Page 364 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

where the CC events were being held was a concern, but not enough of an issue to keep her from

attending the two last dialogues. A second White female participant expressed apprehension about

attending her first dialogue. Her expressed concern was that she would not know any of the other

attendees and perhaps be the only White person in the group. Both examples describe feelings of

apprehension and tension felt prior to the dialogue sessions. Note that the conveners considered

several venues for the Community Conversations and chose centrally located sites to allow for a

high degree of accessibility by individuals using multiple modes of transportation. One White

respondent indicated one particular venue, the Jewish Community Center, stood out as a safe place

that one could enter without concern that someone would question why she was there. While

interview volunteers noted visibility of entry and access points as a potential security concern with

its ease of access, it did not prevent anyone interviewed from attending the last dialogue sessions.

Overall, the composition of the dialogue groups was predominantly African-American and

predominantly female. The dialogue tables provided intimate settings in which women comprised

the participant majority, although men and whites were also in attendance for each dialogue too.

Table 5.1 below (next page) includes the total number of interviews (participants and

facilitators) who participated in my research (and follow-up) for the entire 4 Community

Conversation series. Although number of participants surveyed varied at each event I was able to

a representative sample and follow-up interviews at each one. Facilitators at the second meeting

(perhaps because it was the real first dialogue) seemed excited to see a Community Conversation

study being done and in awaiting instruction on starting the dialogue handed out my survey to the

participants as I walked around to each table. In all about 60% returned fully competed surveys.

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