PUBLIC KINSHIP
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Public Kinship is the foundational recognition of our common humanity — that our own well-being is bound to that of others. The concept of Public Kinship was developed by sociologist Dr. Bobby William Austin, and stems from his work as the Director of the seminal 1996 report commissioned by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and released by the National Task Force on African American Men and Boys, Repairing the Breach: Keys Ways to Support Family Life, Reclaim Our Streets, and Rebuild Civil Society in America's Communities.
Public Kinship is seen and felt in the often overlooked behavior that guides how we live our values and care for our communities. It is evidenced in the everyday gestures that reaffirm our trust and compassion towards one another: greeting neighbors, sharing meals, attending events to support efforts, taking that extra step to tidy our streets or grow a community garden. Though seemingly small, the sum of these actions and the sentiment behind them textures our neighborhoods and nation.
Throughout our history, we have each seen and felt Public Kinship. To help share this ideal we hope you join us in finding a way to reconnect with one another. As Mahatma Gandhi put it: "In a gentle way, you can shake the world."
BUILDING PUBLIC KINSHIP
Join our initiatives!
THINK TANK
Listen, collaborate, innovate!
We have launched an open-source think-and-do-tank for engaged residents, researchers, fellow nonprofits, practitioners, and private and philanthropic organizations to listen to one another openly and exchange ideas to build and strengthen Public Kinship.
THE PUBLIC KINSHIP WEBINAR SERIES
Neighborhood Associates is welcoming expert practitioners from multiple sectors into the studio for conversations about how Public Kinship can strengthen communities, cities, organizations, and the individuals who lead them. Our series seeks to show what it looks like to think Public Kinship from the ground up, and from the self out!
For inquiries about the webinar series and participation in it, contact Alex Bain at abain@neighborhoodassociates.org.
THE 2023 PUBLIC KINSHIP TOOLKIT
The Public Kinship Toolkit is a customized suite of products and resources we have developed to help anyone take the journey toward Public Kinship. It offers strategies for self-leadership, guides to forms of everyday community engagement, and above all, your own 2023 Reflection Journal and Wall Calendar to build a year that can be rich in self-reflection, learning, conversation, leading, and growing. Contact us if you are interested in sharing these materials with your family, community, neighborhood, or organization. And we invite you to explore the Public Kinship Resource Guide that pairs up with our products! Join us as we build the Campaign for Public Kinship!
PARADISE
COMMUNITY GARDEN
WASHINGTON, DC
The Community Garden at our Paradise at Parkside community combines innovative and efficient hydroponic growing with educational and volunteering opportunities - a truly sustainable combination for nurturing community energy! In 2020, Garden participants grew 300 pounds of strawberries in hydroponic towers, beautified raised beds, established a gardening club, and hosted free events like healthy cooking for kids and classes on the life cycle of plants. A "little free library" stands nearby.
Our goals for 2021 are to create a greenhouse and plan out a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program run collaboratively with residents. We also plan to complement the garden with an outdoor classroom and weekly workshops on nutrition, biology, and environmental sustainability.
FAMILIES ARE ARTISTS,
CREATORS, & TEACHERS (FACT)
DC | FL | KY | NC
FACT, NAC's free whole-family arts-and-bonding initiative, nurtures the artistic talents of families in affordable housing, and inspires them to become leading creative voices in their communities. From 2017-19, we reached 188 guardians and children. In addition to engaging classes led by teaching artists, and family field trips to art museums, FACT hosted 6 community art exhibits. FACT is now 100% on-line to keep families safe and connected, and we're growing all the time!
FACT is funded by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust of North Carolina, and by donors like you.
THE CIVIC STORIES PROJECT
Stories are the foundation of communities. But too often stories of strength and civic participation are not amplified. We'd like to change that...with your help. Building on an intergenerational and multicultural forum we piloted in 2017, we're working with our allied housing network around the country to highlight and amplify how civic leadership sustains community wellbeing.
We're collecting and showcasing stories from residents and friends, with the aim of creating Public Kinship Clubs, and hosting forums and workshops, in all of our allied communities
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FEATURED PUBLIC KINSHIP ARTICLES
as published on the ILA Blog
VIDEOS & WEBINARS
See and hear from artists, teachers, activists, and thought leaders that build Public Kinship everyday!
Public Kinship, a leadership strategy grounded in the precept of loving thy neighbor as thyself, offers a path toward answering hard questions facing urban communities today:
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How can local practices of care and engagement build cultures of trust, neighborliness, and intergenerational cooperation?
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How can we learn to lead ourselves, so that we may lead with and listen to others?
Join Dr. Bobby W. Austin and a distinguished group of practitioners as they explore Public Kinship’s potential for building the dialogues we need now as part of the National Week of Conversation, hosted by the Listen First Project, gratefully acknowledged here.
Participants
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Dr. Bobby W. Austin, President, Neighborhood Associates, Washington DC
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George Spencer, National President, MAD DADS, Pittsburgh PA
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Octavais Brown, FACT Teaching Artist, Washington, DC
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Melissa Strova-Valencia, FACT Teaching Artist, Teatro La Bolsa, Washington, DC
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Marlesha S. Woods, FACT Teaching Artist, Louisville KY
CONTACT
1101 30th St NW, Fourth Floor
Washington, DC 20007
Main Office: (202) 333-8447