LINC — Listening & Inclusion in the North Country

LINC stands for Listening and Inclusion in the North Country: A Community Coalition.

Link (LINC) is defined as (noun) a relationship between two things or situations, especially where one thing affects the other and as (verb) when we make, form, or suggest a connection with or between.

This is an apt descriptor of this group and a memorable moniker. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Further, to paraphrase Dr. King: “We can never be what we ought to be until others are what they ought to be, and they can never be what they ought to be until we are what we ought to be.”

Initial organic listening frameworks in 2019, one refined by a group of college students and a second advanced by a local businesswoman, have shown these as powerful approaches that move people from caricatures to seeing character, from stereotypes to hearing in stereo.

Further conversations among college students and a core group of community leaders have yielded a desire to scale this approach and bring it to more people and venues.

Maintaining a steering committee approach for leadership, we plan to add participants to this work. This includes creating a communication flow, developing advocates and champions. We also envision building from local schools, campus inclusive excellence approaches, community allies, and participants in conversations.

Conversations and Frameworks
The People’s Supper
Southern Poverty Law Center — Speak Up
Enforcers to Guardians — Primer on Policing

Videos
Author Robin DiAngelo

Youth
The Children’s Alliance — Talking about Racism
PBS — Talking about Racism

SUNY Plattsburgh
Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Community H.U.B.
Community and Volunteerism

SUNY Plattsburgh is focused on fostering a campus environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all, and which celebrates the diverse experiences and perspectives of all members.

We confront and reject all manifestations of discrimination. We acknowledge deep-rooted misunderstandings and biases. We celebrate our differences.

We are committed to the highest standards of civility and decency toward all. We promote open expression of our individuality within the bounds of courtesy, sensitivity, and respect.

We are aware of the complex challenges facing many members of our campus community. We know we must do better and we are committed to making ‘better’ happen.

A summary of work completed in 2018 is here