Day Two – How building community helps break down barriers and borders

Day two began with another icebreaker. We got into our learning circles and wrote down every-day barriers and borders on small boxes. We thought of things like religion, sexuality, geography, class, and language that make us feel like there are barriers or borders between ourselves and people we don’t know and understand. Using those boxes, we constructed a big wall, then each group described and acted out little things that each of us could do in our interactions with people to break down some of those barriers. Finally, we joyfully destroyed the wall!

We then heard from Salvador Miranda, Twin Cities community organizer and instrumental leader in the inception and construction of the Mercado Central, a large Hispanic market on East Lake Street. His firey words at the very least made each of us think deeply about issues such as institutional racism, the prison industrial complex, affirmative action, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, charity and advocacy work, and the polarized political “debate of values,” that he identified as central to creating a solution to social problems. He framed his message through the story of his own journey from “Chicano homie” during Reagan’s first months in office to beneficiary of affirmative action to law student to community organizer to man responsible for many amazing developments for the Twin Cities’ Latino community. His message was challenging and inspiring. His energy was something that stuck with people throughout the day and will continue to influence many of us as we take on what he would call “battles” for what we believe in.

Following Sal, we hopped on Metro Transit and traveled west and north to visit two cool locations on Lake Street: Mercado Central and the Global Market. We indulged in great food, soaked up the sights and sounds of Lake Street and shopped and enjoyed the vendors of both places.

After a filling meal, we returned to the Carondelet Center for more processing in a large group. We felt drained but inspired, confused but enthused, challenged but eager to act. From our large group we broke into our two creative expression groups. The writing group workshopped what we had created on Day one, sharing, offering comments and compliments, and loving everyone’s energies, styles, and effort. The mural group made great progress on their visual creation, adding color and significance to what was a white canvas the day before.

We finished day two ready for rest and more adventures tomorrow!