Final day at the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Summit The final day of the TRHT Summit starts with a presentation by Manuel Pastor, Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity, who directs the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at the University of Southern California. He lays out some of the major cleavages in the country. One […]
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The house that racism built
Day 3 at the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Summit After a day focused on personal racial healing and relationship building, we focus today on healing the wounds of our society that result from our inherited belief in a racial hierarchy. David Williams from Harvard’s School of Public Health shares data showing the devastating impact of racism on health outcomes […]
The power of story
Day 2 at the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Summit “Our beliefs are shaped by the stories we hear,” says Gail Christopher as we embark on a “day of healing” at the TRHT summit. “Today is about stories…When we form a circle we suspend the hierarchy…we are not here to judge but to create a safe and sacred space.” We […]
The power of love
Day 1 at the Truth Racial Healing & Transformation Summit “In Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation the power of love is leveraged to transcend the power of fear,” says the visionary leader of this initiative, Dr. Gail Christopher, senior advisor and vice president at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. She is speaking at the opening of a summit that has convened […]
The healing we need
As the full dimension of the Trump victory became apparent, a veteran strategist remarked, “My crystal ball has been shattered…Tonight data died.” After a sleepless night, I struggled like many others to come to terms with the shocking turn of events. How was it possible that someone so unqualified for the presidency could defeat the most qualified candidate in decades? […]
Addressing poverty from the inside out
Mother Teresa once remarked that the “greatest disease in the West…is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for.” She went on to say that the poverty in the West is poverty of loneliness, but also of spirituality. Physical poverty is real in America. In a city like Richmond nearly 40% of our children experience it every day. And 15 million children […]
Snapshots of the America I know and love
It is just 10 am but the mercury has already climbed to 85°F as we arrive at our favorite little beach where the York River estuary spills into the Chesapeake Bay. On a grassy park area, Latino boys are playing soccer. Under the few big shade trees large family groups – Latino, African American and Asian – prepare the mid-day […]
The hard work of democracy
Susan and I landed at London’s Heathrow airport the morning after the Brexit referendum. Back in the US, Democrats were conducting a sit-in on the House floor in an effort to shame their GOP colleagues into allowing a vote on a measure to reduce gun violence. On both sides of the Atlantic, the political elites seem paralyzed and out of […]
Leading with love
How can Initiatives of Change best contribute to healing the wounds of America’s history of racism? This legacy affects each one of us; it corrodes every aspect of our national life. The election season has revealed the depth of healing that is needed. According to a recent CNN/Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 49% of Americans believe that racism is “a big […]
Building a container
History shows that revolution is hard work. The founders of this country, having ousted the British, fought bitterly among themselves over state and federal jurisdiction. And their descendants had to endure a bloody civil war and a century of racial segregation before true democracy was achieved. Bernie Sanders has inspired millions with his radical vision of a more equitable America, […]