Word: dolci
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...Dolci has a map of Socily dotted with black crosses; each cross stands for a Mafia killing since 1945. The eastern end of the map is black with crosses; many of the killed were union leaders. The acceptance of violence in Sicily has led Dolci to put great emphasis on public displays of non-violence; these displays have of course made him more famous in Europe than his more substantial activities. One of his public hunger strikes forced the local government to build a dam for a village. Another form of non-violent protest was his reverse strike...
...center's first problem is winning the people's trust. Sicilians are not apathetic, Dolci insists, or if they are, one has to define their kind of apathy: "they suffer like all human beings, and know that they are suffering, but they do not believe that change is possible." In one village, an agriculturist came and persuaded some of the less suspicious farmers to let him use a few worn-out fields for demonstration plots. He grew vegetables and fruit, instead of the Sicilian grain. "The first year, the people thought he was crazy, but then they saw his yields...
...social worker had started a small school for the village's children, "who in Sicily always roam the streets like chickens." After a time, the people became used to strangers genuinely interested in their welfare, and, "although they still thought we were crazy," they were ready for what Dolci considers the most important step: "they began to think with us how they themselves could change things." Together, planners and the villagers began figuring out what the village needed, what it could do itself, and how the government could help...
...local and national governments have given Dolci little except harassment. Indeed, when asked what the government has done for him, Dolci usually answers, "I was in prison and they fed me for two months." His passport was lifted at one time, and one of his books was officially condemned as "obscene." As his staff prepares its regional development plans for all of the area covered by the five centers, it seems inevitable that Dolci's principle of non-violence will meet a real test. As he himself says, "The political, social, criminal, and reliigous authorities are one and the same...
...Dolci is in this country seeking trained personnel (especially anthropologists interested in cushioning the impact of technology), advice, and financial aid. Characteristically, he rejects offers of volunteers without some special skills: "the Peace Corps is sending five people over to us, but it is to train them, not to help us." He is disappointed with the lack of any current regional planning projects in America--"you had TVA once, but that is over...