Although it is officially 2012, we couldn’t let this listener response to our 2011 Auld Lang Syne go unheard. Another rockin’ SOTRU listener of Oakland, California, gives us her Fan’s Fab Five. Thanks, and take it away, Courtney Supple …

As a resident of Oakland, CA, I have to put my town’s episode at the top of the list. You helped listeners envision an Oakland that isn’t normally portrayed in the mainstream media. We are a town of entrepreneurs, of artists, of farmers, of loving people from all walks of life who take care of each other, in spite of and because of the struggles we face. I remember listening to the episode as I’m riding my bike from East Oakland (where Sobrante Park is located), past Lake Merritt, to Downtown Oakland, and as I’m listening to our stories, I am filled with joy and pride and I begin to feel an even deeper level of closeness to the neighbors I’m passing by and the neighborhoods I’m passing through. I didn’t know I could love this town more than I already did, but I do. Thank you

“As for my other top four (it’s so hard to pick; y’all create such a great show every time!):

1. Cleveland, OH - I love the entrepreneurial spirit and it’s so inspiring to hear the stories of people who put their ideas into action and are succeeding!

2. The Bronx, NY – I hear a lot of Oakland in The Bronx story, particularly the first story about the woman taking care of her block. Reminds me of the episode you did on Detroit, where there was a mural that said, ‘you don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one.’ It’s always a matter of regular folks taking it upon ourselves to create the lives and world we wanna live in

3. Birmingham, AL - I love it when y’all share voices that don’t fit nicely into a comfortable little narrative that makes us all feel warm and fuzzy and satisfied. The stories heard in the beginning of this episode challenged me and my ideas, and I think we all need more of that in our lives and in our larger cultural dialogue.

4. Wyoming - Nobody talks about Wyoming. Nobody goes to Wyoming. There are more people in several major American cities than there are in the entire state of Wyoming. But there are stories there that everyone can relate to, in some way or another. Whether it’s hearing that little girl sing with her mama, or that police officer talk so openly about being homophobic and how he’s changed, or from communities divided by economic opportunity/environmental devastation, we can all relate to something somewhere in these stories. To realize that connection is incredibly powerful and, I assume, part of the reason you produce this show.

Thank you SOOOOOO much for SOTRU! Thank you for connecting me to others around the country that are creating beautiful communities in the most simple, yet innovative ways. You make me cry and laugh and hope and that’s what good storytelling is allllll about. Well done and keep it up!!!

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Thanks, again, Courtney. Like Courtney, some of our incredible SOTRU listeners have been moved by the issues being brought to life, mobilizing them to take action and help these communities. It is moments like these that make all of the toiling, hard work and frustrations transform into pride and reaffirm why SOTRU does exists: it is because of the resounding awesomeness and community produced by people in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

Happy 2012 to all of our awesome friends, supporters and communities. It’s going to be an interesting year full of great and surprising episodes that introduce more fantastic  people and places in the great country of ours. Stay tuned … it’s going to be a phenomenal SOTRU year!

As we venture further along into our 2011 SOTRU reminiscing, moments and stories are recaptivating our attention, and rightly so. There have been some amazing people, communities and occurrences highlighted in this year’s episodes, and their stories have greatly impacted many lives. (To see the collection of 2011 SOTRU episodes, click here. )

Today, we hear some fab five choices from some more SOTRU team members.

 The one and only Laura Starecheski, yet another producer extraordinaire, tells us what her five favorite episodes are, along with what makes them so special to her.

Las Vegas: Yep - I, too, love the way this episode shows us the sides of
the city outsiders would never usually get to see.
The Bronx: Hometown pride!
Cleveland: Loved the different way of looking at theme – Connecting
entrepreneurship to community- such a cool idea.
Birmingham: What a way to get started living the SOTRU life!
Sacramento: Sleeper hit. Did not expect to find so many amazing stories. It showed me the value of going off the beaten path and  looking behind national news coverage, and the super story-finding collaborationmade with Tina, Marietta and interns.

 SOTRU’s social media coordinator, digital content editor, and maker of tasty treats is Jan Bennett. Relatively new to the team, Jan eagerly gives her fab five of 2011, admitting that she is so estatic to be a part of something so wonderfully amazing.

 Las Vegas: It was so intriguing (and somewhat refreshing) to learn about the Las Vegas that isn’t all glitz and glam.                                                                                                                         Sacramento: Adding to the fantastic stories woven together is how awesome it is to watch Al’s excitement about this episode!                                                                                                    Mississippi Gulf Coast: The stories of people still dealing with the aftermath of disasters, both natural and manmade, are inspiring. As infuriating as it was to listen to some of the big oil antics, it was just as heartening to learn of the incredible strength of spirit and amazing character these men and women display.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Wyoming: I was not expecting to learn about the detrimental (and sometimes life-threatening) impact fracking is having on many communities. If knowledge is power, learning this made me feel like Superman. This compelled me to Love the music of the Joe Speed Band.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Cleveland: I adore the idea of a city coming back to life because its people will not let it go gently into the good night. The inside mountain biking range is pretty fantastic, too.

