Reading, PA is Proof We Can Build Together Again
It can sound trite to say, “I’m so proud to be associated with you.” I’m sure you’ve felt this way at some point, right?
It’s a statement that can ring hollow.
But when the moment comes when that feeling is real—really real—when it pierces your soul, when your eyes well up with tears, when your heart is so full you’re convinced it’s going to burst—in that moment, at that time, you experience a kind of transcendence from being truly awake, present, even naked in your genuine sense of connection and joy. Standing before folks in Reading, PA this past week, that’s how I felt.
We are all inundated nowadays by divisive rhetoric, culture wars, bad news, and the spread of bigotry and hate. As a Jew, I fear this. As an American, I abhor it. I want to shout, “Enough!” I want examples—real proof points—that we can do better and be better.
For this, look to Reading, PA. Yes, Reading.
About ten years ago, Reading was labeled the poorest community in America. It was once predominantly White, and now it is 65% Latino. It suffers from persistent poverty, fragmentation, and a lack of hope. Many people feel they do not have a voice. I’ve heard people say that Reading will never amount to anything. That it’s filled with problems. That it’s a dying city.
But I have come to love this community and the people I have come to know there. To be clear, I’m not writing to you about the Institute’s work in Reading. This isn’t about the Institute. It is about the people of Reading. It is about what happens when a community decides “enough.” When they begin to build together.
For too many people in Reading, it has felt like there was no apparent path forward. But that’s changing as scores of individuals, from all walks of life, step forward with the intent to forge a new path. They have come together in three action teams to generate real and deep change on English as a second language, after-school activities, and early childhood education. Their efforts are rippling throughout the community to other groups, networks, and individuals far beyond their initial focus. And in every case, their work is building on the good that already existed in Reading.
I asked the group of individuals I was meeting with how they would describe what they are creating together. Their words and phrases came swiftly, with force, with pride. Trust. Relationships. Hope. Possibility. Systematic change. Civic faith. Belief. Community.
One gentleman said that when he came to his first action team meeting months ago—when efforts had already been underway for some time—he was skeptical. He thought, here’s yet another effort promising to create change in a community beset by so many challenges. But on this day, he declared he could see concrete progress taking place, with growing momentum, and real results. He said he had a sense of true hope again.
A woman said that it is now time to “stand up for Reading”—to no longer allow people to pin Reading with a negative narrative that the city is a place you want to flee. No, she said, it’s a place you want to be.
Taking in these reflections, I stood there before the group struggling to hold back my tears. When I moved to close the meeting, I found myself simply saying: “I am so proud to be associated with you.”
There is goodness in our country. You and I already know this. Reading, PA helps us to see it, again.