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In this conversation, Jefferson Jones is joined by a group of young adults (Sebastian, Christal, and Regan) to discuss the impact of the Trump presidency on various aspects of society, the political climate on college campuses, the weaponization of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and the influence of these dynamics on Christianity. They share their personal feelings and observations, emphasizing the importance of community, hope, and faith amidst political turmoil. We are grateful for the opportunity to listen and learn from BTB students!

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Executive Producer – Latasha Morrison

Producer  – Sarah Connatser

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Not all views expressed in this interview reflect the values and beliefs of Latasha Morrison or the Be the Bridge organization.

*this was transcribed by Spotify and has not been checked for errors

0:02

Welcome to the Be the Bridge podcast.
Be the Bridge exists to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation.
Latasha Morrison founded Be the Bridge in 2016 to foster needed dialogue and brave spaces and to give people the tools to pursue racial justice.

0:22

We provide resources and community to do just that, and this podcast is one of those resources.
You’ll hear interviews hosted by Latasha and our team, conversations about current events, and encouragement for your racial literacy journey.
Thank you for listening, subscribing and engaging in this important work.

0:42

Well, what’s up everybody?
So glad for you all to join us here at Be the Bridge.
I’m Jefferson Jones, I’m the youth and university program manager, and we have some amazing young adults with us yet again.

0:58

They’ve been on before and I’m just excited to have them in the room to to be with us again today.
Be the Bridge.
We exist to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation.

1:15

And you know who’s not here that I wish could be here here, but she going to be on y’all know who she is?
Latasha Morrison, the founder CEO of be the bridge.
We just give it up.
We clap it up for her.
She’s such a dope black leader and we love her dearly.

1:31

And so today, you guys, we’re we’re in for some good convo and we’re going to talk about the presidency and the state of our nation.
But we want to hear from college students.
We want to hear their voice.
We want to hear how this is impacting them.

1:47

And so we have Sebastian Reagan and Crystal who are not strangers.
And so we’re just so glad to have you here and we just going to we going to get right into it.
Y’all ready?
All right, so we know that, you know, inauguration happened and we’re here now.

2:06

And I know there are a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of mixed emotions about where we are in a second term with President Donald Trump.
And I know that it hits different communities in different ways.
And we know that, you know, with each presidency, they’re going to be people who are rocking with it, people who aren’t rocking with it.

2:30

But yet it is what it is.
And we have to figure how to navigate in today’s society with whoever comes into office.
And so I just want to give you all space to, you know, share, you know, some of your thoughts and feelings since inauguration.

2:50

So I would like to start, please, if you don’t mind.
OK, So to begin, I would like to give context for why I’m bringing this up.
So Donald Trump said day one, I will do all these things, sign all these executive orders, get all these bills passed, right.

3:07

They once they do all these things to me, when I think about all the stuff that’s going on, I think that there’s a lot of things that he’s trying to address that at least from my perspective or out of his depth.
Like there’s a, there’s A, and also just in general, in terms of the process that’s going on, whether it’s leading up to the election, whether it was during the inauguration process.

3:30

I just think, and even if you look on social media at some of the clips from the people that they’re inaugurating into his cabinet, I just think there’s such a different sense of like a lack of respect.
That to me just doesn’t sit well.
Like if you look at debates from previous elections, like there’s so much decorum.

3:51

Like like even as recent as like Obama, Mitt Romney, like before they started debating, they said that they like, they started off the debate saying how much they respected each other and that they were honored to be up against such formidable adversaries in their election.

4:07

There was none of that type of conversation at the the one he was voted in for his first term and especially not this one.
I just think that the only thing other than that I’ll say is This is why we need to vote, people.
I’m looking at you at home.

4:23

This is why we need to vote.
Crystal Reagan, any thoughts or feelings since inauguration?
To be honest, my TikTok was taken away.
Like the app is deleted off my phone.

4:42

Little bit to cry because I literally like other main source information.
I do not have it.
So because of that, I do not know what’s going on.
And it frustrates me because like the stuff that I do here, it’s just like it’s so abnormal what he’s doing.

4:59

It feels so like what Sebastian said.
There’s such a lack of like respect for just human life.
He’s not someone of particular caliber that I would think needs to be leading our nation in the 1st place because I see such a lack of empathy, a lack of transparency in people that American citizens need because we’ve been lied to in the past and it’s been a lot going on with our politics.

5:28

I’ve kind of almost have disassociated myself in a sense of that, that whole entire world because exhausting like even really get into I still have like a responsibility to be educated.

5:45

There should be no excuse.
So I’m always gonna like, like have a foot in there, like, OK, behind my ears to the streets.
But it’s, it’s, it’s hard to like, come to terms with it, but I’m learning just to, to like uncomfortable As for now, ’cause there’s nothing I can do.

6:04

Like, he’s our president.
We’re gonna sit here and state this out and figure out what we can do in our communities to come together and help each other out.
So that’s how I feel, OK.
Thank you, Reagan.
I’ve heard a lot about like what Trump is like doing the office recently.

