In past blogs, I have written about reforming the Olympic movement so that the Olympic movement furthers its goal of being a vehicle for peace and development. In short, I have advocated for a progressive Olympics. An important criterion for a progressive Olympics concerns the utility of the Olympic facilities after the Olympic Games. An Olympics that is socially just will not build a park that will not be used after the Olympics have ended.
The 2020 Lake Erie Olympics will guarantee that the Cleveland Olympic Park and the neighboring Cleveland Center For Intercultural Healing And Reconciliation will be used after the Lake Erie Olympics has ended. The Cleveland Olympic Park will host concerts and rallies, including LiveAid concerts for the developing world. Because it will have a retractable roof it will host events all year long (except perhaps during the month of February which is terribly cold).
The Cleveland Center for Intercultural Healing And Reconciliation will host a number of events. There will be student trips from New York, DC, Chicago and other cities. Other events include field trips from all over Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Summer programs in non-violent conflict resolution will attract national and global attention.
We will give scholarship money to bring together Palestinian and Israeli teenagers. They will discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, engage in team building exercises, go to concerts together (music global teens like as well as the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra and the Akron Symphony Orchestra), go to the ballet together, go to a U Akron soccer game together, play soccer together, and work together in other friendship building exercises. They will also learn how to listen attentively to others. Finally, if the religious leaders can design an appropriate prayer exercise, they will pray for and pray with each other.
We will give scholarship money to bring together North and South Koreans, Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland, Pakistanis and Indians, and people from other parts of the world. Each of these groups will engage in exercises similar to the Israelis and Palestinians.
The closing ceremony of each intercultural conference will be held in the Olympic Park. There will be a few celebrities present. There will be music. The Governor of Ohio, a representative of the US President, representatives from the governments of the participating countries, Ohio senators, representatives, and the mayors of Cleveland and Akron will attend. It will become a custom for Buckeyes from all over Ohio to congratulate those who have attended these conferences by attending the closing ceremony for free (or for minimal cost of $2-$3). People may come to see the celebrities and to hear the music, but the real reason they will attend will be to become instruments of peace. Even if they attend just to see the celebrities who will attend, they will be so engaged by the ceremonies that they will want to advocate peaceful methods for resolving conflicts. They will feel a bond with the people who have attended the conference and will foster that bond by continuing to learn about those countries. People will come for the celebrity and ceremony and will leave ambassadors of peace.
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