WHY #CommunityJustice AND Why Now?

MOVING RIGHT INTO TWENTY SEVENTEEN  CALLS FOR INTENTIONAL COLLECTIVE STRATEGY I SAY.

We are poised for a profoundly necessary time of authentic citizenship like never before. We are community and as community we need to create and maintain a mindset that calls forth our sustained active behavior as it relates to the challenges facing ALL of us in these years to come (TWENTY OR MORE OF THEM THERE YEARS).

We can NOT continue to call for EVERY ONE ELSE to be about community and YOUR cross connecting work is NOT what we see. I am NOT saying that we need to stop doing OUR INDIVIDUAL GREAT WORK BUT WE DO NEED TO BE MORE INTENTIONAL OF CONNECTING OTHER WORK THAT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE WHAT WE ARE DOING.

It is so easy and reassuring to work among folks we know. When we do that we miss a profound opportunity to embody the purest of authentic diversity. Our energy must reflect what our mouth is saying.

I do NOT need to see the words #CommunityJustice although seeing it more would be oooo so inspiring but what I think will do more for the morale of community uplift is the affirmations of young and old cross cultural and gender identity doing a consistent collective work.

What they say...."We are what we eat". With that said "We are the embodiment of what we do". Let's do what becomes more effective for the health and healing of the community,
THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY...NOT JUST THE POCKETS...

The next eighteen months I have dedicated a significant portion of my community work to focus directly on the interconnecting of what inclusion and sustainability becomes within our community.

I ask YOU to embark upon this work of CONNECTIVITY with me.

THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREAT INDIVIDUAL WORK DONE BY MANY AND STILL IS BEING DONE BY MANY.

OUR WORK JUST DOES NOT connect producing sustainable improvements and uplift because IF IT DID we would NOT see the violence, we would NOT see the neglect, we would NOT see the lack of jobs, we would NOT see the poor housing, AND WE CERTAINLY WOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED the UNAFFORDABLE affordable housing.

OUR CHALLENGE AS I SEE IT IS TO CONNECT IT ACROSS SO MANY FACTIONS. 

#CommunityJustice is what I have embraced to help me re-set how I want to foster inclusion but I know what it looks like without having to see the words.

LET TWENTY SEVENTEEN REALLY BE THE YEAR WHEN MORE REGULAR CITIZENS AFFIRM THEIR HUMANITY WITH STEPPING INTO THE EMBODIMENT OF EFFECTIVE ACTIVE INTERCONNECTED CITIZENSHIP.

A friend of mine use to tell me so often that "The proof was NOT in the pudding. THE PROOF IS IN THE EATING OF THE PUDDING."

The work is and always has been AND ALWAYS WILL BE in the creating of the pathway, the apparatus and or tool we need to to build AND utilize for our quality of life existence....

Peace and Blessings
~Our Challenge Is To Change Our Reality~

Dated Information Share But Necessary To Provide Authentic Context_Pivoted Away From Mayoral Candidacy_06.10.16

FELT I NEEDED TO HAVE A BEGINNING AND ENDING TO MY INFO SHARE ON THIS PROCESS...

Today is June 29, 2016...Actually My Ancestor Sister's Birthday...Appropriate To Demarcate This...

***************************************************************************************************************************

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lillie A. Estes: 804.502.0468
lillie@TEAMLillie2016.org

Today, after giving much thought, prayer and consideration, I have decided NOT to continue my candidacy for mayor for the city of Richmond, Virginia.

THE VOICE my candidacy represents still remain resolute in our efforts to create our space within this representative democracy. I have just decided that this process for growing a great transformative RVA, impacting leadership and developing responsible economic development was NOT my most effective avenue to make this happen at this time.

Income Inequality, Creating Educational Excellence, Connecting People to an Effective Transportation System along with Authentic Affordable Housing remain key community concerns that I intend to speak to as the mayoral campaign continues forward without my participation as a candidate. I have learned so much about the importance of how we create space for the voices NOT normally involved in our representative democracy. We deserve leadership that acts on behalf of the people.

My goal now is to take what I have learned about how to get our voice into this process more effectively and teach it in a more inclusive way as I return within the community, singularly focused on implementing what I have learned. Building wealth among the most vulnerable should be achievable in material resource delivery action steps.

The lack of material resource delivery speaks to process issues that have locked ordinary citizens out of the process for obtaining full access to better quality of life improvements. We deserve leadership that acts on behalf of the people.
My profound appreciation, love and thanks to ALL the people that believed in my candidacy and assisted me in many capacities. AGAIN, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH !!!

                                                                    ###

**********************************************************************************************************************************

TEAMLillie2016 Establishing Focus For CommunityJustice

UPON Reflection, I AM TODAY moving forward with the signature collection aspect for securing my name on the ballot for the office of Richmond, Virginia city mayor.

I am singularly focused on what all citizens of RVA must do as we stay reengaged at the table of our representative democracy.

WHAT that looks like is a collaborative effort of inclusivity.

This is but a brief update for you all in cyberspace to share future activities unfolding as I seek the RVA office of mayor.

Thank YOU so much for your interest AND I look forward to your input along the way.

HEALING HISTORY CONFERENCE TODAY 04.06.15 THROUGH 04.09.15

When I Think of the history in RVA that needs healing I am reminded of the clear affronts that were done to this capital city. The graphic in this post speaks to an authentic corrective ground to move from,

It is my expressed hope that willing committed hearts will stay focused on the real behavior needed to correct the discriminatory public policy particulars done so many decades ago.

I do believe that with every new day there is an opportunity to transform...so here's to what an effective transformation process underway today.

WHEN Will "MOTIVATION" Be The Incentive THAT DRIVES YOUR LIFE ?

IS IT REALLY TOO MUCH to ask that YOU conduct your life based on what excites you and NOT what makes you mad BECAUSE WE KNOW ALL TOO OFTEN THOSE GETTING YOU MAD THINGS KEEP HAPPENING OVER AND OVER.

I can NOT believe how many people really live their lives doing things that they do NOT want to do as if it is what must be done in order to get into the pearly gates of heaven or become respectable among folks who really don't care in the first place.

I wish so much happiness and joy for my fellow associates, friends and family members and wonder how we all have arrived at this non existence that we call a life process.

With all the interrupted life events that have demanded my participation whether I wanted to or not, having happened to me over the last seven years, I AM so excited to do something NEW and different EVERY DAY AND I WISH MOST OF YOU WERE TOO !!!

I have not blogged in a minute and this is my attempt to see if I can create on the fly and make it interesting too. We will see.

My last blog was about the RVA city council meeting of March 24, 2014 when I was just so outdone at the tone deafness of the city council members about the voices of the masses of the people that I had to make a note of what happened on that day. And unfortunately, I must say that there appears to be that same deafness afoot even though the council did not meet this month.

The next city council meeting will happen on September 8, 2014 AND WE NEED TO BE IN MASS NUMBERS IN ATTENDANCE.

The governing process should be of interest to all citizens and lacking that motivation to make it interest is my challenge here today.

PLEASE, share with me what motivates YOU to see real  positive change in your community that you will participate in seeing happen. YOU ARE YOUR BEST RESOURCE OF POSITIVE WORK....my thought....

Where IS OUR Governing Process These Days ?

Here I sit in the city council chambers of Richmond, Virginia where the profound history of the United States of America for all intended purposes began.

I am of the same opinion that I had back in December of 2013 AND that is....our elected officials NEED AN EARLY VACATION...RETIREMENT...WHATEVER THE REMOVAL OF THE ELECTED OFFICIAL SEAT CAN BE CALLED.

How can the elected officials watch district meeting after district meeting; public hearing hearing after public hearing where citizens ARE VOICING THEIR OPPOSITION TO PUBLIC MONEY BEING GIVEN TO CORPORATIONS OPERATING AGAINST THE PUBLIC INTEREST and continue to vote THINKING THAT THE NEXT ELECTION THEY WILL BE RETURNED TO THAT ELECTED DISTRICT SEAT ?

WE ARE SERVING NOTICE THE WE ARE WOKE NOW, TRAINING UP NEW LEADERSHIP TO REPLACE YOU IN YOUR SEATS AND VOTING YOU OUT OF YOUR SEATS.... #endofstory.

"Utterly Amazed"

I rise THIS morning utterly amazed at so many things. I am amazed at how in this moment in time, it seems to be fine that nothing leads to anything. VERY few people seem to demonstrate belief that RESPECT of human beings MUST be the foundation of ALL behavior interaction.....that the ATTEMPT is FAR GREATER than the FOLLOW THROUGH_NOT. I AM utterly amazed !!!

HERE, at the end of 2013 for all intended purposes and I have quite literally from my writing perspective been frozen for what building blocks are within our communities that really are available credible consistent pathways from poverty.....nothing connects....there is this cute little thing over here, that profound work of something over there but THEY DO NOT CONNECT TO EACH OTHER FOR ANY SUSTAINABLE BREAK THROUGH.

I do NOT ...or let me say this...... it is NOT my ideal arrangement to talk, be seen and or do the proverbial interview for nothing of substance to connect with a solution. #NOTtheissue !!! NOW, what time table should that solution be seen in ? CLEARLY, not thirty to forty years, given Martin Luther King's "A Letter From A Birmingham Jail" references the waiting of time as to his discontent and THAT WAS FIFTY (50) YEARS AGO !!! WHERE IS ANY KIND OF URGENCY FOR SUBSTANTIVE ACTION THAT WILL PROVIDE TO DEMONSTRATE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENT FOR THE MASSES ? WHERE IS IT ?

Someone told me that I was an educated person and HAD GREAT insight but I am struggling with what do we as a society DO COLLECTIVELY WITHOUT MALICE AND FORETHOUGHT to change a generation.

The wonderful words, the feel really good in the heart and mind this time of year connects to what the other three hundred sixty four days (364) of the year, the other eleven months (11) and or "OTHER...OTHER MEASUREMENTS" that we use to reflect time tables.

The other thing that just drives me in not such a good way is the sarcasm that is used deflecting the sincerity of effort needed and or acknowledgement of guilt for generational truths deliberately hidden AND OR DESTROYED in order to keep the status quo from remedy contrived discriminatory acts......ENOUGH.... We are adults with adult things to do for our children to become better adults as if the only folks that get to talk about wanting a better world for our children is someone else, but we all desire a better world.

The problem as I see it is that we all do NOT work to make and keep it on that pathway consistently. And before the behavior action to criticize, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO CONNECT CONSISTENTLY TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY STAYING AND BEING CONNECTED....NOT THE ONE PERCENT, THE CLOSE FAMILY MEMBER, THE DEDICATED FRIEND, THE POOR DOWN AND OUT PERSON THAT MAKES YOUR HEART FEEL GOOD THAT YOU HAVE HELPED THEM JUST THAT LITTLE BIT BUT NOT THE CONNECTION TO BREAK THAT STRONGHOLD. Let us think about what it will look like to do THE AMAZING CONNECTIVE WORK IN 2014....