Alternate ROOTS, a southeastern coalition of artists, most of whom are community-based and working for social change, has been going through an enormous transition. The artists who founded it in the late '70s worked for a long time to call forth a younger generation of leaders, and leaders of color.

Artist Sheila Kerrigan, a long-time member of ROOTS who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., tells us she feels like that project has been accomplished very successfully. She gave us permission to publish an e-mail she sent to the ROOTS executive committee assessing the membership's recent week-long annual meeting, held in the mountains of North Carolina:

In response to your (and Marquez’) request for member voices: I have one thing I want to say to the XCom and staff from the heart. This year’s Annual Meeting was so wonderful in so many ways. The business meetings I attended were run with a clear agenda of allowing all voices to be heard, and with a clear understanding of the consensus process. The food was nourishing and delicious, and I liked the buffet-style. The accommodations allowed for rest. The best part for me, though, was the feeling that everybody who came brought something to contribute to the running of things. It seemed that whenever something needed doing, somebody got up and did it. The spirit of community was so strong this year, and I think the XCom and staff lead and modeled it. My congratulations to all of you! It could be that my experience was colored by the fact that this was the first time in many years I wasn’t responsible for facilitating or working on something big like RSC activities or XCom. I decided that all I would do as far as facilitation was to work with the Alternate Sprouts. We had fun together, and I didn’t get stressed out. I think that ROOTS, after many years of working on building community, has succeeded, at least from my point of view. It might be possible to use community-building through and with art as a focal point for future fundraising. I know we are in a fiscal crisis this year, and this isn’t money, but an idea. It might be worth looking at funders who are interested in community-building & community development—maybe organizations that focus on policy?—as future funding sources, especially for the Annual Meeting and RSC work.

   

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