If you see me in a suit it generally means one of two things: I am going to a wedding or I am invited to an event with Bill Clinton.
The work I have done for Kiva, both as a lender and a blogger, has gotten some attention. My Kiva diaries are among the more popular ones I write. A little while back I was interviewed by BBC World News as a lender. And most recently, I was invited to a private panel discussion for the release of Bill Clinton’s latest Book, GIVING: How Each of Us Can Change the World. I do not have a copy of this book as of yet so this is not a book review, though that might come. Instead I want to discuss the event and some of the individuals and organizations that were highlighted.
Three people I have had previous contact with were on the panel: Bill Clinton himself, who I got to meet at a fundraiser for Christine Jennings, Majora Carter, an awesome NYC rising star, and Premal Shah, President of Kiva, the organization I have been working with that got me invited to the event. Rounding out the panel were Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone (which hosted the event), Mark Grashow of U.S. - Africa Children’s Fellowship and a 6 year old girl named Mackenzie who organized a beach cleanup for her birthday. The panel discussion was moderated by Tavis Smiley.
Many of my fellow progressive complain about Bill Clinton. But I remember the sheer optimism and pride I felt during his Presidency. I think he is the best President of my lifetime and his Presidency was a high water mark for America both at home and abroad. In his introductory speech at the event, Bill Clinton demonstrated that he still is one of the few people I know who can talk about the difference between a statistical mean and median while still exuding enough charisma to make women in the audience swoon. Every time I hear him talk these days I feel nostalgia for a time now past. In fact, one thing that strikes me is that even in these days of paranoia and security alerts, Bill Clinton is surrounded by a sense of relaxed openness, with Secret Service that are efficient, but low-key. Bill Clinton’s message of hope, which got him elected, continues today through his own foundation and through this new book.
There were two members of the panel who caught my attention even in the midst of a superb Clinton speech. Majora Carter is one of the few people who can exude charisma to match Bill Clinton's. And in a panel with them sitting next to each other, there were both men and women swooning in the audience. Mackenzie is the one, though, who stole Clinton’s thunder for a brief moment as she kicked off her shoes, which fell with two loud thuds, kicked back in her seat, and played with some kind of play dough like stuff she brought with her to keep herself occupied. It was a priceless moment.
The main theme of Bill Clinton's book is similar to that of John Kerry’s book, This Moment on Earth, but more broadly focused. Bill Clinton’s book is meant to inspire us all to realize that we have the power to participate in changing the world. This is why the panel included everyone from a 6 year old girl who cleans up her local beach for her birthday all the way up to Clinton himself. This represents a continuum of activism which was summed up by Tavis Smiley quoting from a church banner: "Not equal giving but equal sacrifice." We each give and do what we can given our resources. Another message of the book answers why we give: We give because it makes us happy, is Clinton’s answer. This is a reasonable and simple answer, though one that I will slightly disagree with in a moment, thanks to Mackenzie. But first, I want to give some plugs for each of the causes represented.
Majora Carter illustrates that you don’t have to start out with a lot to accomplish a lot. Nothing sums up Majora better than her own words, which I quote from John Kerry’s book:
"I grew up as a child seeing stretches of burned-out, abandoned buildings everywhere I walked," Majora remembered. "As a kid, you never fully understand what makes that sort of thing happen, but it teaches you that you're probably not worth much." When she was just seven years old, her older brother Lenny was killed by gunfire. "He had survived fighting in Vietnam," she said, her voice still cracking at the thought, "but he couldn't survive the South Bronx in the 1970's..."
Majora founded the organization Sustainable South Bronx to fight for her neighborhood. Its mission statement on their website says:
Environmental Justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by the needs of the community.
Founded in 2001 by life-long Hunts Point resident, Majora Carter, SSB also addresses land-use, energy, transportation, water and waste policy, and education in order to advance the environmental and economic rebirth of the South Bronx to inspire solutions in areas like it across the nation and the globe.
