By Carmina Taylor
Strategic Advisor, Rural Assembly
As a newly minted Strategic Advisor for Rural Assembly, I welcomed the opportunity to experience the annual gathering of rural advocates at the Radically Rural Summit in September. Radically Rural 2024 brought over 500 rural changemakers from 37 states to Keene, NH for three days of connection, learning, and collaboration. I was honored to represent the Rural Assembly strategic advisors.
As a first timer, I was relishing the moments to be fed so much information and so many resources to further contribute to the mission and vision for the Center for Rural Strategies, the parent organization of the Rural Assembly. I was exhilarated! I felt it would be a once and a lifetime moment. Little did I know that my epicurean journey of conversations and real engagement with the best rural advocates would lead me to affirm that I met “my people”, rural justice warriors for the greater good at the Radically Rural Summit.
In every session I attended, when I began to tell the group that I was from Philadelphia, and that I was hyper focused on continuing my advocacy work in rural Pennsylvania, everyone gasped! How did a Black woman from an urban city feel that her calling was in rural spaces? For decades I have been a civil rights, racial justice and social justice advocate. When I stepped out of my comfort zone years ago, to travel by myself all across rural PA, I believed I was answering the call to help others in my state that felt isolated and unheard. I became a rural warrior. Since COVID, the rural communities in Pennsylvania have been slow to fully recover the life they had before COVID. People were fascinated that I was so dedicated to their well being and their quality of life!
During the opening session of the summit, when the question was posed “What if we took care of the corners and edges of society? What would the weaving of humanity look like?" I knew at that moment that yes indeed, small towns have the power for extraordinary impact.
Carmina Taylor at Radically Rural
Exploring the sessions
You Can Get There from Here: Innovations in Rural Transit
I ventured into sessions on rural topics that intrigued me. In a session on rural transit, I was marveled by the multi-sources of funding for microtransit. Local rural communities finding innovative solutions to precisely set-up, track and evaluate individual transportation needs for every resident. With Uber and Lyft not being viable options for rural commuters, microtransit programs in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire are leading the way. Inspired by these examples, other rural communities can devise plans to customize their needs.
Join or Die Documentary
The film screening of the “Join or Die” documentary by esteemed social scientist Robert Putnam challenged our thinking about why community connections in rural spaces have actively declined. The film took a deep dive into the digression of thought about the fate of democracy in rural communities. He asked us to think about what makes democracy work, why American democracy in crisis, and what can we do about it. This was such a great precursor to the then-impending presidential election.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Work
I have always believed that everyone has their own special gift that they can bring to a community, an unexpected solution. However, by attending the "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Work" session, I was able to glean that even if avid rural leaders see the solution as viable, others in community spaces still may see it as impossible. Therefore, our speaker asked us to think about reweaving our social fabrics through innovative methods that cross traditional boundaries of community. Using a more integrated approach to an issue which draws on health services, economic development, volunteerism, and community news creates more opportunity to find solutions.
How to Optimize Goodness, Creativity and Innovation in Group Processes
Synectics is the process of creating a creative problem-solving system for group leaders to facilitate and inspire their teams to collectively devise a checklist for innovative processes to meet group objectives. During this session, I learned that recognizing that creativity in adults is always possible — and that the execution of simple synetic techniques will yield fun and productive outcomes. The innovation transforms when groups may collectively discover flaws in ideas but remain steadfast to “craft and mold impractical and improbable solutions that ultimately produce goodness.”
Growing Beyond Growth: A Post-Summit Radically Rural Roundtable and Eco-Gathering
Economic Development is not my go to topic of strength. However, I chose this final session for that reason. I found others who identified the same way. The organizers committed to walking through, discussing and dissecting the basics and fundamentals of economic development in rural spaces. The topic is so varied and vast that a full scope of how to implement local goals and objectives could not be achieved in one session. They encouraged us not to be discouraged but to join a series of informational sessions and follow-ups via email in the future. The roundtable feature was great to hear from participants in other spaces to share what has worked and what needs to work. The combination of both gave the session a very meaningful introduction for those who were not familiar. What was the greatest takeaway from the session? Eclectic quasi-eco folks affirming to be committed to each other post-summit participation! What a great ending to a transforming experience at the Radically Rural Summit.
Some people in American society will stereotypically think that finding and feeling extremely comfortable with my people would be in communities of color in urban settings. However, being one thread woven in the tapestry of the Radically Rural Summit attendees, I found my people from all the small towns, big and little cities and rural communities they were representing. You see, I am going to remain steadfast in exploring the corners and edges of our society seeking to serve the plight of humanity….because healing humanity is at the core of my people.
Watch plenary sessions from Radically Rural on the organization's Youtube channel.
Carmina Taylor was one of sixteen Americans honored at the White House as National Uniters in September 2022 for her work against hate across rural Pennsylvania. She ventured in very conservative communities seeking civil discourse as a means to demonstrate that difficult conversations can be achieved when respect is the center point. She attributes her meaningful approach because of her lived experiences as a Citizen University Civic Saturday Fellow. Inspiring her fellow Americans to willingly act out their citizenship for the greater good of their community is her PASSION! Last October she was inducted into her high school hall of fame because of her steadfast service to her school community and county. She is very proud that she and her mother are now the first Black mother and daughter inducted in the Wissahickon Hall of Fame.
