill at charlotte for theday.
We bring a bunch of food,waters, maybe like a volleyball
net, and we just spend the daythere.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
That's a nice little troop Perfect, yeah, yeah,
perfect spot.
Let me ask you this what do youknow about around the Quaid Bay
Park West?
You ever heard of that?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
is that near?
Uh, have you ever heard of thewhite lady castle?
Speaker 4 (14:42):
yeah, that's in highland, though, I think right,
or that's no, that's in duran,right, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know
what you're talking about.
Michael's over there chucklingby white lady.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I mean they call her the white lady because she wears
a white dress.
It's like a whole like urbanlegend thing in rochester.
Yep, yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
That is the Randall, yeah, so that's out like toward
the beach.
So this, this is kind of tuckedback behind um, behind Culver
Ridge area and um, the actualentrance to it is, uh, let me
see here, it's on South Glenroad in Irondequoit.
(15:20):
So people, if they look upIrondequoit Bay Park West, I'm
spotlighting that one inparticular because that is has a
feel of being more of a wild,adventuresome trail.
So for people who want toratchet up the experience a
little bit, this trail is alittle more strenuous, it's got
(15:44):
um, it feels it's it does.
It doesn't feel like Rochesterwhen you get out there.
So so, yeah, so I I'm, I'mplanning on making the rounds
this year, both on the bike andby foot.
Um, certainly checking outthose couple that I mentioned,
but you know the list goes on.
Um, there's there's, even atMount Hope cemetery, you know
(16:07):
there's, there's, there's goodwalking to be to be had there.
Um, at our Genesee Valley park,they, they got a series of
trails that you can go on.
Um, you know there's um forbike trails, in the Northeast
quad, where I'm from, there'sthe?
Um, the heck, is it called the?
Uh, the bike path?
The?
Uh, the Conky.
(16:27):
There's a bike path that goeslike along Conky Ave.
Uh, there's, there's, there'sresources in all four quadrants
of the city and I wouldrecommend just just just google
I'm gonna be lazy here googlewalking or biking trails.
Rochester, new york.
Um, you know people are alwaysdiscussing this stuff on uh
(16:47):
reddit as well, r-e-d-d-i-t.
If you want to get like theskinny on some good places.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So highly recommend it yeah I also just wanted to
add a quick thing.
I love that you pickspecifically like trails and
like biking and walking, but Iwanted to just say this was
another one of my talking pointswas like conversations about
like people just need to likeneed things to do, and I think
this ties into like um, like theKia boys, and a lot of what we
(17:23):
see going on in Rochester is Ithink people just don't have
third spaces, they don't haveactivities to to get into when
there's nothing else to do.
And I think that um to to pointout biking trails, hiking trail,
like that's something that Ifeel like like my family never
does, Like a lot of my friendsdon't do, but it is so fun, and
(17:44):
not only that, even when I feellike I don't really feel like
going on, just going for a walk,it provides you with something
to do right, and other ideascome from that right.
It sparks that creativity,right, and you mentioned
something earlier that reallygravitated to me.
It was you get a chance tobetter understand yourself or
(18:05):
better find yourself.
Yeah, I feel like that's like abig thing for me is like a lot
of times we're in theseenvironments and even with
yesterday we went to visit thewhat was it called yesterday.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
The.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
VR thing gives you a chance to like reflect right.
I'm like what are you goingthrough right now?
You know what can you be doingright now, and I think that
that's super important.
I'm sorry, I kind of cut youoff there, Mike.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
No, it was cool.
We went to the U of R and wevisited their pop-up for, like
mindful and like restorativepop-up that uses virtual reality
, that was really engineered andspearheaded by a take five
student that's graduating geneva, geneva hinkson yeah, and she's
(18:50):
yeah, we'll send links for thatbecause that thing's amazing.
It was, it was really cool,yeah, and then, like she's
gratefully like donating it tous.
