As you might have seen mentioned the past few weeks, State of the Re:Union is continuing on in its yearly funding crusade. October started our month-long fundraising drive, and while we still have some dollars to go to reach our goal, we believe that with help from SOTRU Superheroes like yourself, we’ll have be able to raise the funds needed to continue telling amazing stories of people building community from coast-to-coast.

Our yearly fundraising event, ‘State of the Re:Union Live’ happened in Jacksonville, FL this past Saturday, October 22nd. Host Al Letson, entertained and informed with an incredible multimedia performance that mixed videos and radio segments from a variety of episodes with performance and narration. Our deepest thanks to all who attended and supported the event for creating an incredible sense of community under one roof.

Saturday night’s efforts helped make a dent in our fundraising needs, but we’ve still got a healthy portion of fundraising to go. Unlike the majority of public radio show’s, SOTRU is not presented by a specific station, and independently responsible for raising the funds needed to continue. We’re confident, that with your help, we can make it.

Grassroots and gumption: That’s what sets our listeners aside from others. You have the ability to help us make a change in the lives of millions more throughout the U.S. The one common thread we have seen throughout SOTRU listeners is the ability to make things happen, and that spirit is what we are counting on. You can help by making a simple donation. If you enjoy the episodes and want to hear more of what communities across America are doing to keep it going, your tax-deductible donation – from $5 to $500 – will help with just that. Click here to help to lend a hand in helping us bring things back together.

Want to get involved beyond you’re cash contribution? There are other ways you can help:

Host a Listening Party

For those who weren’t able to attend our State of the Re:Union Live event, have no fear. You can participate and enjoy the fun while showing off your mad-hosting skills. Through throwing a State of the Re:Union Listening Party.

We’re asking our loyal listeners to become SOTRU Superheroes by gathering their friends to come together to listen to a State of the Re:Union episode while helping raise much-needed funds to continue producing this program. Click here to find out more on hosting your own event.

Underwriting Support

From radio episode underwriting to podcasts and website advertising, SOTRU has a variety of underwriting opportunities to fit your business or organization’s budget. Our episodes reach an average audience of more than half a million listeners each week and are aired in more than 200 markets across the country. In addition to maximizing national exposure for your organization, you’ll reach civic-minded individuals and influential decision makers who believe in the power of community.

Please email Brie at brie(at)stateofthereunion(dot)com for more information.

Grants & Foundational Support

Does your foundation or organization to support public media, arts programs, educational initiatives or community-oriented projects? SOTRU is always looking to expand our partnerships and support network.

For those who attended our fundraising event in Jacksonville, thank you. We also want to thank all of our amazing sponsors, volunteers and guests that made “State of the Re:Union Live” such a successful event. A special thank you to Mossfire and O’Brothers restaurants for the delectable treats that were insanely delicious. We would also like to extend a special thank you to the wonderful people at MOCA Jacksonville for hosting our event, and to the supporting sponsors who helped bring it all together: PB&J Jacksonville and Tommy Hobin at Mind Jar Media. Our gratitude goes out to Folio Weekly and the Times Union for helping to get the word on the event.

We would be remiss not to mention the wonderful silent auction items contributed by: Tiffany Manning Photography, Orsay Restaurant of Avondale, Fly’s Tie Irish Pub of Atlantic Beach, Belk Regency, Ananda Kula of Avondale, Green Man Gourmet of Avondale, and The Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens. Thank you. Bids from these items nudged us closer to our goal. and to those already offering their support, we are truly grateful for your endeavors. We are a thankful bunch, and have so much more appreciation to give, so thank you in advance for helping us continue journeying into America’s communities, hearts and stories.

And to those already offering their support, we are truly grateful for your endeavors. We are a thankful bunch, and have so much more appreciation to give, so thank you in advance for helping us continue journeying into America’s communities, hearts and stories.

This week’s School Spotlight features a school that was mentioned in our recently released Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work episode. The Near West Intergenerational School (NWIS)  is a new charter school that was born of parents’ aspirations to obtain a better community and future for their children. (To hear this podcast segment, click Here.)

