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Paul Reader

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December 04, 2011, 11:29AM

Thanks for this Louise (and Arjan) - really inspiring and restores faith in human nature. There were news reports here in Australia about a number of street parties arranged in various neighbourhoods and one in particular where the organisers said they hoped the rioters were participating and enjoying themselves too - non-retributive inclusivity is such a powerful tool for healing communities.

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Connie Zheng

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December 04, 2011, 04:06AM

This is incredibly moving and I wish I'd seen more stories like this as the riots started to spread out from Tottenham. As one news outlet after another posted stories describing the madness and speculating on all of the causes, I distinctively recall the media (at least here in the U.S., anyway) portraying the social and political climate across the pond as one being one of general hysteria and finger-pointing.

I'm curious: what was the U.K. media like during the riots? If it was hysterical / inflammatory, do you think it had any impact on the violence? I.e., if there had been more stories highlighting this kind of community-bonding in the early/mid stages of the riots, might it have had any sort of impact on the violence to come?

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Sam Singh

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December 03, 2011, 06:43PM

Brilliant idea for easily (and inexpensively) building community. The visual appeal of it makes it even better to behold!

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Elim Cheng

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December 03, 2011, 08:01AM

This reminds me of an art work in NY DUMBO called "To-Do" (http://illegalart.org/projects/to-do/), they invite people to wright their to-do list on the post-it they post on two big windows. I think this is a simple but smart way to interact with the neighborhood, and create a platform for people to share their stories!

Thank you for sharing!

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Jane Bulnes-Fowles

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December 02, 2011, 11:52PM

Thanks Louise for sharing this. Not only do I like the positive sentiment of a resilient community coming together, but I really wnjoy how this is at heart a simple, low-tech solution that could work in any area (something to keep in mind for concepting).

I also really love that this then becomes a visual representation of the *volume* of people who love the community. The sheer number of post-its conveys that in a way that something else might not be able to do. Thank you for sharing.

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December 02, 2011, 07:27PM

Congrats on this post being today's onsite Featured Inspiration!

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Sophie Friedel

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November 24, 2011, 06:21PM

This is such a beautiful, powerful yet so simple example on how a community can empower and heal itself.
Inspiring and it reminds me at the, by now legendary message, of one of the female survivors of the Oslo massacre earlier this year. “If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we can show together”.

Oslo did a great job of showing solidarity as a community and I wish Detroit woks together as a community to re-create a vibrant environment.

Regarding the quote look at www.terella.no/2011/07/26/with-torches-and-roses-oslo-norway-shows-its-solidarity/ for example.

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Meena Kadri

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November 16, 2011, 09:52PM

Nice one, Louise. There's probably lots to be learnt about resilience from the riots. I remember being about to go to sleep one night & the #riotwombles hashtag caught my eye. I got completely addicted to watching positive messages pouring in about the clean-up efforts as well as the brilliant co-ordination going on from the ground via the hashtag too. There's likely lots of examples of community resilience and vibrancy lurking within many global crises...

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Arjan Tupan

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November 16, 2011, 09:55AM

Thank you for sharing the story here as well. I think it is a powerful example of the resilience of communities. And I really loved the positiveness radiating from it when you originally posted about it on your blog, right after the mayhem, and in the midst of the chaos of a city recovering.
It also shows how communities can overcome a lot, together.

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