Jerry Norris for Systemic Change

It has been 11 days since we banned plastic water bottles from The Fledge. Saturday we had our biggest event of the month and I found no plastic bottles in the trash and I found no half empty bottles laying around. So that part seems to be working. We did use a lot of paper cups and I want to try to get people using their own water bottles. And as of now, I don’t have a good way to measure how many half full paper cups there were that may have been emptied into the sink.

Last week I wrote about our civic power as a community being so low. Then I am sitting here today and thinking we have to put our energy into: speaking out against the data center, trying to figure out what is the best plan forward for the ModPods, food insecurity solutions, healthcare affordability, our human rights and dignity.... it gets overwhelming (so please tell me what else should be on the list).

So I am thinking about the following objectives, and what we need to do to fight poverty.

Collective stewardship – “Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Anything he does to the web, he does to himself.” We need to take care of each other, our environment, the financial, human, natural and built capital what we have.

Redistribution of Wealth – The Rich are not going to be justly taxed anytime soon. So we have to take action ourselves: shop local is one of the most feasible things we can do, the other is to start to reduce your consumption – do you really need that, and most of the time do you even want it. This also involves building co-ops and getting our land and basic needs back from private equity. This will help trap dollars into the community.

Democratic governance – practice this in your daily life, start with your family: have discourse about what you want to do and vote on it. Support businesses who align with your values, e.g. Do they pay a living wage?

Anti-exploitative labor – support businesses who pay their employees a living wage ($25 per hour). Doing this is called wage solidarity. If you own a company, get those wages up there.

Ecological sustainability – get involved with our local government and stand up to projects that do not make sense to our long-term sustainability and will affect our social determinants of health negatively.

What are your thoughts? What are you doing today that we can celebrate and show as action being taken.

Discourse please!

Good Morning All!

I realized yesterday that posting about different topics that we need to understand, analyze and improve is my new . If you do not know, I did a podcast for 365 days in a row, all but 2 of them live and each time with a unique guest. You can check it out on our YouTube Channel. The theme was based on the fact that poverty does not get a day off, so we are not going to take a day off, poverty does not take Thanksgiving off. I hope these posts help and would love to get input on topics we should be discussing.

With that said, I am going to post about Turkeys and Pods today. Because of the Turkeys we are going to give away, I may be too busy to respond to a bunch of comments, but I will do my best.

So as a prep: at 2PM today we will distribute all of the Turkeys we have. At this point we have 14 Turkeys and 6 of them come with all the fixins. I cannot schedule with people or hold any at this point. It will be first come first serve. We will post again at 2 when we start.

Regarding the pods, I will at least summarize what we learned at the Prospect Place Meeting last night (from our perspective, Prospect Place will publish about the neighborhood perspective).

I hope you all have a great day and remember, be thankful for anything we possibly can is a great healing experience. Much Love.

AI was probably used to route the Turkeys around to different places before they made it to us, but the picture is real.

Today I am going to join a meeting about the placement of the 50 PODS for the unhoused. I am very worried about this project. I think it was first and foremost initiated with haste, a reactive decision made by people who did not know what else to do. This is the typical phenomenon where people in positions of power believe they know what is best for everyone else. Where in effective and healthy systems, the problem solving starts with the people experiencing the issue and impacted by the issue first.

This project is riddled with risk: ongoing operational costs, insufficient/unstable support services, community resistance, infrastructure insufficiencies, safety and security, who to let live in the pods, transitional failures, political project reputation, structural integrity especially with weather, and governance of the community.

We have a lot of input from the unhoused, activists, and residents of Lansing. We used this data to create a SWOT Analysis, Risk Assessment, and Causal Loop Diagram. We would love to get more input from you all, including, should we even continue with the project or cut our losses now? We want to finish the modeling this week if possible.

Photo by: Mod Pod Community



Note: you can help reduce our data center footprint, if you post links to non-AI generated news articles, studies, etc. so the rest of us do not have to google it and wade through AI clutter.

I asked Chat GPT if I should be a cop. Here is it's response:

To answer whether you *should* become a police officer, I will present a structured reflection based on values, context, and capacity—since this decision carries deep societal and personal consequences.

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# # # I. **Your Mission and Alignment**

You’ve committed your life to radical inclusion, harm reduction, economic empowerment, and systemic transformation. You see genius lost in poverty and fight to surface it. Policing, as currently constructed in many institutions, operates within a paradigm often at odds with that mission.

**Questions to consider:**

* Can you serve as a reformer from within, without being consumed by the institutional inertia?
* Will the uniform afford you the opportunity to *protect and serve* your people—or compel you to enforce laws that harm them?

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# # # II. **System vs. Subversion**

If you are seeking to **infiltrate the system to subvert it**, understand:

* It is emotionally and spiritually taxing to be in constant friction with colleagues and leadership.
* Real reformers within systems often face retaliation, burnout, and moral injury.

