Urban Rural Action Speaks Out on Violence Across United States
[Los Angeles, CA] – June 2, 2020 – Like most Americans, we at Urban Rural Action are devastated and outraged by the tragic killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. We condemn the discriminatory policing that disproportionately targets communities of color and results in the deaths of African-Americans. We call for replacing looting, arson, and violence with a shared commitment to reimagine and rebuild a more equitable nation. And we stand with our fellow community members fighting peacefully for justice for all Americans.
UR Action was inspired by the work of conflict management professionals dedicated to preventing organized violence in conflict zones around the world. We founded UR Action in 2019 based on a recognition and a belief.
A recognition that the underlying dynamics that fuel violent conflict globally are also present in the United States.
Substantial abuses by security forces
A justice system that favors the wealthy, the connected, and/or the majority over the poor, the marginalized, and/or the minority
Widening gaps in education, income, and health between the haves and have-nots
Public health crises
Exploitation of technology to fuel misinformation
Systemic discrimination of minorities that fuels grievances over centuries
Divisive leaders who exploit those grievances for personal gain
Distrust of institutions
And a governance system ill-equipped to address these challenges
As peacebuilders, we recognize that these conflict dynamics can tragically escalate into violence via triggers like a pandemic or a severe economic shock — or a video of a public killing of an unarmed black community member by a white police officer. The escalation we’re witnessing in our cities right now includes a range of actions — from peaceful civic engagement to reckless destruction — that involve diverse groups of people with varied motivations.
But UR Action was also founded on the belief that:
Doing nothing is a choice — a choice with consequences.
It’s possible to build meaningful relationships across our geographic, racial, religious, ethnic, economic, and political divides.
We can work together to address conflict and improve our collective well-being.
Those two outcomes — stronger relationships and meaningful action by ordinary community members — can be mutually reinforcing.
Our divisions are deepening and the risks of further escalation are increasing. But it’s not too late. We must come together. We must listen to one another. We must forge new relationships. And we must act — together.
The UR Action team Media Contact: Joseph Bubman, urbanruralaction@gmail.com
UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.
Uniting for Action: Maryland community strengthening program prepares to launch statewide in June Non-partisan initiative led by national, state, and local organizations aims to build connections and address local challenges across Maryland's divides amid Covid-19 pandemic
[Smithsburg, MD] – May 20, 2020 – An innovative program promoting collaboration across geographic, socioeconomic, and ideological divides in Maryland will kick off online on June 11. The Uniting for Action: Maryland program led by national non-profit Urban Rural Action (UR Action) is free and open to all Maryland residents 18 and up.
Program organizers expect 50-150 participants from urban, suburban, and rural areas with wide-ranging views. They anticipate attracting residents who want to take action themselves to improve their communities, the state, and the country at a time of unprecedented challenges to public health and economic hardship.
“Maryland’s diversity, geographic and otherwise, is one of its great strengths,” said Kira Hamman, UR Action Mid-Atlantic Regional Director. “Uniting for Action will bring Marylanders together across their differences to identify, discuss, and act on issues of common concern, rather than allowing those issues to divide us. We are stronger together, with more perspectives at the table.”
UR Action is collaborating with organizations across the state to implement the program, including the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) at the University of Maryland, the Washington County Free Library (WCFL), the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, and Leadership Montgomery.
While program participants will begin the collaboration online, they intend to continue by gathering in person, pending Covid-19-related gathering restrictions, for a Uniting for Action summit at the WCFL in Hagerstown on August 7-8, 2020. In-person collaboration is expected to continue into 2021 with a Uniting for Action summit in Montgomery County.
“At a time of political turmoil and social and economic crises, our country needs increased collaboration across our divides,” said Sarah Nadeau, head of Community Partnerships at WCFL. “Uniting for Action: Marylandwill enable community members to build new connections, strengthen collaboration skills, explore different perspectives, and take joint action that strengthens our communities and our country.”
Program participants will meet once a month online for structured discussion, small group brainstorming, and collaboration focused on taking action. The action will come in the form of projects within and across communities that participants design themselves. According to program organizers, community projects might include social media campaigns that promote respect for different political perspectives, efforts to counter misinformation, and initiatives to address local Covid-19-related needs. “We are excited to help program participants analyze and tackle issues in their communities and our state that they want to address,” said Dr. Stella Rouse, Director of CDCE at the University of Maryland. “We see efforts to help participants design community projects as particularly important to improving the effectiveness of our democracy.”
Media Contact: Kira Hamman, urbanruralaction@gmail.com
UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.
Uniting for Action: Pennsylvania community strengthening program prepares to launch statewide in May Non-partisan initiative aims to build connections and address local challenges across Pennsylvania's divides amid Covid-19 pandemic
[Philadelphia] – April 27, 2020 – An innovative program promoting collaboration across geographic, socioeconomic, and ideological divides in Pennsylvania will kick off online on May 7. Uniting for Action: Pennsylvaniais a joint initiative from the Free Library of Philadelphia, the PA Project for Civic Engagement, and national non-profit Urban Rural Action.
The program is free and open to the public. Program organizers expect 50-100 participants from urban, suburban, and rural areas with wide-ranging views. They anticipate attracting residents who want to take action themselves to improve their communities, the Commonwealth, and the country at a time of unprecedented challenges to public health and economic hardship.
“Libraries have long been conveners of brave conversations about what divides us and what we have in common. The Uniting for Action program takes that a step farther by connecting Pennsylvanians across distances and differences for meaningful civic engagement,” said Andrew Nurkin, Deputy Director of Enrichment and Civic Engagement at the Free Library.
