Tag: caring

Brian Prawitz, Roseburg city councilor, spoke to League members at their annual meeting on May 15 at the Roseburg Country Club.

Brian’s talk is so pertinent to our situation throughout America that we thought we should share this with you. Brian struggles with the violence and division between Americans. He says we need to actually listen to each other and to try to understand each other. Here’s a link to his talk to the League on his business’s website — https://soundcloud.com/brian-prawitz/togetherness-without-tragedy-uvlwv, thanks to BP Media Solutions.

Brian encourages us to find ways to work together for the good of our community, despite our differences. He suggested that we each make an effort to seek out someone who is different than we are and get to know them, offer respect, and prepare to love them even if we disagree with them.  Change starts with one-on-one relationships and good listening skills.

Also, Brian’s TED Talk “Togetherness Without Tragedy” can be viewed online at: http://www.tedxroseburg.com/2017/04/17/brian-prawitz/

Brian participates in the American Leadership Forum (ALF) where he has gotten to know a diverse group of Oregon leaders from urban and rural areas this year. He finds himself in the minority as a white, middle class, conservative man from a rural area and he is gaining new perspective.  He is dismayed that some people in the group have told him they are afraid to come to Roseburg.

Brian mentioned a person who has impressed him with his Kindness Diaries (now on Netflix). The author is Leon Logothetis, and more can be learned about him here: http://www.leonlogothetis.com/. He drove around the world on his motorcycle with no money. When Brian asked him how to lessen division and create more harmony in our communities, he told Brian, “Be the change.”

Brian’s mission is similar to the League’s efforts called the Listening Project which was created in the wake of the October 1^st, 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting tragedy. The project will continue this coming fall.

Check out the links above, and contact the League for more information.