Hosting an UI Discussion Party is a rare opportunity to gather with friends, family, neighbors and your community to discuss the issues facing us and our future. Urban Intellectuals has built a reputation using several media platforms to spark engaging, transformative discussions among our community. Why not consider doing the same thing in the comfort of your home, business or community center with your people?
Doing so will further the bond between you, friends, family and the community which is something we sorely need, but also create opportunities to find a path to a better future.
There are several ways to approach your UI Discussion Party:
Option A: General Inquiry
This is the most popular approach to the UI Discussion Party. You come together with your community of participants to discuss a wide variety of issues facing us. The questions to spark this discussion are provided in this toolkit as well as will come from the participating audience.
The key is having a good moderator that will be able to keep the discussion flowing, keep everyone calm, and transition to the next discussion. Don’t worry, this isn’t difficult, but the moderator must pay attention.
Option B: Specific Topics
There are times when your community have several issues that might be effecting you all. This is a great time to have an UI Discussion Party to flesh out these specific issues and topics that is so important to all. You may want to discuss the black family, the “no snitching” epidemic, lack of access to quality education.
Again, questions in a variety of areas are available in this toolkit to get you started. Eventually, there will be additional questions you can aquire to keep the discussion going. But in the meantime, feel free to dive in, question your community, and keep the discussion going strong.
Option C: In response to an Event
There are times in our community when something happens. This can be a tragedy, release of some startling statistics, or even something very positive. Any reasons of this magnitude are a great time to get the community together to spark discussion on the presented issues.
Great examples of this type of motivation for a UI Discussion Party are:
1) Too many shootings in the neighborhood. Chicago’s south and west sides are a strong example of why these conversations can be had. However, it is very unfortunate that these issues are not just restricted to Chicago. They are happening all around the country.
2) Statistics on the black male high school dropout rate, the percentage of children born to unwed mothers in our community. These are two very startling and frightening subjects impacting our community and could drive anyone to lead an UI Discussion Party.
3) Ten Children in the community getting full scholarships or a string of new black businesses opening in the community. These events create an opportunity for the community to come together to discuss ways to continue and build upon the recent success. These discussions can look for solutions needed to create more of the celebrated success.
There are many more reasons and excuses to host a UI Discussion Party. They are very enlightening as the wisdom of the community is poured onto display for everyone to benefit. You will discover wisdom and knowledge coming from unexpected corners of the community, which is a wonderful thing.
Many times only the privileged and connect have an opportunity to contribute to the discussion of our critical issues, but with the UI Discussion Party everyone is invited to contribute to the conversation and the mutual benefit of our future.
People coming together for the expansion and building of their community is very powerful and necessary. Often times, we like to sit isolated in our ivory towers never to engage the people about issues facing us as a people. Far too often we delegate our power to others, politicians, religious leaders, and organizations, in HOPES they will not mistrust it and take care of us.
Gone are these days. It is time for each individual to stand up and take their seat at the community table, pull their own weight and take part in the future we are all crafting. UI Discussion Parties are a great way to get the ball rolling in your community.
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