While program participants will begin the collaboration online, they intend to continue by gathering in person for summits at Gettysburg College and the Free Library of Philadelphia when this can be done safely and in line with regulations.
Program participants will meet once a month online for structured discussion, small group brainstorming, and collaboration focused on taking action. The action will come in the form of projects within and across communities that participants design themselves.
“There are three types of people: Those who love to argue, those who are only interested in their own ideas, and those who love to work together to make communities better across America,” said Chad Collie, UR Action Pennsylvania State Director and community leader in Adams County. “Uniting for Action is uniquely dedicated to the last of those three.”
According to program organizers, community projects might include social media campaigns that promote respect for different political perspectives, efforts to counter misinformation, and initiatives to address local Covid-19-related needs. The community projects will benefit from support from the Free Library, Penn State University’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy, and Gettysburg College’s Eisenhower Institute. “People sometimes scoff that programs like this are ‘just talk,”” said Chris Satullo, Co-director of the PA Project for Civic Engagement. “In my experience, though, diverse, well-done dialogues like this can frame problems in wise ways that lead to smart solutions and real-world impact.”
Media Contacts: Chad Collie, UR Action, Adams County, urbanruralaction@gmail.com Kaitlyn Foti, Free Library of Philadelphia, fotik@freelibrary.org
The Free Library of Philadelphiaadvances literacy, guides learning, and inspires curiosity. The PA Project on Civic Engagementhelps diverse groups hold productive dialogues across differences of belief, position, or partisan allegiance. UR Actionbrings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.
Urban Rural Action Speaks Out on Gun Violence
[Waynesboro, PA] – August 7, 2019 – Urban Rural Action mourns the loss of the 31 people killed in back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton last weekend, as well as the approximately 100 Americans who die each day due to gun violence. We stand with communities across this country recovering from gun violence and committed to a more peaceful future.
As a young organization working on the frontlines of one of America’s most divisive issues, this bloody weekend begs us to reflect on what we know about gun violence, what we believe, and what we plan to do about it:
What we know about gun violence:
The U.S. has experienced more than 250 mass shootings in 2019[1], a uniquely American crisis.
Nearly 36,000 Americans are killed with guns each year. In 2017, gun deaths reached their highest level in at least 40 years.[2]
Gun violence takes numerous forms. Nearly ⅔ of gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides. Domestic violence, urban gun violence, and unintentional shootings also account for large portions of total gun deaths.
What we believe:
We cannot accept a status quo in which gun violence becomes the norm in our streets, schools, and houses of worship. While no single measure will “solve” the gun violence problem, that is no excuse for doing nothing.
Treating those with different views on guns as our adversaries is unlikely to address our underlying political and social divisions and may worsen them instead. Addressing gun violence in Congress and our communities requires constructively engaging people who have different perspectives from our own.
We should advocate for legislation likely to reduce gun violence, but we shouldn’t wait for our legislators to act. We need to come together in person to take action within and across our communities – urban and rural.
What we plan to do about it:
We’re piloting a gun safety and violence prevention partnership between more rural Franklin County, PA and more urban Washington, D.C. beginning September that will unite firearms organizations and gun violence prevention groups that have never worked together before and traditionally viewed each other as adversaries.
The centerpieces of the program are collective action projects that participants will design and implement in both Franklin County and D.C. to strengthen gun safety and/or reduce gun violence across the two communities.
We’ll share the outcomes of this collaboration with you, and we stand ready to support groups that would like to replicate this effort in their own regions.
If you’d like to support our efforts or learn more, email us at urbanruralaction@gmail.com.
Media Contact: Madeline Rose, urbanruralaction@gmail.com
UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.
Urban Rural Action Wins Grant from Vera Institute of Justice to Reduce Incarceration in Adams County and Philadelphia Grant is part of Vera’s In Our Backyards Community Grantees program, benefiting 16 organizations in 7 states
[Adams County, PA] – June 5, 2019 – TheVera Institute of Justice announced Tuesday thatUrban Rural Action and thePennsylvania Prison Society won an “In Our Backyards Community Grant” to build consensus between urban and rural communities on criminal justice reform in Adams County, PA and Philadelphia. Through the “Consensus-Building for Incarceration Reform” (CBIR) program, UR Action will advance collaborative efforts to reduce incarceration and improve jail conditions in Adams County and Philadelphia.
This grant was made available through Vera’sIn Our Backyards initiative, which has been at the forefront of research and analysis around the rise of incarceration in small cities and rural communities such as Adams County. This changing geography means that while campaigns in cities like New York, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Philadelphia have secured powerful commitments from elected leaders to close jails, hundreds of smaller communities across the country are grappling with a rising but quiet jail boom.
CBIR aims to strengthen the influence, advocacy, and consensus-building capacities of a network of criminal justice reform advocates, community leaders, and jail officials in Adams County and Philadelphia; increase the network’s familiarity with data on incarceration rates and jail conditions; develop advocacy strategies to reduce incarceration and improve jail conditions; and build relationships among participants through homestays and shared meals.
“Mass incarceration negatively impacts families and communities in urban and rural areas across the United States,” said Joseph Bubman, founder and Executive Director of UR Action. “Strengthened urban/rural collaboration on criminal justice reform will not only address systemic inequities, reduce recidivism, and save taxpayers money, but can also foster relationships and trust across the urban/rural divide in the process.”
UR Action will implement CBIR in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Prison Society, founded in 1787 by signers of the Declaration of Independence to ensure humane conditions in Pennsylvania prisons and promotes criminal justice laws to “return our fellow creatures to virtue and happiness.”
Media Contact: Madeline Rose, urbanruralaction@gmail.com
UR Actionis a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.
