More on Empowerment - Short

[Don Ferretti]

I missed a lot of the 'empowerment" conversation so I'm not sure how relevant this comment is. I assume the moderator will screen it. But, at one time I could not stand the word or the concept of empowerment. I thought it was patronizing, condescending and generally came from a world view that some people were better than other people. I have since changed my mind about the word and the concept because I started to see it not so much as giving power to people (cuz they already had it) but instead I see it as creating environments where people could rightly see that they are at the center of their world (because sometimes people lose sight of that) and that their thoughts/actions can make changes happen - they have the power. So, when I started seeing the empowerment lense as a way to affirm that central role, I started liking the term.

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