Building Community Conversations in a Volatile Time
Four years ago, my husband and I moved to Smithville, Texas, nestled off Highway 71 between Bastrop and LaGrange. With extensive tree canopies, vintage shops, historic homes and a close community of artists, the minute we landed here, we became part of an active, caring community.
God has always nudged me with creative sparks, and once I get one, I get to work. By taking action towards an idea, engagement and excitement manifests through others, and nine times out of ten, the vision comes true. After twenty eight years in Austin’s social justice and music scene, I wanted to share the skills I’d gleaned in my new ‘hood. I joined the Smithville Yarn Bombers, opened a shop (which also hosts events), and co-founded the Smithville Lighthouse Brigade (SLB) to oversee community oriented projects.
In April, SLB hosted our first Community Conversation and Potluck, inviting the
Smithville Police Department to participate. Over fifty people attended, plus Chief Repka, seven officers, two detectives and one ex-chief!
I guided the two and a half hour evening, starting with gratitude for the volunteers and the VFW Hall for donating the space. Our local library provided supplies (pens, index cards, etc.) and the Smithville Police Association gave 7-Eleven gift cards for door prizes.
After reading the night’s rundown, I reminded everyone this was a non-political and non-religious space, and if anyone started feeling upset or angry, to please head outside to calm themself down.
Each table had an officer as part of the conversation, and after our potluck, we played a simple activity called “Hands Up If You…,” as an icebreaker to help engage everyone. Silly requests became more pointed:
Put your hand up if you had chocolate today
Put your hand up if you own a dog
Put your hand up if you generally feel safe in Smithville
Put your hand up if you know a Smithville police officer
Put your hand up if you’d like to know more about police procedure and policy
Put your hand up if you’ve ever worried about ICE coming to Smithville
Put your hand up if you think officers are overworked and underpaid
Put your hand up if you think officers in Smithville use racial profiling
Put your hand up if you think officers are nervous when they approach a car
Put your hand up if you’re nervous when an officer approaches a car
Put your hand up if you’d like to have coffee, a donut and a conversation with an officer in the future.
Afterwards, each table discussed their concerns, which we shared with the entire room. The room was alive with engagement!
Finally, each table presented ONE concern and Chief Repka — who prefers “David,” as he wants everyone to understand he’s human, too — took his time in mindfully answering each question.
The evening concluded with people feeling better about our Smithville Police
Department, and the SPD met the people they serve. This gives me hope that now that we know each other’s names, there’ll be less chance of mistakes or unnecessary violence in the future.
If we are ever going to bridge the wide divides between us, we must have these kinds of community dialogue. Following conversations will be on the environment, religion, race, the queer community, etc.; you know, hot button topics.
God gave us imaginations for art, music and such, but to also create healthy
connections between one another. In my view, God is sheer love, wanting us to be good stewards not only of this planet, but of our neighbors, and it can all start with a simple “hello.”