Modeled after a highly regarded school in Cleveland, NWIS is currently in its first year of operation as a publicly funded charter school, offering children in grades K-4 an opportunity to be involved in a better education right now. While there is availability in public schools around them, those schools didn’t exactly tout high expectations of students’ developmental achievements. And the schools that did have waiting lists that are ridiculously long. Instead of forsaking their neighborhood in search of a better school zone, these parents, and later founders, opted to create a school dedicated to the heart of their community’s future.

A brief explanation of the reinforcing reasons for starting NWIS resides in the Founders’ Statement found on Website. It states that school was “founded by a group of neighborhood parents who desire a school rooted in and reflective of the physical and social fabric of the local community it serves.” Its goal is to  provide quality, free and accessible education to all children. The school intends to serve the children and families of that community, but not exclusively to that area. The founders want it to serve “as a cornerstone for continued community development, economic and neighborhood stability, and a gathering place for lifelong learners.”

According to an article from Cleveland.com, “Many of the parents are young professionals. At a time when Cleveland is emptying out, they are dedicated to urban life and have found a pocket where it thrives with historic houses and clusters of shops and restaurants.” You can read more about the school in the article here.

While opening a school is not the obvious or even right choice for others facing a similar situation, it is a working solution for this community of Cleveland parents. However, as wonderful of an accomplishment as this is, the school will need support to survive the rounds of voting and scrutiny it will encounter from city officials, sponsors and residents since it is publicly funded.

To that point, NWIS and its founders are the very reason that there will be money staying in and promoting growth in this Cleveland neighborhood area. Of course this situation begets controversy. Some wonder if this is an appropriate answer to the educational dilemma. The families whose lives have been positively affected through NWIS would say “yes.”

Is this a feasible solution for your community? Or is there another approach that could offer a better solution? Do you think your family or community would benefit from a program like this, or do you think public schools and the communities they serve would benefit from a different approach? We don’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, so we want to hear from you.

We are so pleased to bring you State of the Re:Union’s 2011 Fall Season with the following episodes:

The Bronx, NY: Still Rising from the Ashes
The Bronx has long been seen as a symbol of America’s failings.  For many people here, ‘making it’ means escaping the crime and poverty of their borough.  But some have refused to flee. This episode shines a light on the hold-outs and the dreamers, people who’ve committed their lives to keeping chaos at bay in the Bronx.

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Mississippi Gulf Coast: Defending the Gulf
After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, Mississippi Gulf Coast residents were forced to come together to deal with the aftermath. Then, just as they were starting to get back on their feet, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster dumped millions of barrels of oil into the water just off their shores. Cumulatively, these events have made environmentalists out of a whole lot of Gulf Coast residents who may not have considered themselves as such. We tell an hour of stories about the fight for the natural world bringing Gulf Coast residents together … both with one another and with unlikely partners. And how, in some instances, that fight is turning out to be exactly what a community needed to survive.

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Wyoming: The New Old West
People are few and far between in Wyoming.  Those that do live here prize tradition, self-reliance, and their connection to the land.  So when change comes to the high plains—an oil boom, a minister with new ideas—communities here are tested.   And neighbors have to strike a balance between preserving their independent way of life and learning to rely on one another. We trek to the small towns and remote ranches of Wyoming, meeting people as they adapt to the New Old West.

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Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work
Cleveland, Ohio, is a city that was made by entrepreneurs. But for decades, it’s been known as a city that’s a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams in motion. This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations … in their kids’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-em-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

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Sacramento, CA: All Hands on Deck
There’s been a lot of bad news coming out of Sacramento lately: homelessness, the foreclosure rate, unemployment, and political gridlock in a state crippled by the recession.  Add to that a stubborn case of political fatigue, and you’ve got a lot of reasons to write this cityoff.  But we trekked to California’s beleaguered state capital to take a peek behind the national headlines and find out who keeps this city running—day in, day out—despite all that’s going wrong.  And we left with the realization that people in Sacramento are remaking the American city, in surprising and deeply moving ways.

