‘Whatever the differences between Europe and America, the focus on trust as an indispensable foundation for constructive change in community relations, economics, and politics resonates everywhere,’ states Rob Corcoran, founder of Hope in the Cities USA and national director of Initiatives of Change USA.
Following his previous visit to the UK in 2005, featured as a chapter in his book Trustbuilding: an honest conversation on race, reconciliation, and responsibility, Corcoran revisited the UK from 26 October to 1 November 2011. His book provided the basis for speeches and workshops in Nottingham, Bradford, Liverpool and London. It highlights his experiences of pioneering ‘honest conversation dialogues’ in his home city of Richmond, Virginia, and other US cities. ‘Where does trust most need to be built in my community? And how do we move from a mentality of fear and control to a process of real partnership leading to constructive change?’ Corcoran asked his UK audiences.
In Nottingham he was invited by Imam Dr Musharraf Hussain to run a workshop at the Karimia Institute, a leading British Muslim organization engaged in community development, adult classes, and interfaith work. The workshop, on ‘honest conversations in community dialogue – tools for inclusive leadership’, was attended by 30 men from the Nottingham Muslim community. In the Karimia Institute’s community centre, Corcoran was interviewed several times on Radio Dawn, the institute’s local radio station. He addressed a public seminar, entitled The Trust Factor, hosted by the Nottingham Inter-faith Council on 27 October. The next day he and Nottingham businessman Richard Hawthorne were also interviewed by BBC Radio Nottingham for its Sunday morning breakfast programme.
In Bradford, Corcoran spoke at the annual dinner reception of the Rotary Peace Fellows of the University of Bradford, attended by 150 people on 28 October. Many commented afterwards that they found Corcoran’s reflections refreshing and insightful. He was also welcomed by the executive team of the Bradford Council of Mosques, which represents the city’s 86 mosques, at the Khidmat Centre. He asked the Muslim leaders: ‘What is the conversation that is not taking place? What is the topic we fear to put on the table?’ The question triggered an honest conversation among the leaders and one responded: ‘We don’t just need prayer. We have to talk about the issues that tend to be swept under the carpet.’
In Liverpool, student society leaders and student union leaders were invited to meet with him in a discussion on the theme of trustbuilding. The round table discussion turned out to be an honest conversation in itself, and the student leaders left with fresh insights. Corcoran also ran a workshop on honest conversation for 18 students who are following a ‘Service and Leadership’ programme at Liverpool Hope University. In their evaluations students commented: ‘I learnt that you need to involve everyone in a reconciliation process. This enables you to see as many viewpoints as possible and make a positive change where possible’ and ‘I will endeavor to build honest and trustworthy relationships with all those with whom I work.’
Corcoran’s visit to the UK was rounded off with his address to a Greencoat Forum, on ‘Trustbuilding—an American perspective’, in the London centre of Initiatives of Change on 1 November.
Trustbuilding: an honest conversation on race, reconciliation, and responsibility by Rob Corcoran, University of Virginia Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8139-2875-3.
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