This doesn’t do justice to the work she does. She has been described by several of my Brooklyn political connections as, and I quote, "awesome." Clinton singled her out for particular praise for focusing on one of the poorest Congressional districts in America with one of the highest asthma rates in the country and bringing parks and green jobs to the neighborhood.
Mark Grashow is a retired school teacher who found himself caught up in the educational needs of Zimbabwe and South Africa. When Tavis Smiley asked him how he responds when asked why he focuses abroad rather than on the needs in the US, Mark Grashow replied that you focus on what life brings to you. He and his wife, Sheri Saltzberg, found their own niche in helping in Africa after visiting schools and orphanages in South Africa in 2003. Of course what wasn't said was that Mark had dedicated his career to educating American children before he started helping children of Africa. This is what their organization, U.S.- Africa Children’s Fellowship does: (quoted from their website)
...we formulated a plan to link dozens of schools in New York with their African counterparts. The partnerships will have three components:
- The students of each school will share histories, personal as well as historical, through books, letters, photos and e-mails. Students will attempt to learn as much as possible about each other’s culture and seek ways to link their worlds together.
- Twice a year a 40-foot container will be shipped to Durban, South Africa loaded with requested and donated materials. Shipments will include tens of thousands of books, science equipment, calculators, computers, art supplies, sports equipment, paper, pens, pencils, linens, towels, medical supplies, maps, sewing kits, seeds and tools. Meeting specific needs of individual schools is a priority. ORAP will truck the donated materials directly to the participating schools.
- Funds will be raised to not only pay for the storage, shipment of goods and the purchase of specifically requested materials such as brick molds and sewing machines, but for school uniforms and individual scholarships. Funds would also be used to purchase locally printed books as well as other educational materials not available in the States.
Geoffrey Canada is President/CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone. This organization has 15 centers around NYC that serve more than 12,500 children and adults, including over 8,600 at-risk children. Their stated focus is "on rebuilding the very fabric of community life." Ambitious to say the least. Geoffrey was an eloquent speaker particularly when asked by Tavis Smiley whether the ethnic divides and increasing divisions in America affect the work of the organization. Geoffrey Canada pointed out that it is easy for people, particularly as America’s economy and environment deteriorate, to focus on the needs of "their" children, which narrowly means the children of their immediate family but which is easy to extend to children who look like "us." So middle class families will more easily view the children of other middle class families as "our children" and may less often view children of the increasingly diverse communities of America as being "our children." This is a challenge that organizations like Harlem Children’s Zone need to face: helping all Americans realize that ALL of America’s children are "our children."
This reminds me of two things. First is the discrepancy between playgrounds in the wealthy areas of Brooklyn and in the poor areas of Brooklyn even within Park Slope. As I have discussed before, it sends children a profound message when there are protective gates to keep children in white neighborhoods from wandering into the street but there are no such gates on some playgrounds in poor, mostly minority neighborhoods. If even NYC can’t protect children in all its playgrounds equally, I can feel for Geoffrey Canada as he faces this challenge. I was also reminded of a recent article I wrote on the efforts of the Governors of New Hampshire and New York to force the Federal government to guarantee health insurance for all of America’s children. One response to this diary referred to this as leftist extremism turning New Hampshire (and, presumably by extension, America) into a communist state. If the goal of insuring all American children is seen as somehow extremist, I think we are in trouble. At a bare minimum our society should embrace quality education and healthcare for all our children, meaning all American children. As globalization inevitably progresses, one would hope that "our children" eventually encompasses all children period.
KIVA is an organization I have discussed many times before, most recently in the context of a BBC interview discussing Kiva. Kiva links small businesses around the world with individuals who can lend as little as $25. These small amounts of money from individuals are bundled to fill the loans to small businesses. Premal Shah, Kiva's president, described the key to Kiva's success in that it makes microlending so easy, like online shopping. One person sitting behind me (also a Kiva lender) described it even better: it's like internet dating. You look at everyone's description and picture and try to decide who you want to establish a relationship with. Only in this case it's a business relationship, not a dating relationship.
I started working with Kiva as a lender and blogger a couple of years ago when they worked in only three nations: Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. They have since expanded all over the world, from Bulgaria to Boliva and from Cambodia to Cameroon. Kiva is one of the most amazing success stories I have ever heard. In fact, they are so successful that their tiny staff can barely keep up with interest thanks to both the blogsphere and to mainstream media. Usually I urge people to become a lender. Right now, though, I urge people to give donations to Kiva so that they can expand their staff and continue doing such wonderful work. It amazes me how much they do with so little (they don’t charge interest on their loans, though some of their partners do). A small donation from you can help them help thousands of small businesses around the world. If you want to hear more success stories, you can read about some of the businesses I have worked with through Kiva, please go here and here.
Which brings us to 6 year old Mackenzie. There is nothing sophisticated or complex in her story. She is a six year old kid who saw pictures of animals injured and killed by garbage and wanted to do something. So her birthday party was a beach clean up. In this simple thing came one of my main revelations from the discussion and it is the one place I wind up slightly disagreeing with Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton says people give because it makes them happy. And to some degree this is true. But when asked why she wanted a beach cleanup for her birthday, Mackenzie replied that she didn’t know. She was then prompted whether it made her feel happy. She kind of quietly said "yes," but to me she sounded unconvinced. I asked myself why she felt unconvinced and what it was that probably motivated this kid to do what she did for the environment.
I know kids. One thing that is almost constantly facing children (not to mention many adults) is a feeling of powerlessness. This overwhelming feeling of knowing that there are things not right in the world and that we have so little control over these things hits all of us, but most particularly children because in very real ways they ARE powerless. Behind a child who refuses to potty train is a control issue...a need to feel some power over something.
Mackenzie didn’t like to see hurt animals. This is a huge issue that many of us would feel powerless against and throw up our hands. Mackenzie didn’t do that. She had a beach cleanup. This empowered her and gave her a sense of DOING something to SOLVE a problem. That is a feeling better than mere happiness. It is a feeling of empowerment that banishes that overwhelming powerlessness we all, children in particular, face. That is why I think most people give. Majora Carter didn’t abandon the South Bronx. She sought to empower herself and her community to better their small world. Geoffrey Canada sees a huge challenge in making all children become "our children" and inspire people to help them. By facing this challenge he is banishing some of that overwhelming helplessness we all face. Why do I lend so much to Kiva sponsored businesses? Because I feel a sense of empowerment, accomplishment and significance when I do so and that is one hell of a natural high. Happiness is part of that. But it goes beyond happiness, in my humble opinion.
If I may indulge in my usual impressionistic description of events I attend (some complain that these are too gossipy, but they are also very well read!), I would like to step back and present my impressions more as an observer than an invited guest. I like to do this because for me these events are almost sociological studies. The audience around me was very interesting. There was, of course, the Press. Circulating, observing and trying to catch pictures of the rich and famous, like Madeline Albright and Bill Clinton. And, of course, there were the rich and famous, all sniffing each other’s Harvard and Yale credentials. Both were present at this event as they are at almost all such events. But most events stop there. This event had another group present. And I spent some time talking to several of them. They all said the same thing: "I have no idea why I was invited." They all expressed some sense of strangeness about the general audience, having seldom been in crowds of the rich and famous being observed by the media. These people were people who were models of what Bill Clinton’s book was all about. Kiva lenders. People from organizations that help educate prisoners. People who work with foundations. People who are giving their time, money and effort. I think it is pretty cool that Bill Clinton brought this group into the crowd.
We all work hard to make the world better. Bill Clinton’s book seeks to inspire us in our efforts and if this panel discussion is any indication, he discusses some real kick ass people and organizations. I hope that you are inspired to help them out or to further your own efforts to make the world a better place.