InflexionPoint Podcast: Cultivating Change from the Inside Out Creating a Brave Space for Conversations about Personal Transformation, Racism, and Accountability

Don't miss this episode of #InflexionPointPodcast on The Transformation Network™. Join Anita, Mavis, and Gail as they discuss "The Art of Community Conversations in Today's Climate of EDI, Antiracism, and Book Banning."   Why Community Conversations?

These are an essential tool for promoting dialogue and understanding within communities. The PRESS Model, developed by Robert Livingston, is a valuable resource for facilitating these conversations. In today's climate of EDI and antiracism, community conversations are more important than ever. Join the discussion as the hosts explore the intersection of community conversations and book banning. 

 

Add Your Voice to the Conversation: Join the InflexionPoint Podcast Facebook Community. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1863715990493524 

 

Meet Guest Khamil Bailey, Founder of Cocoapreneur, Co-Founder of Greenwood Week Pittsburgh, and The Greenwood Plan | Corporate Consultant | Speaker | Black Business Advocate Khamil's Backstory Begins in East Orange, NJ Then Evolves After Attending University of Pittsburgh.

Khamil's vision of thriving Black communities was planted in her home city of East Orange, NJ; and then transplanted to the city of Pittsburgh when she attended the University of Pittsburgh. The evolution includes the Greenwood Plan, Greenwood Week, Emerald City Co-Working Space, and the acquisition of a $4.1M building in Pittsburgh PA.

"Life experience and an apparent need pushed me into social entrepreneurship and solving prominent and longstanding issues of inequity against Black Americans. My areas of focus is business, enterprise, and self-sustenance within predominantly African American communities.

Read Black Enterprise Article: "Pitt Building Now Black Owned Aiming to Ignite Black Businesses"

Final Community Conversation on the 7 Principles of Kwanzaa.

Mavis, Gail, and Anita finish up the series of Community Conversations about the Nguzo Saba: The 7 Principles of Kwanzaa. The goal with the series was to drive home the point that Kwanzaa Principles are working ideals. These ideals can be embedded into everyday life, particularly on the journey towards antiracist activation. In this episode they finish up the final two principles.

 

Creativity & Faith

Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

“Be unapologetically powerful and brave. Let no one convince you there are limits or boundaries to what you can achieve.” —Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/cNe8CQnIg9E

 

Collective Work & Responsibility. Cooperative Economics. Purpose.

In the previous episode we opened up our community conversation with a discussion of the first 2 principles of the Nguzo Saba, Unity and Self Determination. In this episode we discuss the next 3 principles — Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, and Purpose, providig personal experiences and examples of work that exhibits the principles.

 

Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibilility - To build and maintain our community together and make our community’s problems our problems and to solve them together. Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics - To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together. Nia: Purpose - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for joining us for the first episode of InflexionPoint Podcast in 2024. This the spot where we are dedicated to the art of listening in authentic conversation. We challenge our audience to listen actively and intentionally for the purpose of self-awareness, understanding, personal transformation, and ultimately social impact. As a matter of fact the 2024 Theme is Community Conversations.

 

So What's the Big Deal With Community Conversations?

Michael Halt, Founder of the Liminal School of Self-Directed Adult Learning defines Community Conversations as a process designed to be a simple and sociable informal conversation in which a small group of people come together to get to know one another, in a more meaningful way than usual, by talking about their sense of personal purpose in their lives and our community and about the issues that are of personal priority and concern.

The mission of the American Libraries Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

Libraries Transforming Communities is an initiative of the American Libraries Association that seeks to strengthen the role of librarians as core community leaders and agents of change. LTC addresses a critical need within the library field by developing and distributing new tools, resources, and support for librarians to engage with their communities in new ways. One of the ways is through Community Conversations.

The LTC and the Community Conversations Workbook is also supported by the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, which is creating a counterforce in society powered by community-led change. Website quote: "Our task is to get on a more equitable, fair, just, inclusive, and hopeful path forward."

 

Community Conversation - The Hidden Potential of the Nguzo Saba: 7 Principles of Kwanzaa

Frank Dobson Associate Dean of Students, Vanderbilt University, describes What Kwanzaa Means for Black Americans:  Each day of Kwanzaa is devoted to celebrating the seven basic values of African culture or the “Nguzo Saba” which in Swahili means the seven principles. The principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics (building Black businesses), purpose, creativity and faith. A candle is lit on each day to celebrate each one of these principles. On the last day, a black candle is lit and gifts are shared. Kwanzaa is rooted in the struggles and the gains of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the 50s and 60s.

