DATE: Wednesday, July 9, 1997               TAG: 9707080414

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Neighborhood Exchange 

TYPE: Public Life 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   61 lines

NETWORK LOOKS FOR HARD-TO-FIND ANSWERS

Complaining is easy. Just drop into the typical neighborhood meeting.

Finding answers, that's harder.

Harder still is to admit that you might be part of the problem.

Yet that's what dozens of Norfolk residents do at monthly community forums sponsored by the Neighborhood Network.

Topics vary. Last week, about 50 folks came to talk about ``Moving Beyond Racism.''

Ernie Edwards stood to tell a little story. For the five years he worked in Spain, Edwards said, he sought and enjoyed the company of ``any American, black or white.''

Back in Norfolk, Edwards, a white architect, again felt uncomfortable inviting black people to his home in Ghent.

``I started falling into the same white-black kind of thing that I had grown up in,'' Edwards said. ``And I wonder, `Why? . . . What happened to me?' ''

But Edwards also believes citizens like himself can find the answers through honest discussion. That's why he helped create Neighborhood Network last year.

Bev Sell, an artist who lives in Estabrook and is a co-founder of Neighborhood Network, feels: ``Without the dialogue, we stay isolated. . . . Talking about things with people puts a face to them. You think about things differently.''

The network is a loosely connected civic coalition that tries to build stronger ties among Norfolk's many neighborhoods. Citizens talk about common problems and then suggest solutions.

So far, there have been three forums on racism. Other topics included crime, education and youth issues. Turnout has ranged from about a dozen to 150 people.

An unusual feature of the forums: Discussions often are led by a panel of un-experts - usually four or five citizens with no particular professional credentials to back up their opinions.

``There's a certain comfort level that we're trying to achieve so people aren't intimidated, so people feel free to speak and not be judged,'' Sell said.

``It's a relating thing. We want to relate people to people.''

The network also employs a pun in its promotional material, calling itself an ``un-brella organization.''

``In the inception, people didn't want structure,'' Sell said. ``They didn't want someone else to speak for them.''

Neighborhood Network's next forum will be Aug. 5 at New Hope Christian Community Center, 3241 Brest Ave. The event will start at 6 p.m. with a community supper ``with everyone bringing covereddishes,'' Sell said. ``That's also a way everyone can contribute.''

At 7 p.m. Thomas Bogger of Norfolk State University will lead an open discussion on ``A Historical View of Race Relations in Norfolk.''

For more information, call Bev Sell, 857-1794. MEMO: Ideas for this column? Call Mike Knepler, 446-2275. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Beverly Sell

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu