Share in an event in your recent memory that had an unifying effect on your community. Offer a brief description and focus on how the event that you recall brought people together. We may define community anyway that we wish, from our city, neighborhood, our block to a camp or school group that we belonged. The event could have been planned or "just happened".
We will not reply to one another this time... make your entry as personal or as general as you wish...
One instance that I remember that was unifying for my community was when we used to cheer for the essential workers at the beginning of the pandemic. We would all bang pans or shout and clap our hands for nurses, and doctors arriving home. Even if no essential workers were there to hear us it was nice to hear the voices of our neighbors when we were all (literally) so isolated.
ReplyDeleteOne instance I remember that had a unifying effect on my community was Hurricane Sandy. Everyone helped each other out especially helping the old. People from uptown Manhattan helped people from downtown. I don't remember too much but I remember people helping other people out.
ReplyDeleteA recent memory of a unifying effect on my community, I am specifically talking about my family, is when we went out in celebration, though late, for my sisters’ birthday. The food was delicious and we had a great time, work was out of the mind for a bit and we were enjoying each other's company and having a great time. It united us in a way that we were able to spend some time together and talk/connect as lately we’ve all been busy with work so it's quite difficult to find the time.
ReplyDeleteAn instance that had a unifying effect on my community was a walkathon held by my church that took place a few years back that took place on the Brooklyn Bridge. The donations were sent to local hospitals, orphanages, and programs that worked with children with special needs. There were lots of walkers and the experience felt powerful, knowing the donations were collected for a good cause.
ReplyDeleteA recent event that brought my muslim community together was the rise of Islamaphobia in France. When this event happened, we all came together in anger and fear. We stood up for our beliefs and fought for our lives. This event was a really disturbing moment that definitely brought the muslim community together.
ReplyDeleteA recent event that was unifying for my block was when the block association organized a bunch of people to go out to the intersection and hold up signs supporting BLM and various other social justice causes. I recognized neighbors going out, as well as people I had never seen before. I went out a bunch too, and it was a nice experience. I can't say how much we helped anything from the little demonstration alone, but it was unifying both socially and politically.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention, this took place during the summer and fall of 2020.
DeleteWhenever there is heavy snow, people will gather around in my street, and help each other shovel the sidewalks so we can walk on them without any trouble. Although because of the pandemic, this hasn't really happened, previous years would have people shovelling the snow at least on my street, and it just has them all work against the snow.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in middle school, I attended a charter school that wanted to spread good education around the world. They believed that public schools didn't teach kids how to be the best that they could be. They hosted rallies to advocate for better education opportunities for children in public schools. The charter school that I attended believed that charter schools were a good option that needed to be more available. These rallies brought Harlem together and it even brought people who didn't live in Harlem together to advocate for a more inclusive school system.
ReplyDeleteOne event that caused a feeling of unity in my community was when it was announced that Biden won the election and would be the president of the United States. Everyone came out of their houses with pots and pans and posters to celebrate, and you could see the joy and relief on everyone's faces as they celebrated the new president-elect together. It had not been planned, but we all came together to celebrate. It was a small moment of joy in a very hard year.
ReplyDeleteDuring the thick of the pandemic, the most memorable display of unity I remember was the 7 o'clock cheer for the healthcare workers. It was incredibly inspiring, how people acted kindly and compassionately for others, even if they didn't know any frontline workers personally.
ReplyDeleteAn event that had a unifying effect was Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Everybody went outside, cheered, and was overall just in a good mood. The mood of not just the entire city but almost all of the Democratic Party and even a large portion of the world was a positive one, and it had a unifying effect on our community.
ReplyDeleteAn event that showed unity for not only my community but the entire country was when many people who had either never voted before or had always voted for other parties voted for Biden. They unified themselves to get Trump out of office.
ReplyDeleteAn event that had a unifying event was this thanksgiving season where my community donated can food and clothes to a homeless shelter to try and help the homeless during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteOne instance I remember had a unifying affect was hurricane sandy. I don't remember the specifics or even know quite why, but the city felt more like a community than usual.
ReplyDeleteThis one is going to be a bit sillier but it's the best example i can think of. This event happened when Trump was sworn in as president in fifth grade. We were at lunch, and someone started counting down until when he would officially be president. When the countdown was finished we were all crying and booing. It hadn't been planned at all, it just happened. The teachers yelled a lot at us later but i still think it was worth it
ReplyDeleteA memory that I remember having a unifying effect was during middle school. During Thanksgiving there would be an event held as a community for people to come and eat with one another. It was pretty nice how there were a lot of people who would go and join one another to celebrate the holiday, like they truly meant it.
ReplyDeleteA recent memory that was unifying took place during Christmas time. During this period there had been lots of tension between my family in Connecticut and New York. My Uncle had recently bought a home in Manchester. We had all decided to spend the holidays all together in the new home. Despite all the previous tension everyone got along. Our mothers were laughing cooking the meals and doing each others Make up and hair while The men went out hunting. We all bonded well. The countdown for Christmas was the most iconic, we were all together, chanting and once the clock hit twelve we all celebrated. It was beautiful and really brought us together.
ReplyDeleteOne memory I have that possessed a unifying effect was when my father's side of the family and I all donated money to a synagogue that had experienced a shooting. We all sympathized with the synagogue because they are practicing Jews, and my father was a practicing Jew, so it felt more personal.
ReplyDeleteSomething that brought people together in my neighborhood was Biden winning the popular vote, as there was cheering and clapping all around the neighborhood for a few minutes, all at once.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when a really influential person in my neighborhood passed and the family didn't have any money to make any funeral arrangements so the whole community pitched in and had a memorial service.
ReplyDeleteOne instance which provoked unification which I experienced was when one of my neighbors died. The whole floor talked to each other and offered support through long hours of the afternoon after the news was announced. This happening was of course a negative, but the the shared efforts to arrange the funeral and the support which was shown brought our floor closer.
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