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My name is Shari Davis,

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and let's be honest,

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I'm a recovering government employee.

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And I say that with a huge shout-out
to the folks that work in government

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and on systems change.

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It's hard.

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It can be isolating.

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And the work can feel impossible.

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But government is the people that show up.

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Really, it's the people that can show up

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and are committed to the promise
that public service offers:

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service to people,

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democracy

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and fixing the problems
that community members face.

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Seventeen years ago,

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I walked through city hall
for the first time as a staff member.

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And that walk revealed something to me.

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I was a unicorn.

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There weren't many people
who looked like me

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that worked in the building.

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And yet, there were folks committed
to addressing hundreds of years

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of systemic inequity

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that left some behind and many ignored.

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Where there was promise,

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there was a huge problem.

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You see, democracy,
as it was originally designed,

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had a fatal flaw.

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It only laid pipeline
for rich white men to progress.

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And now, if you're a smart rich white man,

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you understand why I say that's a problem.

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Massive talent has been left
off the field.

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Our moral imaginations have grown anemic.

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Our highest offices
are plagued by corruption.

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We're on the brink
of a sort of apathetic apocalypse,

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and it's not OK.

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We've got to open the doors

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to city halls and schools

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so wide that people
can't help but walk in.

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We've got to throw out
the old top-down processes

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that got us into this mess,

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and start over,

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with new faces around the table,

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new voices in the mix,

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and we have to welcome new perspectives
every step of the way.

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Not because it's the right thing to do --

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although it is --

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but because that's the only way
for us to all succeed together.

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And here's the best news of all.

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I know how to do it.

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The answer -- well, an answer,

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is participatory budgeting.

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That's right.

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Participatory budgeting,
or "PB" for short.

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PB is a process that brings
community and government together

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to ideate, develop concrete proposals

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and vote on projects
that solve real problems in community.

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Now I realize that people
don't get up and dance

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when I start talking about public budgets.

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But participatory budgeting

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is actually about collective,
radical imagination.

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Everyone has a role to play in PB,

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and it works,

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because it allows community members
to craft real solutions

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to real problems

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and provides the infrastructure
for the promise of government.

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And honestly,

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it's how I saw a democracy
actually work for the first time.

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I remember it like it was yesterday.

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It was 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts,

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and mayor Menino asked me

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to launch the country's first
youth-focused PB effort

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with one million dollars of city funds.

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Now, we didn't start
with line items and limits

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or spreadsheets and formulas.

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We started with people.

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We wanted to make sure
that everyone was listened to.

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So we brought in young people

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from historically and traditionally
marginalized neighborhoods,

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members of the queer community

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and youth that were formerly incarcerated,

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and together, often with pizza
and a sugar-free beverage,

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we talked about how to make Boston better.

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And we designed a process that we called
"Youth Lead the Change."

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We imagined a Boston

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where young people
could access the information

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that they need to thrive.

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Where they could feel safe
in their communities,

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and where they can transform public spaces
into real hubs of life

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for all people.

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And that's exactly what they did.

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In the first year,

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young people allocated 90,000 dollars
to increase technology access

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for Boston public high school students,

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by delivering laptops
right to Boston public high schools,

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so that students could thrive
inside and outside of the classroom.

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They allocated 60,000 dollars
to creating art walls

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that literally and figuratively
brightened up public spaces.

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But they addressed
a more important problem.

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Young people were being criminalized
and pulled into the justice system

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for putting their art on walls.

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So this gave them a safe space
to practice their craft.

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They allocated 400,000 dollars
to renovating parks,

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to make them more accessible
for all people of all bodies.

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Now, admittedly,

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this didn't go as smoothly
as we had planned.

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Right before we broke ground on the park,

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we actually found out that it was on top
of an archaeological site

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and had to halt construction.

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I thought I broke PB.

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But because the city
was so committed to the project,

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that's not what happened.

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They invited community in to do a dig,

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protected the site,

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found artifacts,

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extended Boston's history

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and then moved forward
with the renovation.

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If that isn't a reflection
of radical imagination in government,

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I don't know what is.

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What sounds simple

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is actually transformational
for the people and communities involved.

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I'm seeing community members
shape transportation access,

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improve their schools

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and even transform government buildings,

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so that there is space
inside of them for them.

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Before we had PB,

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I would see people who look like me

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and come from where I come from

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walk in to government buildings
for this new initiative

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or that new working group,

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and then I'd watch them
walk right back out.

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Sometimes I wouldn't see them again.

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It's because their expertise
was being unvalued.

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They weren't truly
being engaged in the process.

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Put PB is different.

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When we started doing PB,

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I met amazing young leaders
across the city.

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One in particular, a rock star,
Malachi Hernandez,

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15 years old,

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came into a community meeting --

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shy, curious, a little quiet.

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Stuck around

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and became one of the young people
hoping to lead the project.

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Now fast-forward a couple of years.

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Malachi was the first in his family
to attend college.

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A couple of weeks ago,

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he was the first
in his family to graduate.

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Malachi has appeared

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in the Obama White House several times

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as part of the My Brother's
Keeper initiative.

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President Obama even quotes
Malachi in interviews.

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It's true, you can look it up.

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Malachi got engaged, stayed engaged,

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and is out here changing the way
we think about community leadership

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and potential.

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Or my friend Maria Hadden,

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who was involved
in the first PB process in Chicago.

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Then went on to become a founding

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participatory budgeting
project board member,

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eventually a staff member,

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and then unseated a 28-year incumbent,

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becoming the first queer Black alderperson

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in Chicago's history.

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That's real engagement.

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That's being taken seriously.

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That's building out and building on
community leadership.

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That's system change.

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And it's not just in the US either.

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After starting 30 years ago in Brazil,

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PB has spread to over 7,000 cities
across the globe.

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In Paris, France,

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the mayor puts up
five percent of her budget,

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over 100 million euros,

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for community members to decide on
and shape their city.

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Globally, PB has been shown
to improve public health,

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reduce corruption

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and increase trust in government.

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Now we know the challenges
that we face in today's society.

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How can we expect people
to feel motivated,

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to show up to the polls

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when they can't trust that government
is run by and for the people.

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I argue that we haven't
actually experienced

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true participatory democracy

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in these United States
of America just yet.

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But democracy is a living,
breathing thing.

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And it's still our birthright.

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It's time to renew trust,
and that's not going to come easy.

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We have to build new ways of thinking,

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of talking, of working,
of dreaming, of planning

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in its place.

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What would America look like
if everyone had a seat at the table?

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If we took the time to reimagine
what's possible,

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and then ask, "How do we get there?"

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My favorite author,
Octavia Butler, says it best.

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In "Parable of the Sower,"
basically my Bible, she says,

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"All that you touch
You Change.

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All that you Change
Changes you.

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The only lasting truth
Is Change.

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God
Is Change."

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It's time for these 50 states to change.

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What got us here sure as hell
won't get us there.

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We've got to kick the walls of power down

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and plant gardens of genuine
democracy in their place.

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That's how we change systems.

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By opening doors so wide

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that people can't help but walk in.

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So what's stopping you

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from bringing participatory budgeting
to your community?