Change That We Can Believe In - The Co-Chairs Challenge
By Norbert Young and Dave Siereveld
Change is definitely in the air. The seasons are changing. Barack Obama has been touting "change that we can believe in," and the National Association of Black and White Men Together has changed leadership. First of all, we would like to thank you for your vote of confidence in us and assure you that we will do all that we can to earn the trust that you have given us.
We started out talking about change because that will be the central theme of our term in office. A famous leader, Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him." Well, brothers, it’s time to get up off the tracks! It seems apparent that our organization needs some new lifeblood, or it will surely wind up on life support.
One area that we feel definitely needs changing is our manner and often lack of communicating. We must make use of electronic communications, such as email and websites, to get our messages out to not only our members, but also to our potential members. This is not the wave of the future; it is now. Our current use of snail mail is costing us hundreds of dollars for every mailing. We want to make our organization as transparent as possible and to give you the feedback and input that you have asked for, but to do so, we need you to do your part and provide us with your email information as requested with this issue. We also plan to revamp our website, giving it a totally new look with more user-friendly options and features. We will be working with our webmaster, Brad Green, and our new office manager, Nicole Kiszenia, to implement these changes as soon as possible.
We also feel the need to get back to our roots, our chapters. We intend to open the lines of communication between the national organization and our local chapters. We need to grow our membership, and we feel the best way to do that is through our chapters. In the next few months, we will be actively seeking input and feedback from our chapter leaders about their needs and how we can support each other. Another goal of ours is to revitalize and reorganize new chapter development. We have heard from several communities that are interested in starting or re-starting chapters, and we intend to find ways to make this happen.
All of this is not to say that all things need to be changed in our organization. We have a firm foundation upon which we can build new ventures. Pauline R. Kezer stated, "Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights." Our roots and our legacy are our continuity. As Dr. Bush so aptly suggested at our recent convention, "We just need to find ways to do what we say we are going to do in our statement of purpose." We couldn't agree more. We do fairly well at the social activities, but we need to re-energize our educational, political, and cultural endeavors if we wish to remain a viable and vibrant entity in today's diverse LGBT community.
Now comes the crux of this perhaps "grandiose vision" for our organization. Where do you fit in? Andy Warhol once made a very simple but very wise observation. "They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." We are asking for a fundamental change of old attitudes. We must change the often heard expression of what has the national done for us? Instead, we come to you with the entreaty, what can the national do for you? It's time to end the "us" and "them" mentality. It has not served us well. A united front can accomplish much more than splintered fractions. We come from common ground and beliefs. Let's begin again to communicate with each other, listen to each other , and support each other. We urge our new board to step outside itself and seek new collaborations, insights, and committees from within the chapters and the general members, but we also ask the same of you. We need you to reach out to us, also. Otherwise, we might as well do like George Carlin who "put a dollar in one of those change machines." Nothing happened.
Contact: Norbert Young, 773-412-7372, nyoung1996@aol.com
Posted: modified by:Del Korte Modify date:2008-11-17 04:47:42