CONVERSATIONS IN MAINE 1992

Conversations in Maine began on Sutton Island, one of the Cranberry Islands off Mt.Desert, in 1968 with Freddy & Lyman Paine and Grace & James Boggs. In the spring of l978 South End Press published a 300 page edition: CONVERSATIONS IN MAINE: EXPLORING OUR NATION'S FUTURE. Lyman Paine died in July 1978.

In l979 Shea Howell became part of the core group. Each year our conversations take place against a different background. Two years ago it was Desert Shield. Last year it was the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the violence in Crown Heights. This year we were very conscious of the explosion in South Central Los Angeles after the verdict in the Rodney King beating, the destruction of southern Florida by Hurricane Andrewand the ongoing Presidential campaign. Each year we also reflecton our involvement in local struggles. Very much in our heartsand minds this year was our participation in DETROIT SUMMER'92,the program we had helped develop to engage young people in there building of our cities at the community level, and thus to foster the kind of social consciousness which had motivated young people in the l964 Mississippi Summer Voter Registration Project.

Our conversations this year were more multigenerational than they have ever been, including elders in their 80s (Freddy Paine) and 70s (Grace & James Boggs); DETROIT SUMMER Teen Volunteers

CONVERSATIONS IN MAINE 1992

Meredith and Andrea DeFrancesco who spent an afternoon with us;and even (peripherally) Micah, 8 and Emma, 3. In betweens were:

Dr.James Jackson,60s,Muskegon D.O. veteran African American activist.

Shea Howell, 40s, Detroit, teaches Communications at Oakland U.

Richard Feldman, 40s, UAW shop committeement, author: END OF THE

LINE and Introduction to CONVERSATIONS IN MAINE, SouthEnd l978.

Janice Fialka Feldman, 40s, Detroit,Director Teen Health Clinic.

Frances Reid, 40s, Bay Area filmmaker (The Many Lives of Harvey

Milk).

Katie Carter, 38, Detroit, folk singer, activist, Central American movement.

Jackie Victor, 20s, Detroit, activist, peace movement.

Lynn and Nick, 30s/40s, Seattle architects.

1 WHAT TIME IS IT?

4 MEETING BASIC NEEDS FOR OURSELVES

11 LEARNING TO TALK OF RACE

16 BEYOND IDENTITY POLITICS

21 ANOTHER ECONOMICS

24 WHAT ABOUT THE MULTINATIONALS?

29 AIDS IN AFRICA

33 DETROIT SUMMER

43 YOUTH VOLUNTEERS MEREDITH & ANDREA

48 PUSHING UP FROM THE ROOTS

CONVERSATIONS IN MAINE 1992

53 GLOBALIZATION

62 CO-HOUSING

64 CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKING

66 HOW START COOPS, SMALL BUSINESSES?

70 WHO ARE THE "WE"?

72 HIGH POINTS