We're all in this together. I learned that lesson growing up in West Philly. When I shoveled the sidewalk my parents didn't let me stop with our house. They told me to keep shoveling all the way to the corner. I had a responsibility to my community.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of collective responsibility and supporting one another within a community.
Michael Nutter's quote highlights the lesson he learned from his parents about community responsibility. Growing up in West Philadelphia, he was taught that his obligations extended beyond his own household to the wider community, illustrating the value of teamwork and cooperation for the greater good.
In practice
In a speech about volunteerism, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of community service.
A tradition I remember from my childhood was that when there was a wedding in any one family, the entire village shared the responsibility and contributed. Regardless of the caste or community, the bride became the daughter of not just a single family but of the entire village.
If you and your church were to disappear off the face of the earth tomorrow, would anyone in the community around you notice you were gone? And if the community did even notice would they say 'we are really glad they are gone', or 'we are really going to miss them'?
Without strong communities, we cannot pull together during times of hardship. Our diversity turns from a source of strength to a source of conflict.
Community means caring: caring for people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: "He who loves community destroys community; he who loves the brethren builds community." A community is not an abstract ideal.
I think when you've travelled around a lot in Africa, you understand something that many people here don't recognize: the extraordinary power that is Africa at village level - at community level.
We need better neighbors, neighbors that care about the schools in their neighborhood whether they have kids in them or not, because they know that the health and vitality of that neighborhood depends on it.
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