We are perpetually moved by the incredible stories, people and communities we encounter in making each SOTRU episode. This season is no exception and we are sure that you will be as surprised as we were to learn the things happening in our communities.  You can visit the above pages to listen and download full episodes. There will also be some additional goodies (pictures, articles, and in some cases, a video documentary) you can peruse, adding even more insight into each episode.

Please listen for State of the Re:Union on your local public radio station. In the event your local station isn’t carrying us, you could always give them a call and request it! We’re sure they would love to hear from their listeners anyway. Thanks again for supporting SOTRU. We hope you enjoy the new episodes, documentaries and other bonus features from our travels.

*Listeners in Northeast Florida, you can celebrate the launch of the fall season with us at our annual fundraising event.  Together, Jacksonville’s Museum of Modern Art (MOCA) with SOTRU’s very own, Al Letson, will be hosting and entertaining with a live performance. ‘State of the Re:Union Live’ on Saturday, Oct 22, 2011, will have two shows: the first begins at 7:00 p.m. and the second is at 8:30 p.m. The seats are VERY  limited, so to make sure you don’t miss out, you can purchase tickets in advance for $15 here, or $20 at the door (provided there are seats still available).  See you there!

There’s been a lot of bad news coming out of Sacramento lately: homelessness, the foreclosure rate, unemployment, political gridlock in a state crippled by the recession.  Add to that a stubborn case of politics fatigue, and you’ve got a lot of reasons to write off this city.  But we trekked to California’s beleaguered state capital to peek behind the national headlines and find out who keeps this city running—day in, day out—despite all that’s going wrong.  And we left with the realization that people in Sacramento are remaking the American city, in surprising and deeply moving ways.

State of the Re:Union wants to hear from you! Use the comment section below to let us know what you think about our latest episode, All Hands on Deck.

  [podcast]http://sotrupodcasts.creativeempirell.netdna-cdn.com/Sacramento_podcast.mp3[/podcast]  [/podcast]

Cleveland, Ohio is a city that was made by entrepreneurs, but for decades, it’s been known as a city that’s a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams in motion. This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations… in their kids’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-em-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

State of the Re:Union wants to hear from you! Use the comment section below to let us know what you think about our latest episode, Entrepreneurs at Work.

  [podcast]http://sotrupodcasts.creativeempirell.netdna-cdn.com/Cleveland_Podcast.mp3[/podcast][/podcast]

The Bronx has long been seen as a symbol of America’s failings.  For many people here, ‘making it’ means escaping the crime and poverty of their borough.  But some have refused to flee. This episode shines a light on the hold-outs and the dreamers, people who’ve committed their lives to keeping chaos at bay in the Bronx.

What did you think of Still Rising from the Ashes? Start the discussion by using the comment section below to let us know what you think.

  [podcast]http://sotrupodcasts.creativeempirell.netdna-cdn.com/Bronx_Podcast.mp3[/podcast]  [/podcast]

This was a piece written by SOTRU Radio Producer, Tina Antolini, about her time in the human-occupied tunnels running under Las Vegas. It’s an incredibly fascinating concept if you were to think of it as a diorama; tourists from all over the world in and out of the monstrous casinos and other celebrated spots that you associate with The Strip directly above people making their homes in the dark, wet, flash flood tunnels that run under the city. It feels more like something from a movie. The episode is fascinating and explores this underground world. You can listen here. Tina’s piece below, originally appeared on our website December 23rd, 2010.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about tunnels.

Entrances to an underground world, a place far away from sunlight, and, therefore, in our imaginations, they’re places that must incubate things that love the dark. Fearful things.

