Back in the late 70’s I was teaching a religious education to a group of high school youth in my house. Trying to understand the values that guide their lives I asked them what the values that are important to them are. One youth said: “To do you thing but not to hurt anyone.” Other youth in the group agreed with him.

When I was a community organizer I was taught that various groups had to work together on a specific issue to obtain change. The Gospel values my Catholic faith taught me are that we must work together for the ‘common good’.

I find today that “do you thing” implies not only to organizations but to groups. Recently I try to put three groups together on a common cause. One group was working on imprisonment and solitary confinement, one group was working to support families and individuals with mental health illnesses and the third group was working on human rights, especially for Blacks. I proposed working together to eliminate the padded solitary confinement cells for persons with mental illness in the County jail. Two groups ignored my request to work together and the director of the third said yes but has been impossible to reach.

I have had many people tell me that issues I have worked on like ridding Marquette University of Teaching War and Killing, stopping the flow of ‘money belonging to poor’ being sent to suburbs by the local St. Vincent de Paul Society or my concern to eliminate the stigma for persons with mental illnesses is “my thing”.

Some years ago I proposed that groups working on peace and justice issues focus and work together on winnable issue and then move on to another one. This is the way the peace and justice movements were organized in the 60’s and 70’s. Now individuals from one group may participate in another group or there are coalitions of organizations; but when it comes to taking direct action on issue it is the ‘thing’ of one individual or one group.

The ‘powers that be’ like this setup and create more issues for more group or individuals to work on. It was called “Divide and Conquer” and it works well.
I asked a good friend for support in the struggle of poor people to stop the flow of money meant to serve them to the suburbs and she said that was “my issue” and she had heard all about it from me. I said that taking money meant for poor and giving it to people in suburbs was not my thing and if I did not exist tomorrow the injustice would still go on. She did not want to argue with me and politely try to end the conversation.

A lot of groups start off saying “Let’s Work Together” to make a difference but soon gone off during their thing.

The art poster on my kitchen wall is from John August Swanson is of an urban scene and says in large “Let’s Work Together to Make a Difference” and in smaller print “Along we can do so little, Together we can do so much, in Unity there is Strength.” I say Amen brother and sister.

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