The rise of the smirking class
By Wade Kwon
Cooperation is the watchword.
At least, it is for 2006. I haven’t seen so much intergovernmental cooperation in as long as I can remember. Granted, it’s not exactly hugs and rainbows, but it’s a start.
What’s particularly striking about this quiet revolution is the young professionals movement. Not content to let the oldsters continue to run Birmingham into the ground, YPs (preferable to yuppies or some other media-friendly term) are beginning to organize, speak out, actually assert themselves and participate in the ongoing experiment of democracy.
(Hell, even MTV Spring Break 2006 is more about altruism then alcoholism, volunteerism over hedonism. Sad sad sad.)
Birmingham doesn’t stand at a crossroads — it’s been roadkill for a while. But YPs could breathe new life into old ways of governance and getting things done.
My muse in the movement is André Natta, a YP in high demand. He and I have chatted regularly about city politics, historic buildings, transit and regional cooperation. (Trust me, the conversation is a lot livelier than it reads.)
Tonight, we’ll have another conversation.
What impresses me is that here’s someone who shares my hope and vision for a better Birmingham — even though I’m a hometown kid and he’s a transplanted New Yorker by way of Savannah. It’s contagious.
But unlike me, content to keep my hands unsullied by actual work, André is moving forward with an idea, one of many.
He wants to bring young professional groups — from Rotaract to Catalyst, from cultural organizations extreme! marketing arms to nonprofit agencies — to the table. To network. To organize. To cooperate. To matter.
That is no small task. But it’s timely and it’s important and it has momentum.
He began by asking for groups to step forward and be counted. Can’t reach out until we have a head count.
Now, he has a proposal for bringing the groups together, first for networking, then for a recruitment expo. Those are good next steps for uniting a group, a generation with a solid agenda. And he notes that leaders are beginning to echo the call for new cooperation among all groups.
An organized YP class could bring new ideas and energy to a city that has missed out on too many opportunities to attract business, attract savvy workers, improve living conditions and shake up the system. My cynical nature says that nothing short of revolution will nudge aside old political hacks clinging to dribs of power and clawing over crumbs.
I’ve always been proud of Birmingham, warts and all. But it’s a labor of love, enduring the fear of change, the counterproductivity of competing agendas, the shackles of history. But the city can bring out the best in those making a difference. You can be of Birmingham without being from Birmingham.
Watch André. All it takes — all it ever takes — is someone with a plan. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Friday, April 7, 2006, 1:16 pm
[…] It’s come to my attention that this whole issue of civic organizations and junior boards has become a hot issue. I’m thankful to Wade Kwon for his comments on Wade on Birmingham and for the interest that has been shown in the idea for a civic organization roundtable. At this time, I’d like to remind the regulars who have viewed it and tell those that have not that the idea that I submitted was just that, an idea. No one has committed to anything as of yet. My hope is that some of these groups will want to work together to organize a mechanism that allows for groups to communicate with each other, making the delivery of a message much easier. […]