 Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham. Fifteen syllables. Thirty-three years. One Coalition. Thousands of stories. This fall, RCND is "Gathering In" our several storied decades toward one sustaining story and structure for everything our Coalition has grown.
We kicked off this season of grounding at our Community Luncheon Roundtable on October 23. In that space where our Coalition began, we named three ways we're understanding this intentional turn-of-the-page for RCND. Gather in and take a look!
 Lately we've been imagining RCND as an expansive tree, grown from the seed of one faithful question, 33 years ago. What does it mean to take responsibility for the harm we do to one another in Durham?
Gradually, early emphasis on gun policy flowered into “being with...” Neighbors surviving the violence of homicide, and neighbors surviving the violence of incarceration, and communities longing for more restorative responses to harm. And then, and then, and then... We have cherished every branch in that canopy. But the true health of any tree lies underground, in the roots that grew to nourish so much growth.  What one story and structure could possibly nurture every part of our growing and gathering organization? We are one Coalition of two programs and many practices, anchored by four enduring values.
For better and (sometimes) worse, RCND's story evolved from communal trust, time, and money—in that order. There would be no RCND if we had not always invested first, extravagantly so, in communal trust. It is our oldest and deepest asset.
There would be no sprawling canopy (or deep roots) if we had not invested next, extravagantly so, in communal time. We exist to redistribute vast gifts of time, care, and attention from neighbor to most-affected neighbor. |
