ONE OF the important roles of a coffeeshop is to be a listening place. Wild Bill's, Uptown Bill's and other places like them are places where people can go and be heard. All of us need to be heard and affirmed. I think this is especially important from young people, who too often do not have places to be heard.
I think if we really listened to young people, we could hear their wish for a more peaceful, just and tolerant world. Plus, they would tell us they want a hand in creating such a place. And they would tell us that they want to start right where they are -- in our homes, in our schools, in our communities.
Leon was a student in one of my high school classes some years ago. "We all can work together," he told me. "We can keep all the young kids out of jail. We can keep them from joining gangs. We can stop them from doing bad stuff."
This isn't a new idea, of course. Hope for the future has long been associated with youth. Jane Addams, social work's founding mother, described this longing a century ago. "There is a heritage of noble obligation which young people accept and long to perpetuate. The desire for action, the wish to right wrong and alleviate suffering, haunts them daily."
Yet, too often this wish for a better world gets obscured, misplaced or even ignored by the community at large. One reason is that in stories told by young people anger may precede hope. One young man told me of trying to get his mother to listen to some of his music. "I want you to hear this," he said, slipping a CD into the player in the car. But she couldn't get past the rapper's profanity and ejected the CD with an admonition that such music shouldn't be played again around her.
SUCH A response often produces more anger. "Why won't you listen to me," I have heard so many times. Sometimes that is a general plea, other times it has been pointed directly at me.
Add to that the dismissing of young voices with the words that they are simply too young to understand. Or that they are too young to participate. "Wait until you grow up." The result is often more frustration and more anger.
The stories young people have told me in the coffeeshop and at the street corner cry out for an audience -- and for a response. But too often the response is to say "hush up," or not to believe them or to ignore them. For example when youth talk about feeling unsafe at school, the response is often to make the school like a prison with police officers and metal detectors. "Those don't make us feel more safe," one young man said to me recently. "Those make us feel less safe."
He is right, of course. The route to safe and peaceful schools is not paved by force and excessive discipline, but by education strategies and community building.
THERE IS something else, too. Too often when young people express their anger and frustration at our society, and their place in it, our response is to suggest they are mentally ill. Rachel is a good example. We were sitting on a park bench and she had just finished an anguished monologue about what a mess the world is in. She paused, then said: "you don't think I'm crazy, do you? You're not going to send me to a shrink, are you?"
How have we come to this? That a young person thinks that her righteous anger will be dismissed with a clinical diagnosis? Or that I would write off her passion as the outburst of an impetuous adolescent?
We so desperately need more ways for young people like Rachel to be able to tell their stories and to have them heard. I think our communities would be better off if we listened to the stories of the young people around us. Coffeeshops are one of the places where we can listen to each other. They have the potential to be small communities where we can test learning and listening. Then we can step out into our communities and do the same thing.
REMEMBERING
STU ZISMAN
Stu Zisman, a key figure in the development of Uptown Bill's, died recently. Zisman provided the structure for the Extend the Dream Foundation, the nonprofit umbrella for Uptown Bill's, Vintage Shop and other enterprises. The foundation had originally been started to promote youth baseball, but was converted to supporting Uptown Bill's when the organization was just getting started 10 years ago. (A photo of Zisman and Tom Walz discussing this conversion can be found in the photo archive for the Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop page on Facebook. It's photo 62.) Zisman, 63, died of cancer in Fairfield, Iowa. He is survived by his wife, Patty. Contributions to a Stu Zisman Memorial Fund may be sent to: C. Cornell, 2000 W. Court St., No 19D, Fairfield, Iowa 52556.
RUSSIAN STUDENTS RESPOND
TO BILL SACKTER MOVIE
Students in a social work class at Perm State University in Russia recently wrote essays after seeing "A Friend Indeed," the 2009 documentary about the legacy of Bill Sackter. Elena Gritsenko, the course instructor, sent excerpts from the essays. Here are some of the student comments:
It is a very touching story. It teaches us to be more considerate to people with disabilities. (Marina Vankova)
Bill helped to destroy stereotypes. Public perception of persons with disabilities was changed by Bill. (Sasha Tsypushtanova)
Bill's life is a good example of how we can remain humane in this cruel world. (Michail Zakharov)
Bill's friends admired him. They loved him for his extraordinary kindness and positive attitude to life and people. (Ksyusha Meshalkina)
The whole story teaches us to be kinder, to be more tolerant not only to people with disabilities, but to everyone. (Arina Syukkya)
"A Friend Indeed" is available for purchase at Uptown Bill's and on the Sackter House Media website: www.sackterhousemedia.org.
COFFEE SHOP NEEDS
HEALTHIER FOODS
The one thing that I would most like to see happening at Uptown Bill's is an alliance with The Red Avocado to get some really healthy plant based food onto the menu. I would also like to see some consciousness raising regarding the health benefits to getting more fruits, veggies, and whole grains into the diet and fewer animal products.
-- Rhonda Fabert
STORYTELLING IS KEY TO
FUTURE OF BILL PROJECTS
The success of Bill's and Uptown Bill's, and in fact, the original Bill story, have been perpetuated in part by your excellent storytelling and the ability to accentuate the community purpose through the ideas you bring in with the e-newsletter and the "good evening" programs. If you haven't already, could I suggest that as an organization you do some deliberate teaching of these skills.
-- Margo Ashmore
NOW BOOKING
ART EXHIBITS
Are you a visual artist? Know someone who is? Uptown Bill's is looking for artists who would like to display their work at the coffee house in the coming months.
SATURDAY MUSIC
SERIES RESUMES
Dustin Busch performs Saturday, Jan. 8, 7 pm, at Uptown Bill's. This is the first in a series of Saturday night concerts which continues into May. For more information about this concert, check the Facebook page for Uptown Bill's. Here's a list of upcoming concerts. All are at 7 pm, except for the Awful Purdies:
January 8: Dustin Busch
January 15: Andrew Epstein
January 22: The Beggarmen
January 29: Ben Schmidt
February 5: Acoustic Mayhem
February 12: Slewgrass
February 19: The Awful Purdies (3pm)
February 26: Mutiny in the Parlor
March 5: Dave Moore
OPEN MIC ON
FRIDAY NIGHT
Sing a song, read a story or share a poem at Friday Night Open Mic. Begins at 7 pm. Sign up now at the coffee house (sign up sheet is on the side of the pop cooler). For more details, check the Open Mic event listing on the Facebook page for Uptown Bill's.
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR TREE?
IT COMES DOWN THURSDAY
Most of the decorations on the holiday tree at Uptown Bill's were made by friends of the coffee house. Others were made by individuals at an agency in Poland which is similar to Bill's. If you haven't already, come by this week and take a look at tree. It will be up until Thursday, Jan. 6 (Epiphany).
THURSDAY IS ART
& MUSIC NIGHT
Taking down the tree is one of the activities planned for the first Art & Music Night of the New Year. It's set for Thursday, Jan. 6, 6 to 8 pm. All ages and abilities are welcome for this event.
GRASP NOW MEETING
TWICE EACH MONTH
GRASP, a support group for adults and teens living with autism, now meets twice a month at Uptown Bill's. The group meets on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month at 3 pm. Next meeting: Saturday, Jan. 8. For more information, check the Grasp website at www.grasp.org. Look for the Southeast Iowa chapter.
AA GROUP
EACH DAY
An Alcoholics Anonymous group meets each weekday at noon at Uptown Bill's. It's one of several AA groups which meet around Iowa City every day. Stop by the coffee house for a list of meetings of AA and related groups. (Look for a brochure on top of the wooden cabinet in the meeting room.)
PAST COFFEESHOP
EVENTS ON PATV
See a performance by the UI World Beat Ensemble and other events from Uptown Bill's on PATV. Some programs are shown on Channel 18; others are available on the website, Visit the website for more details: www.patv.tv.
LIVE TV BROADCAST
COMING SOON
A live broadcast of Tom's Guitar Show is coming soon to Uptown Bill's. The program will be broadcast live from the coffee house on Jan. 25, the last Tuesday in January. It is shown on PATV Channel 18 in Iowa City. You're invited to be part of the studio audience. The show starts at 6 pm. For more about the show, go to www.tomsguitarshow.com
THIS WEEK IT'S
TEA QUOTES
Just a reminder that we have tea as well as coffee. Here are a few quotes about tea:
+ Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world (T'ien Yiheng)
+ Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage (Catherine Douzel)
+ Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea (Henry Fielding)
LOOKING BACK IN THE
BILL'S NEWSLETTER
This issue begins the 12th year of the Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter. Here's a look at some of the stories from January of past years:
+ One year ago (2010): Tom Walz, a principal figure in the "Bill story," has published his autobiography, "Memoirs of a maverick."
+ Three years ago (2008): We could use Bill this year. Too many stories of heartbreak have come to us in the coffeeshop
+ Eight years ago (2003): Winter's first big blast has everyone talking.
______________________________________________
Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter is a virtual extension of Wild Bill's Coffeeshop and Uptown Bill's Coffee House. Published since 2000, the Newsletter is written by Tom Gilsenan, a former manager of Wild Bill's and now director of Uptown Bill's. You can write to him at tomgilsenan@gmail.com
Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is a project of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. It has been a part of campus life in Iowa City for more than 35 years. Located in North Hall, the coffeeshop is open weekdays from 8 am. For more information, check the Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop page on Facebook. You can call the coffeeshop at (319) 335-1281. Donations to support the work of the coffeeshop may be sent to: Bill's Coffeeshop Fund, University of Iowa Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244. Contributions are tax deductible.
Uptown Bill's is the crosstown cousin of Wild Bill's. Now in it 10th year, it includes a bookstore, performance venue and other businesses in addition to a coffeeshop. Located at 730 S. Dubuque, Uptown Bill's is open every day from 8 am. For more information, check the Uptown Bill's page on Facebook. You can call Uptown Bill's at (319) 339-0401. Donations to support the work of Uptown Bill's may be sent to: Extend the Dream Foundation, Uptown Bill's, 730 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 52240. Contributions are tax deductible.
