On Montauk we went to a beautiful beach with rocks shaped smooth and translucent by crashing waves where peace meets action, peace is created by action. Here you can harvest wholeness and replenish your “capacity to build common community.” But only if you have access. This was a private beach, as some are. We had access by virtue of being guests of the B&B where we stayed.
In her thoughts on the privatization of public space and what that has to do with community, and more broadly, with democracy, then Dean of Harvard Law School Martha Minow shared her insights with beautiful examples of the free Hawaiian shores, particularly relevant on the US East Coast where the land meets the sea is sometimes private. Below is an excerpt of her comments at the Graduate School of Design in 2014.