Such grass-roots expressions of shock and grief have now been turned into books.
When New York City changed its policy in 2014, it did so partly in response to such grass-roots efforts, including from a group called Families for Safe Streets.
Is there such a thing as grass roots knowledge?
While Professor Strenger discussed steps on how to defuse the strong emotions of political negotiators, there is an even more vital need for such a process at the grass roots.
Out of this exposure has sprung movements, such as #blacklivesmatter and other grass roots organizations, that have brought a fierce new urgency to the struggle against discrimination and renewed the prospect of meaningful change in a time of often overwhelmingly negative news.
Nevertheless, Ms. Bellamy added, a potent weapon against the spread of HIV/AIDS is grass roots work such as that being undertaken by UNICEF and several partner organisations in West Bengal on behalf of 8,000 child sex workers in Calcutta.
Though they live a long time, when such grasses die, the roots deteriorate, helping to aerate the land for better water penetration.
But he may be the first politician to exploit both widespread, bipartisan distrust of conventional news sources and the alternative reality provided by the digital grass roots, from sites such as Jones's Infowars to chain emails to social media.
"When we have all the grass roots in place, such as a well-run national league and a scene, then the peak of the pyramid — the national team — will eventually shine," said Cheng.
Really, Western governments need to think outside of punitive measures and look at more creative and proactive actions, such as increasing investment levels in grass roots movements, promoting pro-LGBTI events and backing the kinds of legal challenges that the Human Dignity Trust engages in.
Really, Western governments need to think outside of punitive measures and look at more creative and proactive actions, such as increasing investment levels in grass roots movements, promoting pro-LGBT events and backing the kinds of legal challenges that the Human Dignity Trust engages in.
