Conversation Pieces Assignment

Three key ideas that resonated with me through my intake of the reading rallied behind the concept of human interaction and deeper understanding that follows.

1. Exploring the genuineness behind hard conversations that are long overdue, and to what extent your digestion of that information informs your solution construct.
2. The level of listening that took place amongst such a diverse group of community members, recognizing each other’s place within society and how important each person’s role plays within the community’s daily function.
3. How involved and open each community member was to each other’s concerns and lifestyle, as everyone was trying to figure out fixes that extended well beyond just those at the table.

Each of these key points create a narrative that placed concerns at the forefront, regardless of their socially ranked ‘place’ in society. These problem solvers styled their research into very active participants by placing themselves in the other’s shoes and were making use of the community resources at hand. Whether that was kids in schools talking one on one with police to get their voices heard, bus drivers purposely redirecting their daily routes, or even bringing pension to the forefront for struggling, misunderstood sex workers. Through this research, those involved prioritized the health of its people over all else in a very direct and honest way. They could have easily stayed afar and tried theorizing solutions with a level of ignorance by not knowing their own community. They were not just standing at the sidelines, and put forth real solutions based on the depth of their understanding for their people.

Questions I have after reading this text is based on how interested I am in how far this can go with different problems that communities face. I am curious on how major of problems you can tackle with something so simplistic such as listening, intaking, and physically problem solving. Something very simple in nature, but is rarely practiced.