In Danielle S. Allen’s book, Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education, she makes the case for replacing seeds of distrust planted within the democratic citizenry after this historic legal decision, with the transformative power of a “citizenship of political friendship.” Democracy needs authentic and trustful discussion between and among strangers to melt away the divisions that block it.  So far in my work here in the Zone, the issues surrounding educational outcomes are still tinged with the interracial distrust of a by-gone era more so than that of immediate personal experience. When distrust shoots through citizenly relations, efforts or actions to address—let alone solve—collective problems always fail. 

At Zone 126, we see ourselves as the arbiter for building trust among the citizens living and working within the Zone. Yes, its messy and fraught with not so hidden agendas, but we are perfectly positioned to bring disparate groups of stakeholders together on behalf of future generations of citizens. At its best, our democracy is saturated with debate about who is doing what to whom, but has yet to free itself of a generational pattern of mutual disdain. It’s time we transform conditions of utility into experiences of goodwill and overcome the fossilized distrust among us. We started the dialogue at our last Cradle-to-Career Convening. Here are your responses:

1.  Out of 40 participants, 36 people (90%) agreed that there are plenty of jobs, shops, and restaurants in the neighborhood, but people who work here cannot afford to live here.
2. All 38 participants agreed that low/moderate income residents will be priced out of the neighborhood 
   
3. Out of 37 participants, 35 people (94%) agreed that schools in the neighborhood need community support to educate our youth.