Mapping Segregation in Washington, DC

This image is from an ESRI story-map, showing the growth of racial segregation in Washington, DC.

Take a look at this, and other articles on this blog, where I've shared maps focusing on race, poverty and segregation.

Pain and suffering throughout the world - how do we respond?

I have been watching the daily news briefs following hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Mexico, along with daily shootings that take lives of young people in Chicago and other cities.  Yesterday I did a search to see if anyone had been mapping locations of natural disasters throughout the world.  I found the map below, showing events in 2014, on this United Nations Disaster Prevention resource page.

This map only shows natural disasters. If wars, terrorism and other man-made disasters were plotted on the map, or added as an overlay, we'd see a lot more pain in some parts of the world, but not much more than what's on the map now, in other parts of the world. If poverty overlays were added, we'd see that much of the man-made and natural disasters hit people hardest in high poverty area. These are areas where people have the fewest resources to rebuild their own lives and communities.

With so many bad things happening, how can anyone find a meaningful way to respond?  I encourage you to visit this article, which I posted over the weekend on the Tutor/Mentor blog. It includes the graphic shown below.

Look at the slanted white line in the middle of this figure-8 graphic.  This represents information, such as the UN Disaster Prevention site, or the Tutor/Mentor web library, which people can use to learn more about any of these problems, learn what some people are doing in different places to solve the problem, and find places where they might get involved with time, talent and dollars.  It also represents the role of intermediaries, who help people connect with this information and  help them  understand how to apply it.

I first used this ENOUGH list in 2007 after seeing a newspaper headline following a shooting in Chicago, where a talking head said "Enough is Enough".  This is a list of steps anyone can follow to become involved.

A couple of months ago I updated it in a video that you can find here.  The first step is educate yourself, and the second is educate your network. Use the information made available by myself an others to know more about some of these problems and to find ways to use your time, talent and dollars to become part of the solution.

Related article: "I'm up to my neck in alligators. How do I drain the swamp"  click here

I've never claimed to have the solution to any of these problems. I only offer a learning path that might lead to solutions if more people begin to use it.  Want to connect with me? Visit this page to see social media pages where you can find me.

Update 7-4- 2018 - network analysis showing migration patterns around the world. click here

Update 2-20-2019 - Migration Policy Institute site is an in-depth resource for information about this crisis. Click here

Update 3-4-2018 - "The 10 shocking humanitarian crises you probably haven't heard of" - plenty of pain throughout the world. click here

Update 3-13/2019 - Visit this #investinhumanity page on Twitter and be reminded of the many places in the world where there is daily pain and suffering.

Update 12-11/2021 - Global Conflicts in 2021 - click here

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.