So yeah be on the lookout forhow we use it, because it's
going to be amazing.
You have a chance to deescalateyourself.
Yeah, I loved what everyone wastalking about so far.
(19:11):
Okay, summer's happening, it'swarm out in Rochester Usually
it's freezing cold, there's snowout, but like we get to go
outside now, people are goingoutside, so that's a chance to
connect with nature, connectwith yourself, connect to local
businesses and connect to yourneighbors around you, and we
brought all that together.
(19:32):
But, like, I'm also thinkinglike what gets in the way of
connection misunderstandings,miscommunication and I'm
wondering like, okay, I think insummer, times can get heated,
blood can get boiling and, withthe election coming up, like
we're going to be talking arounddifferences and I'm wondering
(19:57):
how do we talk arounddifferences?
And I'm wondering how do wetalk around differences?
What helps that?
And I'm really wondering whatare our non-negotiables for
being able to talk?
What do we need to be able totalk with someone who's
different from us?
Is there an understanding?
Is there a framework?
Yeah, to have a productiveconversation over something
(20:22):
you're different.
If we were to take somethingthat's a little bit lighter, oh
man, jordan, how do you talkwith somebody who thinks Drake
is winning the rap battle?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
That is a great question, mike Oof, I think okay
.
So my friend gave me a solutionto a problem I was having a
long time ago with my parents.
We would always get into thesearguments and I feel like this
kind of the idea of what I'mabout to say.
It goes without saying, but Ithink that sometimes, when we're
(20:59):
in the heat of the moment, whenwe're talking to someone and we
want to be right, so bad weforget to do it.
Um, just listen, you know.
Um, I think that a lot of timeswe're so already, you know
we've got our idea alreadyloaded in.
You know we're we're, we'realready ready to like throw
something back that we're notwilling to like hear out what
(21:19):
the person is saying or wherethey're coming from.
Um, in this case, we all knowdrake lost, right, but but I'm,
if someone is arguing that I, Ineed to hear why, right, I need,
I want to be able to have thatconversation to learn about,
like, you know what yourperspective is, right, um, and I
(21:40):
think also, and this, thatconversation, I think, in the
grand scheme of things, is solike unimportant.
I don't care if you know you'residing with Drake that much,
right, because there's other.
I think there's other thingsfor us to be talking about, and
(22:16):
that conversation between Drakeand Kendrick it can get to
plenty other conversations.
I think that it's a it's a bigconversation on like trauma and
what that means for people.
I think that throughout thisbeef back and forth, they
brought up other people's traumaand I influence that famous
people have on pop culture andthe fact that we have 40 and 50
year old grown men dissing Drakeon Twitter and like that's like
a big thing.
The fact that Metro Boomer canget on social media and be like
(22:38):
yo, you guys make other songsthat like speak to this beef.
It's crazy, because that'sexactly what advocates for
Palestine have been asking for,right.
It's for famous people to likesay something or provide
something right.
So now we know that it'spossible and these are
conversations that only comefrom us having conversations
about the beef between Kendrickand Drake, right, and so I think
(22:59):
that me siding as to who's oneisn't as important, but, like
there are things, there arenuances that come from that
conversation, and so I thinkjust being open and being able
to listen for a few minutesbefore we're just throwing ideas
, Although it's jokes like theDrake and Kendrick beef has
(23:51):
really shown me that people dohave the capability like you
said, jordi to come into thesame room, do it for something
in popular culture.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I think we can also do that across so many different
other realms of our life and Ido think that for me, one of the
biggest barriers is justgetting people into the same
space, and there is just so muchvalue in bringing people who
normally wouldn't be in the sameroom together into the same
room and into the same space,and that's what I love about
things like our communitydinners and we've had things
like roundtables and dialoguesthat bring people across
differences, across generations,race, age, everything into the
(24:17):
same room to talk acrossdifference and hopefully we can
have the same.