Professor Keith A. Mayes, a scholar of African American History at the University of Minnesota said, "For Black power activists, Kwanzaa was just as important as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Kwanzaa was their answer to what they understood as the ubiquity of white cultural practices that oppressed them as thoroughly as had Jim Crow laws.”

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/p2vF1sgcY2k

 

Book Discussion - White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones Land, Labor, and Slavery

“It's nothing short of astonishing that a religious tradition with this relentless emphasis on salvation and one so hyper attuned to personal sin can simultaneously maintain such blindness to social sins swirling about it, such as slavery and race-based segregation and bigotry.” ― Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity

 

Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism

(a) The idea that God designated America as a new promised land—shaped how five centuries of Europeans would understand the “new” world and the people who populated it. (b) The right to go in and kill, conquer and reduce their persons to perpetual slavery. (c) Interconnection between land and slavery - enslavement of Africans was the continuation of genocide and dispossession flowing from the first European contact with Native Americans.

 

Legal Dimensions of the Doctrine of Discovery

(a) First discovery. (b) Occupancy and current possession. (c) Religion - a significant aspect of the Doctrine of Discovery (d) Civilization. 

 

From Columbus Day to Black History Month and Indigenous People’s Day

Recognize the significance and need for a broader understanding of American history that includes the contributions and perspectives of Indigenous and African-American peoples.

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/cux-vwcPLtc

 

Dr. Robert P. Jones: The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy emphasizes the importance of truth-telling and cross-cultural conversations in addressing the legacy of white supremacy and working towards a more equitable future.

Robert P. Jones, President/Founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). Dr. Jones serves on the national program committee for the American Academy of Religion. Jones writes a weekly newsletter for those dedicated to the work of truth-telling, repair, and healing from the legacy of white supremacy in American Christianity. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future; White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, which won a 2021 American Book Award; and The End of White Christian America, which won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism

The idea that God designated America as a new promised land—shaped how five centuries of Europeans would understand the “new” world and the people who populated it. The right to go in and kill, conquer and reduce their persons to perpetual slavery right. Interconnection between land and slavery - enslavement of Africans was the continuation of genocide and dispossession flowing from the first European contact with Native Americans.

Legal  Dimensions of the Doctrine of Discovery (doctrineofdiscocery.org)

• First discovery. The first European country to discover lands unknown to other Europeans claimed property and sovereign rights over the lands and native peoples. First discovery, however, was usually considered to have created only an incomplete title.
• Actual occupancy and current possession. To turn first discovery into recognized title, a European country had to actually occupy and possess newly found lands. This was usually done by building forts or settlements. Physical possession had to be accomplished within a reasonable amount of time after the first discovery to create a complete title.
• Religion was a significant aspect of the Doctrine of Discovery. Under Discovery, non-Christian peoples were not deemed to have the same rights to land, sovereignty, and self-determination as Christians.
• Civilization. The European ideas of superiority based on the belief God had directed them to bring so-called civilized ways, education, and religion to Indigenous Peoples and to exercise paternalism and guardianship powers over them.

From Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day: Recognize the significance and need for a broader understanding of American history that includes the contributions and perspectives of Indigenous and African-American peoples. Watch Here: https://youtu.be/3TxDvMxUWnE

 

Synopsis: A 2022 period film drama based on true events of desegregation and busing in Boston schools in 1974.

The District Court of Massachusetts ordered Boston to integrate its public school system, using busing.

The order was met with White community pushback, fury and violence. The film centers on police officer Bill Coughlin, an Irish cop, confronting fierce social pressure when tasked to protect Black students as they are bussed into all-white South Boston High School. The film also centers on two high school teens about to begin their senior year under the integration order. Wendy Robbins, an 18-year-old Black student selected for bussing, and her father, Lamont, are caught in the middle of violence and protesting by the White community. At the same time Katy, the police officer's teenage daughter is faced with her own racism.