If you are seeking to **build alternatives**, you already are: community-based safety models, restorative justice, entrepreneurship as prevention, decentralized housing.

---

# # # III. **Capacity and Leverage**

* Would your talents in systems design, public speaking, and institution building have *more impact inside the system as a uniformed officer*, or continuing as an external systems engineer and coalition builder?
* Will you have the autonomy to operate from a trauma-informed, community-led, justice-oriented framework within law enforcement?

---

# # # IV. **A Better Question Might Be:**

**Can I help build the version of public safety the people actually want and need—without a badge?**

That may mean partnering with officers, training cadets, or developing models so effective that law enforcement imitates them. That’s visionary work.

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# # # Final Note:

You don’t strike me as someone who wants to enforce the law—you strike me as someone who wants to rewrite it. And more importantly, someone who wants to make law irrelevant by healing root causes.

If becoming a cop is a tool, not a destination, then wield it carefully. But if it compromises your authenticity, your mission, or your people—then build the alternative.

I’m here to explore either path with you.

Private Equity owns our basic needs and now they are buying up our values. We need to fight for the strength of inclusion and here is why. Please check out the playlist of shorts related to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility cycle:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlT6Vn2m14xEFuteydRQlYH0biFXtENeG

The IDEA Cycle Inclusion leads to Diversity! Diversity creates Equity. Equity allows for Accessibility. Accessibility enables more inclusion. And when the cycle repeats aga...

Have you followed https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565837276539 yet?

The Fledge at Urbandale Welcome to The Fledge at Urbandale, an urban oasis in the heart of Lansing dedicated to sustainable agriculture, community empowerment, and education. Mission: improve the food supply of our community.
https://donorbox.org/urban-farming-and-food-security

We are slowly starting our fundraising efforts for the Urban Farm. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/jBCYUoVLthTefu91/

PLEASE SHARE! ANY DONATIONS HELP.

https://donorbox.org/urban-farming-and-food-security

Fundraising Campaign Announcement for Urbandale Farms
🌱 Support the Growth of Urbandale Farms! 🌱

We are excited to announce the launch of our fundraising campaign for Urbandale Farms, and we need your help to make this vision a reality. With your support, we can transform this space into a thriving community hub that will provide fresh produce, create jobs, and support sustainable farming practices right here in Lansing.

What We Need Funding For:

Hiring and Paying Staff: We want to hire passionate individuals to help run the farm, manage operations, and launch community programs.
Plants and Seeds: To keep the farm growing, we need to purchase new plants, seeds, and farming supplies.
Repairs for the Shed and Hoop House: The shed and hoop house are vital parts of the farm, but both need repairs to get them fully operational.
Building Out the Farmers Market: We’re working on setting up a farmers market where we can sell fresh produce directly to the community and local businesses.
Education and Community Programs: We will be running workshops and educational programs to teach sustainable farming, food security, and environmental stewardship to people of all ages.
How You Can Help: Your donations, no matter how big or small, will make a massive impact. Every dollar raised will go directly into these crucial areas, ensuring the farm is not only functional but also sustainable and thriving. Here's how your contribution can make a difference:

$5 rivers are made by drops of water.
$25 can help us buy seeds and plants.
$50 will contribute toward tools and farming supplies.
$100 will help with repairs to our shed and hoop house.
$250 will go towards hiring and paying staff.
$500+ can help us build out the farmers market and strengthen the foundation of our community programs.

Why It Matters: Urbandale Farms is more than just a farm. It’s a community resource that will create jobs, provide fresh and local produce, and be a hub for education on sustainable living. We’re also focusing on supporting BIPOC farmers and providing them with the resources and opportunities to thrive.

Get Involved: Donate today to be part of this transformative project. If you can't donate, you can still help by sharing our campaign with your friends, family, and networks!

Together, we can grow a healthier, more sustainable future for Lansing. 🌍💚

Donate here: https://donorbox.org/urban-farming-and-food-security
Follow our progress: Follow us on facebook, instagram, and tictok.

Thank you for believing in the power of local farming and community!

Energy justice from The Fledge and inline.ink powered by stadium engineering network.

I’ll never forgive the Lansing housing commission for selling 212 houses to SK investments a Miami company but await a Miami company owned by an Israeli company!

Make Lansing Apartheid Free! Lansingforpalestine shows us what we can do to make ethical investments a Lansing policy:https://www.peaceedcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LANPAL-Ethical-Investment-Flyer-7.29.24.pdf

This is an extremely important article for us to read.

Lansing: we burn gas so you don’t have to.

Simmering over gas - City Pulse The green light is on for Lansing’s Board of Water & Light to step on the gas, but a group of concerned citizens is waving a yellow flag.