You know hype and excitementabout talking about community
issues as we can with Drake andKendrick, but I think that that
does show that we're capable ofdoing that.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, I appreciate both of your answers and some of
the obstacles for us having agreat conversation and talking
across differences is, one, noteven interest in listening and
two, getting across thosebarriers of difference.
And two, getting across thosebarriers of difference Like,
okay, I'm usually around peoplethat think like me, that speak
(24:51):
like me, sometimes, that looklike me and the opportunity, a
safe opportunity to go out.
I think that's very, veryvaluable and I'm also hearing
the chance for bigger topicsthan these surface level things
that might start theconversation are really, really
(25:14):
important, and I saw you aboutto speak, aaron, I was just
going to add that I thinkthere's something to be said for
getting people in the samespace.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
So oftentimes when we're debating things online, we
kind of come into these spaceswith a certain position, a
certain attitude and there's acertain ease to move toward
entrenched extremes.
That is, I think, moredifficult to maintain when
you're looking at someone in thesame space, seeing people like
(25:50):
process and respond to what'sbeing said and shared in real
time.
There's a humanizing effectthat being in the same space can
have, in my experience, some ofthe challenge and some of what
ultimately is an ingredient fora successful dialogue across
differences just crossing thatinitial hurdle of getting people
to share space.
(26:10):
And so there needs to be acertain confidence about safety,
literal, physical safety.
In my opinion, there needs tobe an expectation and a thought
that a person's views areactually going to be allowed to
be aired.
Tacking those things on to whatyou all have already shared.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
This is something that I wanted to add.
It kind of seems prettyminuscule, but it's something
that I've noticed throughworking at School.
19 is another thing is, as we'rehaving conversations, just
checking in, usually when I'mtalking to students and even
some of my fellow staff duringthe day.
It's like when we're talking andI'm talking to students and
even some of my uh, uh, some ofmy fellow staff during the day.
It's like when we're talkingand I'm really getting into
(26:50):
whatever conversation I'mgetting into or we're debating
something, I'm like, okay, well,did you understand that?
Or do you know, like usuallywith my kids, do you understand
what this word means?
Or, or like those check-ins inthe middle of like your long
drawn-out.
It allows you guys to actuallylike engage, you know, make sure
that they're like listening towhat you're saying, or that
(27:10):
you're listening to what they'resaying, or or or following
certain tones or the way thatthe person you're talking to is
looking.
I think that, like stopping inthe middle and checking it is
like super important.
I know it seems like it's justlike a random detail, but it's
like, I think, in my opinion, avery, very big detail when
you're having conversationsabout things that you just don't
(27:31):
agree with other people.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
If I have something to get off my chest and maybe
it's different from what youbelieve, if you're willing to
listen and understand and hearme out, I think that does a lot.
So I'm hearing how do we talkacross differences, have
productive conversations and,like, still be in community?
(28:02):
I'm hearing okay, you got tolisten, you got to be safe.
You gotta meet up withdifferences in a space that
provides that safety, well-beingand care.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I think to be a little uncomfortable people are
going to disagree with yousometimes and I think that
nowadays we're like you,speaking to the unsafe kind of
idea.
A lot of times, especiallynowadays, you disagree with
someone and it's like the end ofthe world.
You know, um, cancel cultureand everything but like level of
understanding is a really bigthing.
(28:34):
I think that there areconversations where things are
taken to the extreme, butusually by having that level of
understanding and being willingto have a conversation with
someone who disagrees with you,it's very big.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, I think maybe we've been socialized and maybe
it's just the way it is.
But, like Twitter, fingers aremade for war, you know.
But when you come acrosssomeone's actual humanity and
you're in the space with them,unless you're socialized and
have stark belief, you startliking another person, maybe not
even liking, you start noticingthat there are another human
(29:10):
being who lives, breathes, hashardships and like, goes through
it just like you.
I know learning differentmethods of speaking to be heard
without doing harm, a lanonviolent communication, has
been very, very helpful.
I know being able to listen andunderstand and still bring up
(29:32):
difference has been very, veryhelpful.
All these different tools thatwe have to be heard to speak
without hurting.
I think they're very, veryvaluable as we start to get
outside, as our differencesstart to get put under a
microscope, and start to getoutside as our differences start
to get put under a microscopeand start to divide us.
So we have workshops on that.
That's like one of our mainthings.
(29:55):
We try to host spaces wherepeople feel safe and can learn
and be in community.
That's what it's really reallyabout being community.
I'm wondering if there's anylast thoughts that you guys want
to bring up.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I am wondering before we close up.
I'm sure folks are wonderinghow they can get involved with
us here at the Gandhi Instituteover the summer.
Is there anything that y'allare looking forward to that we
are offering coming up in thesummer?
I'll say, for me, one of themis the community dinners that
we'll be having throughout thesummer months, once a month, and
(30:31):
they're going to be outside,which is our favorite thing.
You know, if you've come to acommunity dinner in the fall or
winter, we're usually cozyinside the house, but once the
summer months come and once theflowers start to bloom, we love
to move outside and it's a greatway to, yeah, connect with our
community garden and ourcommunity members.
So, yeah, that's a great way tocome and get some food, bring
(30:52):
yourself and your appetite andcome and visit us and connect.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
What are y'all looking forward to?
I'll make mention of ourbreakfast chats that are going
on second Tuesday of each monthbright and early Chats for folks
to come by have a bite to eat,check out the Institute grounds
and offices, have a chat with atleast myself and Michael, who
hold down these spaces, andwhoever else comes from the
(31:18):
community.
Think of it almost as a earlymorning version of the community
dinners, in the sense thatpeople can come together and
begin to share what's on theirmind and what's important to
them and connect to the GandhiInstitute here.
So that's the second Tuesday ofeach month.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I'm really looking forward to our de-escalation
workshops.
If things get heated, how doyou get out safe?
How do you get out with respect?
And practicing how to do thatis really, really important as
things heat up socially andphysically.
Jordy, you were talking aboutcommunity gardening and I know
(31:58):
we have some offerings aroundthat and yeah we do like
gardening parties during thesummer.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Right, I know that they're every Saturday, but can
one of you guys give ouraudience a description of like
what we usually, what thatusually entails or what we
usually do?
Speaker 3 (32:14):
That is a chance.
Our gardening parties are achance for you to come and hang
out with our garden managers,alejandra and Christina, and
we've got our big communitygarden here with different
veggies, produce flowers, soyou'll have a chance to get your
hands dirty wherever you'reinterested in.
So there's weeding, there'swatering, any kind of
(32:34):
maintenance that you can help uswith Our other tasks around the
Gandhi Institute as well.
And, yeah, just a good way tochat and meet new people and
learn more about this directcommunity that we're in.
So you can come and join us onSaturdays and no gardening
experience prior is necessary.
You can come with whateverlevels of gardening experience
you have.
(32:54):
And, yeah, come and get yourhands dirty with us.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Yeah, that's great.
So garden parties, we gotbreakfast chats, we got
community dinner.
You know we love food.
Um, we have our de-escalationworkshop coming up.
Uh, in the fall we'll have somenon-violent communication
series so we can kind of get topracticing the nuts and bolts of
(33:21):
how to, of non-violentcommunication that seeks to
understand and be heard andspeak towards those universal
needs to be understood, to havepeace to be seen.
And I think the last thing everrevolving is like we have our
online grief circles.
Every Thursday at noon you havea chance to meet up with
(33:43):
individuals who have somethingheavy on their heart, or maybe
like medium heaviness, and, yeah, process it.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
I think that chance to also process when things get
hot is very, very useful.
All right, I feel like gettingout and walking the trail soon
and got me going.
But yeah, this has been a goodconversation, yo, it is Peace,
peace.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
See you next time.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Peace indeed.
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