Utne Reader's "Let's Talk America" Initiative

[deutsey]

Let's Talk America: Election 2004

Coming in March 2004, a new "conversation for democracy" movement
By Leif Utne

We've been talking since 1997 about relaunching our efforts to organize salons (neighborhood discussion groups), which we pioneered in 1991. Now, we're finally doing it. We are working with a number of partners -- including the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, the Conversation Cafes, and The World Cafe -- to convene a national conversation about our hopes and dreams for our democracy.

The Let's Talk America initiative will kick off in March with salons in 1,000 living rooms, libraries, cafes, church basements, and community centers across the country, continuing through Election Day and beyond. During March, we also plan to hold large launch events in several cities (still to be determined). And we will soon be launching a web-based tool where you can look up events in your area, or volunteer to host one of your own.

How to Get Involved
For this initiative to succeed, we need volunteers -- to host salons, to make the launch events happen, to spread the word in your area, and to raise funds for the project. If you are interested in hosting a Let's Talk America group in your neighborhood, or volunteering in any way, please email us with your name, state and zip code, and we'll contact you with more specific info about getting involved.

In the coming weeks, we'll post more information in this space about how you can get involved in this new democracy salons movement.

http://www.utne.com/salons/