Neighborhood Networks' Town Hall Meeting: "We Are the Change We Need" is almost here.

Date: Monday, November 17, from 7-9 PM.

Place: First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut Street

More detail about the conference is down the page. But first let me say a little about why this is such an important event.

It's a tumultuous time. Change is in the air, and there's much more to come. All of us who read or write on this blog want to be agents of that change and we want it to move in the direction of peace and justice.

In the last week we've been debating big issues, some that affect every person on earth, others that affect every Philadelphia kid who may have no place to swim next summer.

One question we haven't discussed -- although we have in the past -- is how do we organize ourselves effectively to influence the change.

For me it's simple, at least in concept. We have to get as many people as we can to feel like their voices count. There are lots of ways of doing that, but they all start with connecting regular people, in a meaningful way, to decision-makers. Most regular people think that there's no way their city councilperson, or state legislator or congressperson could care less about their opinions. In fact, most regular people don't know who their representatives are. If knowledge is power, we have to start by figuring some way to spread it around. Especially the basic political kind.

So how do we best do that? Shouting from the rooftops what we want people to know is probably not a good idea. Blogging works for some of us, but by itself is hardly likely to reach or create a voting majority. A fellow named Barack Obama concluded that the best way to get information out in Philly is to organize the City by ward. He created political organizations in every ward in the City, motivating people to take part through the power of his ideas, and by the power of their neighbor-to-neighbor connections. He added internet connectivity to that brew and wound up with a pretty good result.

Now we're between election cycles, but we still need to end a war, put people to work, revamp our health care system, and make our City livable. And none of that gets done unless we can hold the newly elected President and Congress accountable. And unless we do the same with our (still) newly elected Mayor and Council. So we should use Barack's theory for getting political things accomplished. Let's create a neighborhood-based movement with the power to hold our reps accountable for what they promised and for what we need them to do. But of course, one already exists. It's called Neighborhood Networks. All we need to do is give it a little oomph.

Neighborhood Networks organized a little over three years ago after MoveOn created a neighbor to neighbor political structure in Philly, and then moved out. NN kept it alive though, and a big moment to help decide whether we can make it strong is occurring on Monday.

On Monday we're having a Town Hall Meeting where we're going to do a few things, some essential and some just fun. First we're going to have a little piano and clarinet entertainment as we settle in. Then we're going to hear two great new leaders -- Maria Quinones Sanchez and Seth Williams -- talk about the challenges we face as a City at a rough, yet hopeful time.

Then we'll have a discussion of health care issues NN might take on led by Marc Stier and Carol Rogers. And then we'll get down to the nitty-gritty, organizing by neighborhood. We'll gather in small groups according to where we live, talk about how our elected reps are doing, discuss the issues we think they ought to be dealing with, and then plan how to go forward with what we think is important. A Steering Committee, composed of leaders from all of these neighborhoods will coordinate what we do. And we'll have the technical tools to tell everyone who wants to know, who their city, state and federal reps are, and who the voters are in their neighborhood. Then we'll develop a plan to be in touch, and stay in touch, with our political leaders, until they listen or they leave.

So here's how to be part of building a real, permanent and cool movement for change that we can really believe in. Come to the Town Hall on Monday. We'll have our music and our speakers and also some munchies. And then we'll get together and talk with our neighbors, and then, we'll get rollin'. I hope lots of YPPers will be part of the action.