Analysis of Philadelphia using maps

Here's an article in the NextCity.org site showing changes over the past five years in different Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Getting people to look at this, talk about it and act in ways that help struggling neighborhoods grow while continuing the success of other neighborhoods is a challenge for people throughout the city, not just city leaders.

I don't think this set of maps includes an overlay showing youth serving organizations and/or other needed services like I've tried to provide with the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator.  All it would take would be a dedicated group of people, including funders, to make that happen.

Violence on doorstep of Church in Austin neighborhood

While social media rages against the violence in Virginia, my Monday Chicago Tribune reminded me of another act of violence that took place yesterday in Chicago, when two men were gunned down right in front of the Friendship Baptist Church in Chicago.

I have written often on this and the Tutor/Mentor blog about violence in the Austin neighborhood, using maps to encourage businesses, universities, faith groups and others to work collectively to build a first-grade to careers support system that provide hope and opportunity and competes against gangs and their influence

The daily newspapers provide just one more reminder of problems that won't go away unless many more people give time, talent, dollars and votes over many years to address the root-causes of these problems.

That's true for racism, fanaticism, fascism and other problems we face in America and the world.

Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals - World Bank

Image from World Bank web site

This graphic is found on a web site that hosts an Atlas of Sustainable Development goals. Here's the description on the web site:

 "The Atlas is built around World Development Indicators 2017 - the World Bank's compilation of statistics from over 200 economies about global development and the quality of people's lives.  For each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, selected indicators have been identified and visualized to analyze trends and challenges, and to stimulate discussion on measurement issues. You can browse the Atlas online, or download it as a PDF." 

 There is a load of data here, and will take many hours to review and get to know the information. What I'm interested in seeing is how people use the data to tell on-going stories that build the public will needed to invest in future solutions so that over time the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved, in every country, including the USA.

 If you're seeing some good stories using this data I invite you to share links using the comment section of this blog.

Role of Facilitators - See Blog Talk Radio Interview

In the 4-part strategy that I've shared often on this blog, step  3 focuses on facilitation, or helping other people find, understand and apply the information on my web sites.

I use my articles to help people understand ideas and information they can use to help build and sustain volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach kids in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities.

I point to work interns have done in past years to help people understand ideas I share on this blog and the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC library.

On Monday, August 7, 2017,  Valerie Leonard, a Chicago community organizer, who I have come to know over the past 15 years, interviewed me for her Blog Talk Radio show.  You can see the interview below.



By hosting this show, and inviting me to be a guest, Valerie is modeling a facilitation role that needs to be duplicated by people in many groups to draw people to articles and ideas that I and other people share and help them build their own understanding and use of the ideas.

This graphic illustrates what I'm saying. There are many different groups who could be taking a deeper, more strategic, and on-going role to help improve the quality of life for people in different parts of Chicago or in other parts of the US and the world.

You don't need to have a deep understanding of any of the stuff I post or write about. You can invite a group of people into a room, project the image or article on a screen, the ask people to share what they are understanding.

You don't even need to be in the same room, at the same time. Connect on the Internet.

This past month the Connected Learning #clmooc group has been encouraging people to "make" visualizations that express their ideas. Take a look at their web site and see the activities they have been doing and the way they share and connect with each other on several social media platforms.

The #clmooc organizers are educators from different parts of the world who meet on-line to plan each year's activities.

Go ahead and get started. Invite some people to come together. Pick any of the articles I've posted over the past 10 years or that you find in the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC library.

If you're taking this role, send me a link and I'll join in when I can, and share  your videos and Tweets as I receive them.  It's another example of what I mean when I say "It takes a village to raise a child."

One role in the village is information net-worker, facilitator, trainer, etc.

If you want to make a contribution to help me do this work, visit this page and use the PayPal button.

New report details Chicago’s racial, ethnic disparities

Browsing Linkedin feed today and saw link to UIC press release titled "New report details Chicago’s racial, ethnic disparities".  Opened link to full report, which is in an eBook format.

 “A Tale of Three Cities: The State of Racial Justice in Chicago,”

I've pointed to articles like this for many years and supported the growth of volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs as a strategy to engage people from different parts of the Chicago region with people living in high poverty, segregated neighborhoods.  Read more articles on this blog, or visit the Tutor/Mentor blog or the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC web site.  Use this concept map to guild you to different research sections of the Tutor/Mentor web library. 

Nothing will change unless people form learning circles in business, faith groups, colleges, high schools and other places and begin reading these articles and looking for ways you can get involved with youth and families who are different from your own.

Visit this link to browse my list of Chicago area tutor/mentor programs where you might get involved.