 

"Why America needs a new approach to school desegregation" by Jerry Rosiek Published: May 17, 2018 6.41am EDT on theconversation.com

• Despite all the time and effort invested desegregating the nation’s schools over the past half century, the reality is America’s schools are more segregated now than they were in 1968.
• This new segregation is not directly enforced by law, but indirectly through school zoning, housing patterns, and recently by neighborhood secessionist movements, permitting affluent white families to continue to monopolize premium educational resources.
• School segregation communicates corrosive messages to students of color; concluding that they were regarded as “bad kids,” “garbage people,” or “violent or something,” and therefore not worthy of investment.

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/h8_2E08ogco

 

 

 

Films That Spark Community Conversations   "Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America" - Hosted by Presbyterian Church of Sudbury MA Documentary Film Presented by Jeffrey Robinson, lawyer and social justice advocate.

In Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, Robinson faces his largest audience, asking all of us to examine who we are, where we come from, and who we want to be.  Anchored by Robinson’s Town Hall performance, the film interweaves historical and present-day archival footage, Robinson’s personal story, and vérité and interview footage capturing Robinson’s meetings with Black change-makers and eyewitnesses to history. From a hanging tree in Charleston, South Carolina, to a walking tour of the origins of slavery in colonial New York, to the site of a 1947 lynching in rural Alabama, the film brings history to life, exploring the enduring legacy of white supremacy and our collective responsibility to overcome it.

 

The "Who We Are Project" was founded by Jeffery Robinson, renowned lawyer who has been fighting for racial justice for almost 40 years.The organization is an outgrowth of a talk that Robinson has been giving for the past 10 years on the history of anti-Black racism and white supremacy in the United States. This talk forms the basis of the feature length documentary film. The "Who We Are Project" will be one of the central voices that will correct the narrative on our shared history of anti-Black racism in the United States. Watch here: https://youtu.be/woCTKzg9t_w

 

"Hate" - A Film Directed by Jevon Dewan Synopsis: Hate is the #1 Disease in the World. Have you been tested?

The birth of hate: A journey through America's most fraught eras illuminates the multi-layered effects of hatred, via slavery, segregation, police brutality, and more. Conveys how the disease of hate has impacted the entire world.

Hate, a journey where the characters realize that the solution lies within education, respect, and the understanding on one another's experiences. Watch here: https://tubitv.com/movies/613466/hate

 

Photo Credit: Homer G. Phillips Hospital, A Prominent Landmark in The Ville, St. Louis, MO. Courtesy Onegentlemanofverona (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Racism Is a Disruptor of Health and Wellness & Integration Is Not Synomymous with Equity The Story of Homer G. Phillips Hospital, 1937-1979, a segregated hospital in the heart of Black St Louis, Missouri The Ville and Its Champions of the Community: Kids raised in a walkable community where the folks look like them - doctors, nurses, lawyers, tradesmen, and business owners; where wealth stayed in the community.

The Story of Segregation in St Louis by Jeanette Cooperman, October 17, 2014. "St. Louis is divided along many lines. And race plays a role in every one of those divisions. It also determines our future, because if you make a transparent map of racial segregation and lay it over other maps—political power, cultural influence, health, wealth, education, and employment—the pattern repeats."

#Redlined: A St Lous Story by Jacobi Commons. Exposing deeply-rooted systems of redlining that have disproportionately affected Black and Brown people dating back to the 1920's. 1915 Initiative Petition avoided mixed blocks occupied by both white and colored people "...written to the Board of Election Commissioners petitioning White and "Colored" citizens to live separately. In Section 1 and Section 2, the petition describes the strict requirements that would be upheld in a new St. Louis ordinance, mandating specific "blocks" be created. Section 3 defined the word "block". Later sections of the petition have been omitted, but included penalties that will be carried out if ordinances are broken by either race group."

In How Racism Takes Place, George Lipsitz writes that in St. Louis, “protection of white property and privilege guided nearly all decisions about law and policies that promoted the establishment of new small and exclusive suburban municipalities with restrictive zoning codes.”

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/Q1IkYl9VklI

 

FRANCERIA MOORE: LEVERAGING THE POWER OF STORYTELLING TO EXAMINE MINDSETS AND EMPOWER EQUITY

Franceria Moore holds over 15 years of organizational leadership experience in the human services and nonprofit sectors, focusing on equity and belonging in programming, strategic organizational development, poverty reduction, and adult learning design. From 2019-2022 she led the redesign of the Kellogg Foundation's Family-Centered Coaching framework and the design of the accompanying 12-month learning journey to support organizational adoption, helping to scale the Family-Centered Coaching toolkit nationally.

