Erie-area residents find common ground at People’s Supper
May 23, 2019
The events bring a diverse group of people together for a shared meal and dialogue.
Eddie Ocasio was initially skeptical about his seat at the table.
The 46-year-old employment coordinator at Erie’s Multicultural Community Resource Center, 554 E. 10th St., had been invited to diversity-themed events and dialogues before, but many of those sessions didn’t amount to much.
However, Ocasio said, being part of The People’s Supper, a nationwide initiative that since January has brought diverse groups of Erie-area residents together for a shared meal, has been different.
The city has hosted six such suppers thus far; a seventh is scheduled for Thursday night at the Erie City Mission, 1017 French St.
“I’ve been in other groups in the past where there was a lot of talking, but then it becomes about who is the most powerful, who can talk most, who wants to get heard the most,” Ocasio said.
“This hasn’t been like that. We’re hearing about people’s struggles and why people feel the way they do about Erie,” Ocasio said. “People are being honest. ... People are really listening to each other and their stories. There’s laughter and food. And that unites us.”
The People’s Supper was created in January 2017 by three national organizations: Faith Matters Network, The Dinner Party and Hollaback. The suppers bring individuals, schools, faith communities and neighborhood organizations together to combat prejudice and bias.
To date, The People’s Supper has conducted more than 1,200 suppers in communities across the United States.
“These kinds of events and activities are so important for the community because of the differences,” said another People’s Supper attendee, Benjamin Aysan, 41, who moved to Erie from Turkey four years ago.
Aysan, a board member at Erie’s Turkish Cultural Center, 3024 State St., said embracing diversity is a big part of the discussions. He added that tolerance is a hallmark of thriving communities.
“If everything is the same color,” Aysan said, “how can we see the rainbow? For a community to be safe and happy the people in it need to know each other.”
Schember said his administration worked for roughly seven months to bring The People’s Supper to Erie, with a goal of promoting “honest and open conversation” about diversity and personal experiences in Erie.
On several occasions, Schember has talked publicly about his desire to “wipe out and eliminate” racism and prejudice in Erie. He said that while many see that as a “dream” or naive goal, initiatives like The People’s Supper are important to that discussion.
“We still have racism and prejudice here in Erie, unfortunately. But every individual in Erie should be valued for their unique contributions,” Schember said. “It won’t happen overnight, but if we can make progress, that’s good. I do think the People’s Supper has helped us make progress. ... People are getting to know each other, build relationships and develop some mutual respect for other people’s experiences.”
Each supper can accommodate a maximum of 90 people. However, a larger community celebration supper is scheduled for June 17, at the Bayfront Convention Center, from 4 to 6 p.m.
“We hope this leads to some specific action items, from the people who attend, that we can implement to help make Erie better,” Schember said.
Court Gould, the Erie Community Foundation’s vice president of community impact, has also attended multiple suppers. The events have become “a safe space to grapple with and explore bold solutions that acknowledge and tackle Erie’s inequities,” Gould said.
“The self- and community collective discovery being opened up by The People’s Supper brings light through stretching our comfort zones,” Gould said. “The People’s Supper is providing practice needed to be able to speak to one another and grow in appreciation that our strength is found in our differences.”
Jennifer Bailey, the co-founder of The People’s Supper and founder and executive director of the Nashville, Tennessee-based Faith Matters Network, said as much when she came to Erie on Jan. 17 to help launch the city’s inaugural dinner.
Bailey is an African Methodist Episcopal minister who said the suppers have revealed that many people want to “dig deeper within their own communities.
“It’s not just the folks who share a different political ideology from you,” Bailey said at the time. “It’s folks who have different identities live next door. We’re at a time when folks don’t even know their neighbors anymore, so this framework of doing the simple thing of gathering together for a meal has been a really good venue for people to connect with their neighbors.”
Ken Nickson, formerly an associate dean at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy and a 1996 graduate of the school district’s former Central High School, now Erie High, has also appreciated the suppers.
Nickson became the Erie School District’s first coordinator of educational diversity, equity and inclusion in 2017, and one of his primary responsibilities is increasing the number of minority teachers.
“Unfortunately, this city has dug a very deep trench created in terms of racism, classism and nepotism,” Nickson said. “This type of model helps break down those barriers in a non-confrontational manner that allows a safe space for all to speak up and share.”
Nickson said he believes that many residents of the Erie region “are tired of and had enough of the same old ways and actions that have stifled and kept this community stuck,” and people are expressing those thoughts at the suppers.
He added that People’s Supper attendees are doing something else — making suggestions about how the community can best move forward collectively.
“People have been long awaiting a venue to speak up, be heard, and be able to be a part of action,” Nickson said.
Kevin Flowers can be reached at 870-1693 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNflowers.