August 30 — Discuss “Privilege, Power, Abuse Among Athletes & Coaches”
Another great topic for discussion for a Mosaic International Conversation Cafe: Michael Vick is perhaps a symptom of something more pervasive, something that touches us all.
When: Thursday Aug. 30 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Where: Center Stage Café 970 Ft. Wayne Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46202
Participation Fee: $10.00; Optional meal ordered off menu
SEATING IS LIMITED. RSVP TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE AT THE TABLE by calling Cindy at 317.920.0231 or email cindyball@sbcglobal.net
Athletes and their sports are very important in the fabric of a community, university, and even our nation. The sports culture produces some of the most revered and idolized figures in American society. Athletic achievements are glorified and the achievers are often elevated to an extraordinary, super-human status. The rewards, praise, honor, power, and privilege that come from exhibited athletic talent and ability can be enticing as well as addicting. America’s jock culture tends to equate true manhood with athletic success, driving men to view the world in terms of status, power, and privilege. Athletes are powerful and sometimes abuse this power. Unfortunately, some athletes consider themselves morally superior by virtue of having the power to set the rules. When we (the community) turn a blind eye and deaf ear or even rally in support of athletes after committing a crime, taking drugs, treating women as mere sex objects or generally disregarding the law, we are condoning this sense of entitlement and bad behavior. In addition, as communities turn on the victims of crimes as if they were at fault for the violence inflicted upon them, we sending a mix message to our kids which echo that sense of privilege and entitlement. To read more about this topic, Google “Out Of Bounds: The Truth About Athletes And Rape,” by Jill Neimark or send an email to Cindy Ball at cindyball@sbcglobal.net
for links to other articles on this subject.
The Indianapolis Star covered Cindy Ball’s International Conversation Cafes:
Slightly more cerebral are “world café” gatherings, in which anything from global warming to the role of the arts in daily life may be discussed in small groups. Tom Hurley, director of the World Café Community Foundation (www.the worldcafe.com), says his organization uses the Internet to disseminate information about itself and to help people anywhere in the world connect, but otherwise always focuses on local face-to-face meetings.
The cafés, as they’re routinely called, can be in someone’s living room, or at a coffee shop. Larger groups may gather, but the unofficial rule is that there should never be more than four or five people at a table. There is no basic or mandatory fee charged by the organization to follow the World Café model, Hurley says.
“The World Café is a process that allows people to have conversations about the questions that matter the most to them,” said Hurley.In Indianapolis, Cindy Ball has started her own effort closely patterned after World Café. She calls it Mosaic: An International Conversation Cafe Community.
“We don’t spend enough time talking and listening to one another,” said Ball, a 49-year-old executive services consultant. “We are just focused on work and not communing with each other.”
Ball arranges her conversation cafes at area restaurants, making it more of a night out for participants. They can experience ethnic and international foods as well as different points of view on topics such as “What can baby boomers and the hip-hop generation learn from each other?” or a conversation on “materialism and generosity.”
Sveta Poluektova, a 29-year-old computer analyst and consultant, attended a recent Mosaic event dealing with Indiana’s alleged brain drain.
“I was looking around the table, who was there,” Poluektova said after the light meal and conversation. “They obviously were interested in meeting people, but they also want to make a difference.”