Culturally, we’re fascinated with the prospect of a subterranean world. Be it the hiding place of Jean Valjean, the hero of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” (“…Paris has another Paris under herself; a Paris of sewers; which has its streets, its crossings, its squares, its blind alleys, its arteries, and its circulation, which is slime, minus the human form.”) or the home of monsters in “C.H.U.D.” (that would be for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller), a cult film about flesh-eating underground creatures who prey on the homeless, or, on the opposite end of the cinematic spectrum, the grain-hoarding raincoat-wearing vegans of “Delicatessen.”

The truth is less glamorous and/or frightening… but equally fascinating. Among the stories SOTRU is reporting on in Las Vegas is one of the underground world beneath the casinos, the miles of flood channels that lace their way under the Strip. These are home to hundreds of people.

Many of whom have surprisingly home-like homes.

But most of these tunnel residents are forced down here because of a variety of misfortunes, economic and otherwise. Usually, one does not choose to live 30+ feet underground for the heck of it.

We’ll tell you a lot more about life in the tunnels in our upcoming Las Vegas episode… But in the meantime, I wanted to know: what’s your favorite tunnel story, real or imagined?

Operation New Hope is such an incredible organization and has even become a national model for solving recidivism challenges. It was originally explored in our episode, Jacksonville – The Bold New City of the South? – and SOTRU guest contributor, Alina Kodatt, caught up with the organization’s founder, Kevin Gay, last December to see what had changed for them since the episode. We want to be sure that you didn’t miss it! Additionally, we will soon be starting a new feature on our website called Radio Re:Visit. It will highlight some of the people and organizations that were part of our radio episodes, so that we can get a sense for where they are now and if anything has changed since we last spoke.

Below is Alina’s conversation with Kevin that we originally published on 12.06.10:

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In State of the Re:Union’s third pilot episode, Al Letson explored his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. In that episode Al introduced readers to Operation New Hope (ONH), an organization located in the historic downtown neighborhood of Springfield. Focused on bringing hope to ex-offenders through employment and rebuilding dilapidated homes in the community, ONH has received national attention for their model of bringing help and hope to their community. We were so inspired by their story the first time around that we recently caught up with ONH director Kevin Gay to get an update on their efforts. (more…)

Marietta Synodis started as an intern for SOTRU and is now our Senior Researcher. She has a knack for finding great stories and in the course of researching for our Los Angeles episode, found an incredibly helpful, community building social media effort called Hidden Los Angeles. Check out Marietta’s post about Hidden Los Angeles and be sure to let us know how you feel about it and about what may be similar efforts in your hometown below.

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Having grown up in San Diego, I definitely have engaged in anti-LA sentiment more times than I should probably admit. You know, it’s so polluted, cement everywhere, wallets (and bodies) full of plastic, Los Angel-less, and lest I not forget the unbearable traffic, traffic, TRAFFIC!  We all know the stereotypes.  But in doing research for our LA episode, I came across the website Hidden Los Angeles: “embracing the depth beneath the shallow.” OK, interest piqued. And, as is often the case with the internet, I found myself an hour later still looking through all the vintage photos, event listings, and intriguing collateral posted throughout the site. (more…)

Music lovers across the globe all have stories of that first record store that ushered in their individual Age of Enlightenment. Chances are, those little shops of our youth are long gone, particularly now that digital technology offers customers the chance to shop from home with a click. But there are still die-hard fans out there who not only continue to go out into the world seeking used vinyl and new and used CDs, these folks are also fostering a young brood of new music lovers; buyers who are still willing to embrace new technology but also looking for both the tangible and more intrinsic benefits of vinyl. (more…)

The New York Times published an article yesterday titled, “As the Mountaintops Fall, a Coal Town Vanishes.” It discusses the devastating effects of mountain top removal mining, in this case, on Lindytown, West Virginia. In our 2010 Fall Season, we visited Lindytown for the Appalachia Rising episode and discussed in great detail the toll that the town, and the surrounding area, had taken and continues to take as a result of mountain top removal mining.

The thing that really stood out to us at SOTRU, was learning of the passing of Lawrence Richmond who so graciously invited us into his home and spoke to us during the recording of the episode. Rest in peace Lawrence and our deepest sympathies to the Richmond family.

Radio Producer Tina Antolini’s post from October of 2010, about her time in Appalachia seemed appropriate to share upon hearing this news:

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We all know what it’s like to be homesick—that bittersweet pang of longing for a place so familiar it feels part of us. Estranged from it, at certain moments it seems almost as if we are estranged from ourselves. But what’s it like to feel homesick when you’ve never left home? When, instead, your home has changed around you? (more…)

State of the Re:Union’s creator, host and co-executive producer, Al Letson, is currently performing his one-man show, Summer in Sanctuary off-Broadway at the Abingdon Theatre. We are extremely excited to share some of the early reviews of the production.

You can buy tickets and find out more about the show at the official SIS website and keep up with news and updates at the official SIS Facebook page.

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Show Business Weekly Review:

In addition to being the host of the innovative NPR program “State of the Re:Union,” Al Letson is a gifted performance poet with a resume that boasts performances on national and local stages as well as on HBO. Now New York City gets a chance to see Letson’s many talents in action through Summer in Sanctuary, an autobiographical piece told through monologue, poetry, song and multimedia.

The show chronicles Letson’s experiences working at a summer camp in an economically challenged area of Florida. Don’t worry — Letson doesn’t imagine himself a hero a la Freedom Writers or Dangerous Minds. Instead, he is incredibly honest and vulnerable, freely recounting his challenges and failures for a brutally accurate description of how difficult the job really is. What is most touching, however, is his love for the campground kids, emanating through his monologues, accounts of experiences, and funny yet charming impersonations.

Letson is an exceptional performer, and he succeeds in making the show nuanced and diverse despite the fact that he is alone on stage. At times, his monologues are airy and natural, as if he were talking with a few friends, but he is equally capable of delivering a pointed and downright tear-jerking monologue. He is also extremely adept at impersonations, creating characters with specific voices and physicalities, and then effortlessly transitioning between them. It is no surprise, however, that the strongest points of the show are his performance poetry pieces. His body morphs into whatever he needs to be while his energy rockets through the roof. The show features multiple pieces of poetry intertwined throughout, including his well-known “The Ball the Rim and Him” and another about the word “Nigga” — “it is the sound of our teeth / pressing against this / fleshy fruit that names us.”

…..Summer in Sanctuary is laugh-out-loud funny at times, intriguing and intellectual at others, but it ultimately communicates the profound truth that a little bit of love goes a long way. It doesn’t take a superhero to make a difference, and Letson proves that sometimes the experiences we consider personal failures are those that have affected others in ways we could never imagine.

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BACKSTAGE Review:

“Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can’t you see?/Sometimes your words just hypnotize me,” croons Pamela Long on the hook of Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 single “Hypnotize,” which plays at the end of Al Letson’s one-man show “Summer in Sanctuary.” A self-admitted fan of the hip-hop pioneer, Letson also has something in common with him: the ability to make words spellbinding. In the late ’90s, Letson made a name for himself by competing on the poetry-slam circuit. More recently, he has employed his prodigious skills as a wordsmith in his playwriting and as host of the public radio show “State of the Re:Union.”

“Summer in Sanctuary” refers to the months Letson spent in Jacksonville, Fla., nominally working as a creative writing teacher at a summer camp for inner-city youth. But when the kids firmly displayed their resistance to writing during summer vacation, Letson’s roles at the camp expanded to include mentor, coach, storyteller, videographer, chauffeur, and therapist. The performer is the son of a Southern Baptist preacher, and his family background is evident in his ability to bring out the music in his words: playing with their tempo, building to a crescendo, driving a point home in an explosive cadence.

He adopts the rhythms and jives of the different students, moving between personalities with the ease of a great character actor. Although he spends most of the play with the boys of the camp, his brief forays into the girls’ territory are both enlightening and hilarious; the back-and-forth between Letson and the queen bee, Danita, is particularly remarkable….