I've been waiting over three years to write this post, or, more importantly, be in a position to make a statement about where The OrangeBand Initiative's direction fits in the big picture. Think of this as an addendum to the last post, and the two posts (one, two) on the momentum for a movement after the NCDD Conference. I hope to briefly introduce, and justify, the idea that OrangeBand is the "Rock 'n Roll of Democracy."

Establishing that there is a Crisis in American Public Discourse
The last post post really focuses on this point, so I won't belabor it here. Our society lacks populist and accessible examples of authentic dialogue and, in particular, deliberation. indeed, most prevalent are disingenuous and negative forms of these concepts (Crossfire, Hardball, O'Reilly, etc). The scary thing is these popular shows are claiming the space of open, civil dialogue and debate and, thereby, (re)defining these concepts in the minds of their audience. This is a major problem because people will then be left to use argument fallacies and other crossfire techniques thinking they are acceptable in a space for civil discourse.

Without proper counter examples - or proper instruction by practioners and scholars - we're left with a populous that is unable to do at least some of the following:

* articulate their own opinions;
* respectfully and thoughtfully interpret and address challenges to their opinions and premises;
* associate the potential of changing their mind with opportunities to discuss;
* respectfully and thoughtfully challenge others' opinions and premises;
* avoid fallacious reasoning.


Implicating a Crisis in Citizenship, and therefore Democracy
OK, so what? Here's what: "having your voice be heard" is a fundamental right and responsibility of the citizen in a democracy (yes, even in a democratic republic!). This breakdown in the mechanisms of our interpersonal communications can, therefore, be directly related to our abilities to act in the role of a citizen. If citizens can't articulate their views - or effectively challenge others' views - democracy can't work. And democracy (in its ideal form) is something to vehemently protect given it's the best thing we can think of to garner our collective wisdom and thereby achieve freedom and justice. So, crisis in public discourse --> crisis in citizenship --> crisis in democracy --> this really matters and we need to do something about it. Makes sense to me.

Turning around to Look Ahead
For three years, we've been trying to figure out where the appeal to OrangeBand's work originates. What need is a strip of fabric fulfilling for the 8,000 people that have taken an OrangeBand to hang from their bag? We've come up with a three-pronged answer, which is written about over here and thus won't be belabored here. The basic point, though, is we're yearning for these three things:

Civil Discourse, or Respectful Conversation – We're yearning for rich conversations about things that matter, where no organizing body is telling us what should matter to us or how it should matter to us.

Social Capital, or Meaningful Relationships – We're yearning for quality connections with others, and conversation about issues important to us are a basis for meaningful relationships.

Civic Engagement, or Active Citizenship – We're yearning to feel like we have a chance to make a meaningful contribution to change things for the better - or to keep things from changing for the worse.

All three of these areas have seen real and/or perceived drop-offs as polarization has picked up, the pace of live increases, and decision-making processes seem uninviting and/or closed to the public. Each of these are huge, massive trends. And each are connected to the simple act of talking to others about what we feel is important.

That's all fine and good, but it's more an explanation of where the positive response is coming from rather than where OrangeBand fits into the bigger picture. This question was first explored this summer in preparing to attend the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation. In preparing to attend an event with hundreds of people who are passionate about promoting and implementing dialogue processes, it seemed to make sense that OrangeBand could serve as a gateway to this community and these practices for people that may otherwise not come across them. This idea, in theory, was quickly validated at the conference. But then the conversation turned towards starting a movement.

In my initial thinking after the conference, I felt this movement needed to be one of "process activists." That means people who are thoughtful critics and proponents of the processes in place that either help or hurt our abilities to talk, listen, deliberate, and participate. That's a powerful idea, but, that's way too abstract - and boring - for a lot of people. Like OrangeBand, we need something catchy and accessible for this to actually involve enough people to even get close to being a "movement."

Making the OrangeBand-Rock 'n Roll Connection
Enter a short conversation a couple weeks ago. In the context of a discussion about OrangeBand and starting a movement of this sort, my friend told me to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Confused, I asked why. He said it documents how RnR was able to take music back from the institutions and rich folks who normally sponsored it and gave music back to the people. Before Rock and Roll, he said, there was prevalent model of music being commissioned by institutions and the aristocracy for the rest of the populace to listen to and observe (think Mozart being commissioned by the aristocricy to make music). On a mass level, Rock and Roll was a time when people said we'll make the music ourselves, for ourselves - and we'll support each other doing it (build a market around it).

My mind was firing away in relation to the discussion of starting a dialogue movement. I need to read some books on the history of Rock and Roll, and I'm sure other musical and artistic forms might have had a similar impact in different places and times and communities - and I've been reminded or the irony that Rock and Roll then became re-institutionalized, as exemplified by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. BUT, in a general sense, this is a worthwhile analogy to explore. What if the movement we're talking about is framed as having people rediscover dialogue and deliberation themselves in a time where institutions, media, and politicians often offer it up for our viewing rather than our meaningful participation. What if we're talking about taking back the conversations for ourselves, just like RnR took back the music? And since we've established the connection of conversation to democracy, couldn't we say OrangeBand is Rock and Roll of Democracy? I think so.

I like that. It's punchy. It's accessible. It's juxtaposes what we do with a mainstream phenomenon and an entertainment paradigm - both things I think are strategic requirements for this to get off the ground.

OrangeBand is the Rock and Roll of Democracy. You can be a rock star. Your song is your OrangeBand. Your stage is everywhere.

What's YOUR OrangeBand? www.OrangeBand.org