Feeling that there was more to be discovered about the power of coaching for people experiencing poverty, Fran began her journey as a social entrepreneur as the Founder and Managing Director of Sankofa Leadership. In addition to supporting national initiative for Integrated Services Delivery, Sankofa is also leading the charge in the development of Person-Centered Coaching, which starts from the belief that to our best for others, we must first be best for ourselves.

Person-Centered Coaching explores what’s become possible when we intentionally create space for someone to put themselves first in their own life. This small shift is electrifying the human services field and impacting the lives of clients and practitioners alike.

Fran is a passionate and engaging facilitator and speaker who leverages the power of storytelling to help audiences examine their mindsets, core values, and wildest dreams for themselves and their community and motivates them to take action to achieve their greatest potential.

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/rZTjbst_rbo

 

Antiracism Activation: Family Engagement and Generational Leadership

Thank you for joining us for the newest episode of InflexionPoint Podcast where we are dedicated to the art of listening in authentic conversation. We challenge our audience to listen actively and intentionally for the purpose of self-awareness, understanding, personal transformation, and ultimately social impact.

 In this eiposode we interview the son of Gail Hunter, co-host for InflexionPoint Podcast. We explore these topics:

Describe your childhood experience in being raised with a woman such as your mother who operates in the antiracism space?

What are the values that show up in your adulthood that are rooted in the way in which you were raised, particularly as it relates to Gail's current work in the antiracism space? 

How do those values show up in how you are raising up your own children today?

How does equity and antiracism show up in your workplace?

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/5g2yOz4jQbQ

 

CONVERSATION: The Power of Leadership in Organizational DNA

The Sankofa Leadership Continuum - a throughline running from historical leaders of the past to contemporary leaders  of the present to those who will emerge as future leaders. Melding together historical and contemporary reality, this through-line inspires resistance, activism, art, literature, ethnography, and research to fuel transformation.

In this conversation we take a deep dive into the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and its organizational DNA. The Kellogg Foundation priorities are listed as Racial Equity and Healing, Community Engagement, and Leadership.

The foundation's priority statement reads: "Embedded within all we do are commitments to advancing racial equity and racial healing, to developing leaders and to engaging communities in solving their own problems."

Racial Equity and Healing: supports communities in healing from the effects of racism and transforming the systems and structures that limit opportunity for children and families.

Community leadership network with the Center Creative Leadership: equips leaders with the knowledge and skills to bridge the divides in our society and build a more equitable future for all.

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/jS9Ze0WoZQA

 

 

Conversation: The Power of Visual Racial Literacy.

"...race is not only a social construction; it is visually mediated (Acuff & Kraehe, 2020). The ability to perceive racial differences requires that one first learn the visual, symbolic, and aesthetic codes and conventions of racist ideology."

In this continuing series on generational leadership we discuss "Visual Racial Literacy: A Not-So-New 21st Century Skill", an article written by Dr. Joni B. Acuff and Dr. Amelia Kraeche. 

Dr. Joni B. Acuff is the Professor of Art Education at The Ohio State University. She serves as department chair and diversity chair in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, where her goal has been to recruit, admit and retain students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Acuff teaches undergraduate and graduate students in the art education program, including courses like Critical Analysis of Multicultural Art Education, Social and Cultural Theory in Art and Art Education, Critical Pedagogies of Critical Multiculturalism in Teaching Visual Culture, and Art Education for Children with Special Needs.

Dr. Amelia Kraehe, is the Vice President, Equity in the Arts, Arizona Arts, and co-founder and co-director of the Racial Justice Studio. The Racial Justice Studio is a new concept conceived as a hub for campus and virtual activities to promote a deep understanding of racism and anti-racism by centering artistic and creative practice. Dr. Kraehe is recognized for her research on arts equity as well as her publications, workshops, podcasts, and public lectures that illuminate the roles race, racism, and anti-racism play in arts institutions and the education of arts professionals.

Join Anita, Gail, and Mavis as they discuss their own personal experiences, including a visit to the Monument to "Mothers of Gynecology" in Montgomery Alabama, a cross-burning as a childhood memory, and visual memories of family travel.

 

Watch Here: https://youtu.be/ZLyFMk4oFxk

 

Conversation: How does the Ghanian principle of Sankofa empower generational leadership?

