Representative Brian Cina
of Burlington
(Chittenden 15)
Stony Ground
to
Wrong Way Waters
Achsinnigeu-haki to Paliten / Hackensack to Burlington
by
Brian Giuseppi Cinà
The seed of this story sprouted where stony ground meets reedy meadowlands. I was born and raised in northeastern New Jersey. Most of my family fled to the United States of America from Sicilia/Italia around the turn of the 19th to 20th century, and they settled around New York City. I grew up in a multi-generational and multi-cultural home teeming with extended family- in which my grandparents spoke Sicilian as I was raised to be an American. I was blessed to be nurtured in neighborhoods and within communities of people from all across the globe. I both experienced the benefit of white privilege and suffered the poison of discrimination against People of Color, those not viewed as White and/or not accepted as American. Our working class family struggled to climb out of generational poverty- so close, yet still so far away- from vast streams of wealth surging through greater New York City. In the shadows of the bright lights of the City that never sleeps, the American dream has also been a nightmare for so many generations of people. But I was encouraged to not only reach for the stars, but also to reach out to those along the way in need of a hand or to those offering me one.
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I had the love and support of not only my parents, but also my grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, other extended family, chosen family, friends and community members, I learned a lot from many people at an early age and I worked very hard throughout school because I was taught that I could make a better life and better world for myself, my family, and future generations. Upon graduation from high school, I attended Dartmouth College- despite being from one of the poorest high schools in Bergen County- due to their commitment to need-blind admissions and their generous financial aid, I graduated from Dartmouth in 1998 as a Senior Fellow, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music, concentrating in electroacoustic music composition and ethnomusicology. Instead of pursuing further academic study in music, I moved to Burlington, Vermont to make music and to serve as an Americorps member at Spectrum Youth and Family Services. While at Spectrum, I began my journey in the profession of Social Work that led me to receive a Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2005 at the University of Vermont. |
Since graduate school, I have worked as a substitute crisis clinician for First Call for Chittenden County at HowardCenter (member of the union- AFSCME Local 1674). I also worked for 4 years as a family support worker and social services supervisor for Transitional Services for Youth and Families. After achieving professional licensure, I started a private practice in clinical social work in 2010. I currently support myself mostly through private practice, engaging in psychotherapy with a diverse range of clients, mostly age 10-26, their families, and treatment teams. I also work with adults, despite my greater experience with children and families. One of my areas of specialty is multicultural practice. I have worked mostly with those who face discrimination based on class, race/ethnicity/color, sexuality, gender identity and expression, and sex. I have served refugees, immigrants, LGBTQIA+, people with different abilities due to divergences and diversity of the mind, body, and spirit. I have both endured and witnessed the harms caused to people by the systems of the State. I have heard hopes and dreams alongside the stories of trauma and pain as I listened to the voices of so many people over my 24 years working in Vermont. I have seen the power of people to overcome the greatest obstacles- when they are empowered- to not only change themselves, but also to change their world.
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My social work experience was vital to my role as School Commissioner from 2014-2017. The schools are as influential on children as homes, impacting child development as the physical and social environment affects their growth. As a State Representative, I continue my commitment to seeing the school system evolve in ways that furthers the health and wellness of all of our children. I want to find more ways for the voices of all of our students and their families to be validated, heard, and listened to, not just tolerated. I want all students to have more opportunities for success, and to be able to overcome their challenges to achieve their goals and dreams, just like I did. I want them to have a fighting chance in a world where the odds have been stacked against us. |
In addition to social work with individuals and families, I have been involved in community-organizing efforts for the past 24 years. I co-founded a neighborhood mutual aid project called ISGOOD (Isham Street Gardening and Other Optimistic Doings). The purpose of ISGOOD- to change the social environment of our streets through collaborative reclamation of the physical environment. By the late 1990s, Isham Street had become one of the most neglected streets in Burlington, populated mostly by college pupils paying bloated prices for blighted properties. As neighbors, we slowly have changed the culture of our block through our gardening together over the past 15+ years- building community between students and the long-term residents of our streets as we connect to the land beneath us.
ISGOOD has developed partnerships that extend beyond our block, including neighbors on surrounding streets, UVM Office of Student and Community Relations, Burlington Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) and many other neighborhood groups and mutual aid projects. iSGOOD has been awarded grants from AARP and New England Grassroots Environmental Fund. We maintain a growing coalition between students, long-term residents of the neighborhood, and patients and staff of Burlington Health and Rehab. Together we continue the transformation of one of Burlington’s dirtiest and noisiest streets into an urban oasis of permaculture and social harmony. With this physical transformation, we seek to also demonstrate a new kind of urban social environment, where people care for each other and their surroundings, and seek to leave behind beauty wherever they may roam. Through community organizing with ISGOOD, I have learned how to promote relationships between people, groups, and organizations with disparate interests and unexpected commonalities, rooted in our relationship with the land. Lessons learned from improving the physical and social environment of the neighborhood guide my way as I organize with people in Vermont, across the United States of America, and around the Earth to manifest structural and social reform to our systems of government and our way of life on our world. |