The Building a Sustainable Earth Community Coalition is breaking the silence by bringing internationally known guest speaker and author of The Great Turning, David Korten, to Kansas City, Kansas.

The conference will begin on Friday, November 2, 2007 with a sustainable business discussion starting at 1:00 p.m.. followed by multi cultural event from 5pm-11pm and the main program, featuring David Korten, will be held on Saturday November 3, 2007 between 8am-4pm at the Jack Reardon Convention Center, 500 Minnesota, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Advance registration of $50.00 per person reserves access to Friday night’s event and lunch on Saturday with continued dialogue with David Korten. General admission is $1.00 per day and does not include lunch, but we will provide a list of restaurants in the area.

Registration and information can be accessed through People's Culture, P.O. Box 5224, Kansas City Kansas 66119 or contact Fred at 913-342-6379.

The community volunteers planning this event are meeting EVERY Saturday morning at 9:00 at the Q-Brew at 1744 Quindaro in Kansas City, Kansas 66104. The meetings are open to all who would help.

“We Are Who We’ve Been Waiting For!”

This simple phrase conveys the essence of a global movement to rebuild local communities - wherever they are - from the inside out, from the bottom up. It is a rallying call to create livable, self-sustaining places for our children and grandchildren to inherit. It is an acknowledgement that the dominant culture – the Empire, System or Establishment – does not protect, sustain or nurture the majority; rather it dominates, condemns to misery and divides us.

This simple phrase – We Are Who We’ve Been Waiting For - debunks the perceived need for handouts and government support (in order to progress), and necessitates that we the people organize our communities in ways that really work, in ways that historically worked for humankind - via partnerships, creative cooperation, shared resources, and most of all, by friendships that extend to all who share our spaces, our planet, our predicament.

We Are Who We’ve Been Waiting For!

“Progressive” Groups

As all Empires eventually do, “ours” creates such appalling conditions globally that legions of folks who once embraced the System now abhor it and look for solutions. They organize to stop the wars, to impeach Bush, to rid our environments of life-threatening toxins, to seek social justice, to extend health care to all citizens, to restore a balanced ecology, to create urban food gardens and Buy Local initiatives. The issues they champion are universal in their relevance, yet members of these organizations of dissidents in the U.S. are mostly white. Their efforts, though admirable, are diminished by reason of this exclusivity. This conference – Break the Silence – is an effort to bring people of all colors together to confront and resolve our common dilemma.

Building Sustainable Earth Communities

The plethora of information available on “sustainable earth communities” runs the gamut from energy conservation to social justice to healthy living, economic independence and beyond. To capsulize the earth community movement, it might be said that a model community is one that is economically prosperous, environmentally sound, socially equitable and interconnected. Each community must determine its own strengths and needs and structure its revitalization programs accordingly.

Fortunately, many models exist as cities around the world create new paradigms for development in blighted communities and utilize technology in creative new ways. Traditional examples of earth communities include the social and cultural patterns of tribal villages and Indigenous American constructs, and in some ways, the close-knit African-American communities that existed when interdependence was necessary for survival in a highly segregated society.

In his defining book, The Great Turning from Empire to Earth Community,

Break the Silence conference guest speaker, David Korten, explains that “a turn to Earth Community is neither about self-sacrifice nor about renouncing technology or progress. It is about getting clear on our values, setting new priorities, redefining progress, and consuming less.”