Working Together To Build
the DMZ Garden

A few years ago I had this bright idea, generated from my days as a community organizer, to gather leaders from a number of peace and justice groups; outline all the causes of each group; pick one that is winnable; all groups focus on this one issue and then move on to another one from one of the groups. The idea was inspired by the theme of “Working Together We can Made a Difference.” I ran the idea to a few friends and they thought it was a good idea and feasible. However, it could never work even with groups they were already coalitions of groups with different cause. One leader of a coalition of groups told me you got your issues and causes and I got mine. You work on yours with your group and I will work on mine with my group. Somehow the ‘powers to be’ have ingrained in us to “do our thing” knowing that divided we are defeated.

I noticed that when nonviolent leaders like Gandhi or King brought large group of diverse people around a common cause and by working together people made a difference. Now leaders like this are not allowed to emerge unless, like our politicians, are owned by the ‘powers to be.’

When I was a community organizer out East in 70’s I saw the power of groups to make a difference and change when the focus was on one thing at a time. The biggest concern I had was that when people got power they did not know how to handle it and often turned it on themselves, organizing against each other. Experiencing this is why I got out of this type of organizing.

We can talk and talk about the power within all of us to make a change or difference but when two or more come together to make change there is often discord and divisiveness. Sports figures are always talking about working together as a ‘team’ to win. Growing Power, a nonprofit supplying good food in an urban environment has the model: “Working Together We are Growing Power.” However, now they have grown big and have worldwide respect and drawn major money from corporations like Wal-Mart, tours and worms that were once free now cost and access to leaders is hard.
I guess this is part of the price we pay for success but giving up working together to make a difference is something we can still do.

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