[Durham INC] Guest column: Get involved. It's the Durham way (Durham News)

[John Schelp]

Guest column: Get involved. It's the Durham way
By Kelly Jarrett, Durham News, 01 September 2010

One of the coolest and most endearing things about Durham is its engaged citizens. They're participants in the ongoing life of the community.

Take the Friday dinner hour at Parker & Otis. Grab a beer and a sandwich and enjoy great music with 40 to 50 folks. No neon sign. No tickets. No cover. A big glass jar passed between sets for tips.

Or our neighborhood street fests, where a couple of times a year some of the very generous musicians in the neighborhood provide music. Bring a potluck dish and a couple of lawn chairs, give the kids some chalk to keep 'em busy drawing pictures on the street, and you're off. A great afternoon of jazz, folk, or R&B tunes, some relaxing, some dancing, good food and conversation with your neighbors.

And, of course, there's the corny, but really great 4th of July parade at Oval Park where people dress up their kids and their dogs in stars and stripes, follow the fire truck around the block, and then drink lemonade and sing a couple rounds of "America the Beautiful" together. These events can plug you into a neighborhood and a community - but they're often not flashy and are easily overlooked by those looking to replicate "hyperurban" coolness.

Another thing that's great about Durham is it's still small enough that you can have an impact on important local issues.

It is amazingly easy here to get to know your local elected officials, chief of police, city and county managers, and community leaders. Pick an issue - urban planning and development, community policing and quality of life, environment, education, public transportation, whatever. You can connect to local politicians and activists who are working on this and really have an impact.

And the other thing that really defines Durham - and that is often misrepresented in the press - is that citizens here really are engaged in important community issues. When local officials have public hearings on issues, the public shows up and speaks up. We disagree with each other, challenge each other, and organize to push for issues we care about.

To me, this is an indication that Durham's diverse neighborhoods and citizens feel they have a right to participate in the civic life of our community. The conflicts, squabbles and disagreements are actually a sign of vitality and connectedness -- not a sign of division that it's often interpreted as by those looking in from the outside.

--> Editor's note: This essay originally appeared on the blog Bull City Rising: www.bullcityrising.com/