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© 2006 Wi ley Per iodicals , Inc .Publ ished onl ine in Wi ley InterScience (www.interscience.wi ley.com)Nat ional Civ ic Review • DOI : 10.1002/ncr.152 • Winter 2006

Organized by city officials and community volunteers, the firstDeSoto Dining and Dialogue was held on Martin Luther King Jr.Day in 2004. There were six tables. The hosts invited partici-pants into their home and provided dinner. The idea was to holda series of frank conversations about race to address the factthat the demographics of this one-time bedroom communitysouth of Dallas had dramatically changed. Between 1990 and2000, the African American population more than doubled.

Trained facilitators posed questions to get the ball rolling,questions that might be avoided during an ordinary conversa-tion. How would you define diversity? What was your firstencounter with racism? What can we do as individuals toaddress the challenges associated with diversity in DeSoto?

The program has since evolved into a nonprofit corporationrun by citizen volunteers. Backed by the city council and sup-ported with grants from residents and businesses, the organi-zation hosts three forums per year, or a total of abouttwenty-five tables. It is one of the programs civic leaders inDeSoto cited in their successful bid to become a 2006 All-America City.

One of the perks of working at the National Civic League isgetting to read the applications of winners and finalists of theannual All-America City (AAC) Award. Applicants begin bydescribing their vision for the future. They give an overview ofthe history of the community, its origins, and how it haschanged over the years. Next, the applicants outline thetoughest problem facing their community. Finally, theydescribe three community projects—collaborative efforts onthe part of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors—designed to address those challenges.

Since 1949, when it began as a joint effort of the NationalMunicipal League and the Minneapolis Tribune, the programhas unearthed countless examples of citizens working togeth-er to improve their communities. The program is like a timecapsule of American community change, beginning with theOzzie and Harriet years. When I go through these applications,

I am often reminded of the hackneyed phrase used to promotea certain television crime drama: “Ripped from the pages ofyesterday’s newspaper.”

In 2006, the winning All-America City applicants wrote aboutefforts to end homelessness in Longmont, Colorado; down-town and neighborhood revitalization in Kansas City, Missouri;an innovative health care program for the uninsured inRichland, South Carolina; environmental stewardship inSarasota County, Florida; a computerized crime fighting pro-gram in Marietta, Georgia; and an affordable housing crusadein Columbus, Ohio, to name a few.

About 490 miles to the south of DeSoto, but still in Texas, theborder town of Pharr has given us another example, rippedfrom the pages of yesterday’s newspaper, of a communitylearning to navigate change. Las Milpas was a nearby colonia,an unincorporated border shantytown without running water,sewers, or electricity. Some residents of Pharr were not enthu-siastic about the proposal to annex Las Milpas colonia. Theyfeared the costs would be a drain on city coffers.

Likewise, some residents of La Milpas distrusted the city,thinking local officials just wanted to add them to the tax rolls.But Pharr civic leaders believed the annexation project wouldbe beneficial to both communities. They teamed up with agrassroots interfaith organization to build public support forthe project to extend municipal services to the colonia.

Now developers and home builders who once avoided LasMilpas are building brick houses to replace the shanties. Sosay the authors of Pharr’s AAC application: “These neighbor-hoods with paved and lighted streets are served by a Boys andGirls Club, five elementary schools and a 27-acre park, fea-turing a one-mile walking trail, two baseball fields, a basket-ball court, two soccer fields and a pavilion that attracts familypicnics and outdoor barbecues.”

Michael McGrathEditor

Note from the Editor