Which SOTRU moments, episodes or stories are you favorite? Use the box below to tell us what makes them stand out from the rest. Tomorrow we will share some of listener responses – people will be able to see how brilliant you are!

Being that the 52nd week of 2011 is upon us, State of the Re:Union hereby designates this week “Auld Lang SOTRU” — a time to ruminate and revisit the magnificent moments captured in both the Spring and Fall season episodes.

In the few days following, we will release five favorites from SOTRU team members, including a list of Al Letson’s top five – with a bonus favorite for good luck.

 So, to help get things started, we offer a refresher of the people and places we visited. Take a look, and when you have been thoroughly sated with SOTRU 2011, use the box below to tell us five of your favorite moments, stories or episodes. On Friday, we will share some of these with the rest of our audience.

 The 2011 Spring episodes:

• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Miami, Florida
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Oakland, California
• Utica, New York

 

The 2011 Fall episodes :

• Cleveland, Ohio
• Sacramento, California
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast
• The Bronx, New York
• Wyoming

All of the stories featured in this season’s episodes have made an incredible impact, not just in the lives of those telling them, but in the lives of those who have heard them.

As we are nearing the end of what has been an extremely eventful year, State of the Re:Union would like to recall some of the fantastic adventures and captivating stories shared, and the wonderful people we encountered along the way. The spring episodes took SOTRU to visit and explore rich stories in:

• Las Vegas, Nevada: we find more than just bright lights and glitter here – like an underground tunnel community formed by the homeless, de facto community centers, “the ninth island,” and Uberschall.
• Miami, Florida – we learn of Miami’s cultural diversity, Little Latin America, 1st and Alton – a Haitian rescue mission, and meet  The Spam Allstars.
• Birmingham, Alabama: we see how people are still wrestling with desegregation, the Hispanic cultural is pouring in, and “The Giving Effect” – one woman’s gamble to provide a music program for underprivileged children is paying off.
• Oakland, California: we explore the cost of people dreaming big in Oakland, the hip-hop renaissance, and how different cultural communities are overcoming tensions to unite.
• Utica, New York: we see how refugees are reviving Utica and making it known through food and culture, and what a jam band, a monk, a revolution and a New York home have in common.

The fall episodes take us coast to coast and allow an intimate look at communities facing various issues affecting many people, and the solutions that helped to further unify their communities:

• Cleveland, Ohio: we find how a new generation of entrepreneurs are reviving the city through education, beer and the environment, an inside mountain biking range, and other plans to save their town.
• Sacramento, California: we see how residents are remaking their beloved American city through rescuing a city’s favorite park, trying to keep their beloved Kings, and why communities are connecting despite deep divides.
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast: we learn how residents unite to deal with the aftershocks of disasters – both nature and man-made, about Turkey Creek, and the life-altering struggles some residents are facing as a result of the disasters.
• The Bronx, New York: we meet determined residents and learn of their roles in taking back their city, including a teen mentor helping to inform teens about HIV, to a teacher who is keeping teens off the street with a new international music scene, to some fun-loving Franciscan friars helping the community.
• Wyoming: we learn how people are adapting to the New Old West, how Bibles and beer work together to unite people, what fracking is and the havoc it is wreaking, from the land to lives.

All of the stories featured in this season’s episodes have made an incredible impact, not just in the lives of those telling them, but in the lives of those who have heard them. In the Birmingham episode, Jeane Goforth told her story of making a difference in the lives of school children by cashing in her life savings and starting a music program for underprivileged and underfunded schools. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, some of our listeners jumped into action, and soon, Jeane’s program began receiving instruments and donations from all over our country.

The Wyoming episode took us to the southern part of Wyoming and explored the ill-effects fracking – a process used by some companies to extract oil and gas – was having on the community. After the episode aired in the fall, the EPA began a deeper investigation into the effects of fracking in consumable water. Coincidence?

The stories we covered have produced some interesting feedback and provided additional avenues that are helping other communities find solutions. We would love to know some of your favorite moments from this season. Use the box below to tell us what they are and why you think those moments stay with you.

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.

Entrepreneurs at Work

Cleveland, Ohio, is a city that was made by entrepreneurs. John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil there. The General Electric Company built one of the nation’s first industrial parks in Cleveland. But for a few decades, that is not what it has been known for.

Instead, thanks to the polluted Cuyahoga River catching on fire back in 1969, it has been known as “the mistake on the lake,” a reminder that it had been a city that had become a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, thanks in large part to its dirt-cheap rents, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams into motion.   ………………………………………………………………….

This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations … in the classic business sense, yes. But Cleveland’s also a city of people turning their entrepreneurial sense on the place around them– in their childrens’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-’em-and-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

To hear the full rundown of the many different ways the community that “rocks” is rocking even more, click on Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work.