Build beloved community

Our goal is to create a beloved community
and this will require a qualitative change in our souls
as well as a quantitative change in our lives. 
― Martin Luther King Jr.​
 
More and more in today’s culture people are feeling alienated, and afraid, especially in rural America (Green, DelReal & Clement). Political, racial and religious differences are being reinforced through divisive rhetoric on all sides (Johnson). There are few opportunities for real human connection or developing a sense of community and belonging, let alone ones that bridge these cultural gaps (Alexander). This is especially pronounced in sparsely populated, rural Appalachia, where income earning opportunities are limited, and cultural institutions that facilitate connection are struggling to stay open (Carey, MIT Dep Urban Planning). Loneliness and social isolation are such pronounced problems that they might even be considered a public health crisis (Lyons). 

In our dominant culture today we have a shared story of separation that is perpetuated by the practice of fostering individualism in our societal systems, particularly through our schooling systems. Because there is an overall lack of support in human development beyond adolescence, leading to a culture that seeks security externally, we feel we are separate from each other, rather than connected. Building a beloved community is needed now more than ever; moving us beyond this story of separation and a cultural ethos of having to “go it alone.”

Shared Story of Separation
When the development of an individual is not supported, we live from a limited foundation and perspective; unable to commit more deeply to taking care of ourselves, each other, and the Earth.  Mostly unconsciously, we begin to live a shared story of separation. 

This shared story of disconnection has roots that go back for centuries. We have forgotten our connection to Life itself; making it difficult to take care of ourselves, let alone others and this Earth. Imagination, wonder, and reverence fade in this story, and systems thinking becomes non-existent. Complexity is almost impossible to navigate, pathology takes center stage, and it becomes an “every-person-for-themselves” kind of culture. In this story where separation is the foundation of our collective systems, vitality declines, joy is at a minimum, and we wonder what has become of our world. This leads to a culture where loneliness is an epidemic, and other symptoms like suicide and addiction arise. Some begin to wonder what happened, and they long for a more sustainable and connected way of life.

Fostering Individualism
A culture in decline is individualistic and fosters disconnection from community and place. In our dominant culture today, 33% of people globally report feeling lonely. 55% of adolescents report feeling anxious and depressed. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in the US for 10-14 year olds. Disconnection is an epidemic, rooted in a shared story of separation perpetuated by a global sense of feeling alone. We have forgotten that we belong not only to ourselves, but to each other, and to this Earth.  

One of the primary systems that fosters individualism is the conventional school system. School is where we house “education” and hand down what we deem most important to those who either seek it or are mandated to receive it. Our dominant educational system currently promotes an individualistic culture that primarily orients around personal financial success and competition, in which securing a well-paying job is the goal. This is not to say that countless teachers, school administrators, and parents do not have the best intentions for our youth. It is the educational system that has been designed to promote a degenerative agenda that has become entrenched over generations and, through colonization, has spread throughout the world.  

Individuality is different from individualism. Individualism stops at the individual, and this further supports the other degenerative practices and elements in this model. 
A vitality-centered educational design cultivates qualities that connect us to Life and respect and take care of the individuality of a person. This empowers a person to build more life-giving systems, better navigate current oppressive ones, and strengthen their ability to adapt to the change that is to be expected when vitality is at the center of a community. 

Beloved Community
The term beloved community was coined by Josiah Royce and was used often by Martin Luther King, Jr. to describe a vision where agape love, or a deep and rigorous love, is the guiding principle for the community.  The King Center defines the beloved community as follows:

Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.

Community reminds us that we are not alone and is a crucible for healing and healthy development to occur. It is the ground from which vitality emerges, and nourishes both the community itself, and the larger culture it is embedded within.  Beloved community happens when there is a shared generative purpose that inspires and guides a group of people, and includes guiding values that have been discerned by the community. To maintain vitality in the community,  members must engage in rigorous practices that tend to relationship–both within the individual and between community members; particularly fostering the skills needed to navigate difficulty.

This principle recognizes that while we honor individuality by cultivating personhood, we also value the collective. When connection to one's individual life and to the community are fostered, creativity emerges that is not simply a sum of the parts. Dr. Carl Jung would call this “the third thing”; a “transcendent function” emerges. Something new is born when each individual is committed to their own development within the life giving structure of the community. 

The beloved community supports each person to become more fully, and vitally, who they are. This strengthens the collective and its connection to place. The German poet Friedrich Ruckert writes: “When the rose beautifies itself, it also beautifies the garden.” When sustainable values are at the center of the community design, cultural practices emerge in the community that strengthen and solidify the life giving values within each person, the community itself, and in connection to place.

Building a beloved community begins with a shared generative purpose that is taken care of through cultural ways that are life giving. 


Further Resources

Beloved Community
Navigating Difficulty
Projection
Rites of Passage
Cultural Ways ​
Springhouse examples
Reflection questions ​
  • What is your relationship to community? Have you received gifts from being part of a community? 
  • What does “beloved community” mean to you? Have you experienced the beloved community based on The King Center’s description? 
  • What are the cultural implications of not fostering beloved community? What are the consequences of this in your community? 
  • What is your relationship with difficulty? Can you articulate examples of ways your community supports members through difficulty?
  • How does the concept of projection land for you? How do you understand it, or not? 
  • Have you had a rite of passage? What happened?  
  • What are the cultural implications of not having rites of passage? 
  • What are the cultural practices of your community? What are some of the ways your community practice belovedness? What are ways that your community could grow in this area?
  • What developmental frameworks that support holistic human development inspire you? 
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Quick Links
Regenerative Culture
Vitality-Centered  Education
Take care of vulnerability  
Cultivate personhood
Respect the wisdom of the Earth
Love and serve others