 

In this continuing series on generational leadership we introduced the Sankofa Leadership Continuum, defined as a through-line running from historical leaders of the past to contemporary leaders of the present to emerging leaders of the future.

This episode features wisdom from Jen Franks Ahaghotu. Jen is the Disruptive Truth Teller. She is the best in the world at empowering visionary Black women business owners and personal brands to speak their disruptive truth and ascend beyond success to generational leadership, wealth, and freedom. She is also the Founder/CEO of the Disruptie Truth LLC. Her current project is called the Black Women World Record, honoring the educational achievements of black women.

#BlackWomenWorldRecord

 

"Black Women Are Worthy. Our contributions deserve to be celebrated and elevated to the highest level in the global narrative." —Jen Franks Ahaghotu

 

Watch here: https://youtu.be/Uo-xTw4rVEk

 

https://youtu.be/KIbF2Fm_sOI

  The Sankofa Leadership Continuum is a throughline running from historical leaders of the past to contemporary leaders  of the present to those who will emerge as future leaders. Melding together historical and contemporary reality, this through-line inspires activism, art, literature, ethnography, and research to fuel transformation. Question: How do we apply generational leadership as a grassroots resistance strategy that serves to disrupt systemic and institutional racism? Discussion: 5 Principals of Generational Leadership: Global Leadership Network Article Harlem Renaissance Artist Frankie Manning Danced Across Boundaries Civil Rights Photographer Gordon Parks Inspired A New Generation of Artists

 

                 

 

Conversation: How does the Ghanian principle of Sankofa empower generational leadership? In this continuing series on generational leadership we introduced the Sankofa Leadership Continuum, defined as a through-line running from historical leaders of the past to contemporary leaders of the present to emerging leaders of the future. This episode features Mr. Nathaniel Lee Fletcher, recent graduate from Waynesburg University with a BA in Biblical and Ministry Studies. He is currently working as an urban missionary through Urban Impact in the North Side area of Pittsburgh PA. Nate looks to make an impact with at-risk children within a holistic ministry setting. Kudos to Generational Leader, Nathaniel Fletcher!

 

https://youtu.be/UeTpRDJIP9c

   

The Conversation Continues: How does the Ghanian principle of Sankofa empower generational leadership? In this continuing series on generational leadership we introduced the Sankofa Leadership Continuum, defined as a through-line running from historical leaders of the past to contemporary leaders of the present to emerging leaders of the future. This episode features Mr. Ja'Quan Lavender, Founder/Executive Director of the Ja'Quan Lavender Foundation: Journey to Gold. The Journey to GOLD program was established to support the Great Opportunities Lifts Dreams philosophy! Ja'Quan is a dedicated contemporary leader whose heart is focused on social transformation for the benefit of furture generations.

https://youtu.be/1-30bCVOWSg

 

Conversation: How does the Ghanian principle of Sankofa empower generational leadership? In this new series on generational leadership we introduce the Sankofa Leadership Continuum, defined as a through-line running from historical leaders of the past to contemporary leaders of the present to emergent leaders of the future. Melding together historical and contemporary reality, this throughline inspires activism, art, literature, ethnography, and research that fuels transformation. "Come in peace, and let’s see what we can do together."—Queen Diambi Kabatusuila

 

 

Conversation: Are "Thoughts and Prayers" Just Idle Lamentations Without a Clear Path to Action?

It sometime feels as if America's triple threat of fear, racism, and guns has lulled some of us into idle lamentations that preclude any meaningful action toward gun reform. According to the New York Times, other countries have had a mass shootings and subsequently changed their gun laws. Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, all with a culture of gun ownership, tightened restrictions anyway. Their violence statistics now diverge sharply from those of the U.S.

How many more shootings, thoughts, and prayers will it take for America to finally reach its own inflection point and bend the arc towards gun reform?

"Inaction is not an option." —Senator Cory Booker
Join us as we delve into 3 main topics: (1) The Value of Thoughts and Prayers, (2) A Narrative Inquiry Into the Experience of Being a Victim of Gun Violence, and (3) Research - Causes/Impact (Trauma)

 

“Don’t let anyone tell you that these bad things happen and then everyone goes back to 'normal.' … You don’t have to be ‘everyone.’ Stay with the grief. Stay with the anger. Stay troubled by it all. Stay open-hearted to those who grieve. Stay tuned to those working for change.” — Morgan Harper Nichols, artist