6:20

And I’m just like.
This is kind.
Of scary, all the things that he’s been trying to do or daddy has been doing.
And it’s just like I only I know how to feel about it other than just like scared and just cautious.
But my surroundings, what I do and how I enjoy the people and things like that.

6:38

Because I know that Trump isn’t really like a nice friendly person.
So like I know that myself have to be after my person and like other people as well.
And there’s one community around myself, and having hope is all I can do, that’s what.

6:59

I’m trying to do.
That’s good.
Yeah.
You got to have hope.
Having that hope, you know, keeping, you know, talked about this quite a bit with others, you know, keeping Jesus centered and having a, you know, a Jesus centered mindset.
But in that it doesn’t dismiss nor invalidate the emotions that we’re feeling.

7:21

There’s space, there’s room.
There’s enough room for us to yes have hope and and see Jesus as the answer is a hope and at the same feel time feel frustrated, be angry, feel scared.
God does not expect us to show up and hide our emotions.

7:43

God, he doesn’t expect us to show up and be perfect and and go through this thing blindly as if we’re not feeling what we feel.
OK, So, so, so in that you guys, you know, you’re on college campuses, you’re around your peers, you’re around people who don’t look like you and you’re around students that do look like you.

8:02

But, but what does students around you think you know about Trump being elected president or what what things have happened, you know, on your campus or around you since that time?
I fear that my campus has become desensitized to the feeling of him being president.

8:24

So it’s not even like, it’s a shock, but it’s not like debates, like when Trump first became president, it was this sense of like, everyone needs to get up and rise their fist or do something, and we’re going to debate about this.

8:39

And it was very like, like really it was just the energy of like intense, like, we gotta like fight now.
It’s more just like depressing, like, here he goes again.
What are we gonna do now?

8:55

So I think that’s like the energy amongst like most students.
There have been some students that have literally been like, yeah, I love Trump and we’re gonna do this.
We’re gonna do that.
I’m so glad he’s getting them out and whatever.
And that’s, that’s just, that’s just how it is over there.

9:10

So.
About you, Sebastian, What’s the climate like around, you know, your friends on campus?
So I’m, I would like to say I’m a pretty social person, so I interact with a lot of different people, but one thing I do not do is talk about politics with them because I know that at least here at my campus, people can be very, very divided.

9:36

You’re not, there aren’t going to be a lot of people that you talk to that are in the middle about any and especially specifically with this recent election, they’re not going to be in the middle.
They’re either going to be Trump, like pro Trump or anti Trump.
There’s there’s no difference.

9:52

Like in in one group chat I was in with people that that weren’t fans of and didn’t vote for Trump when he got inaugurated, they texted and one of them texts in the group chat be like, hey, unfollow POTUS in the vice president accounts because they’re not Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

10:11

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris aren’t those accounts anymore.
So it like they’re like, like you have groups of people that all align on those.
It’s just based on, you know, who they are, what things matter to them, right?
But there isn’t, at least from what I know, there isn’t a lot of talk about it because like, like that desensitization thing is, is, is a big part of it.

10:33

And I think if you look hard enough into it, the situation is really weird because again, Trump made a lot of promises.
You got a lot of people that when we were looking at projections, he got a lot of people in a lot of places that people weren’t expecting him to get at least this time around.

10:55

And so it was really interesting to see, or it will be really interesting to see if he follows up on it, how honest he was about the stuff.
He would, he would go around parading, saying, oh, I’m going to make sure this gets done.

11:12

And how much of it is actually for the benefit of the country or for his benefit?
Because one thing that I looked, one thing that I heard as a narrative is he wants to end the the war in Ukraine, But at the same time, he also wants a Nobel Peace Prize.

11:29

So is he doing it because he wants to end the war for the betterment of the world and for the US specifically because of the relationships with both countries?
Or is he doing it because if he ends the war in a year, you’ll get a Nobel Peace Prize and only a select few people get a Nobel Peace Prize?

11:45

Like that’s like, that’s the narrative, at least for me.
That’s the narrative I’m saying.
And people, people, because of the desensitization and the amount of power Trump and his cabinet and the Republicans have right now, especially in this first year of his term, like there’s a real sense of like, Oh my gosh, this guy could really do whatever he wants.

12:11

That’s good.
It made me think about something.
Now I’m going to shift just a little bit as we’re talking about power, influence, President Trump, and I want to talk about, I want to hear your thoughts around the weaponization of DEI and what’s happening in what’s in the air right now.

12:32

What do you think about the weaponization of that and how it’s impacting different people, groups and it’s just impacting our nation in general and his use of language around DEI?
So no.

12:50

No, please go, Queen, please go.
Go.
Ahead Reagan.
OK, so I’m in the DEI take care of my like organization I’m part of at school and now it’s called like inclusion only.
So I can’t use DEI anymore, which is like kind of like sad and like I understand it.

13:08

And it’s been like really hard for us in there because it’s like Wi-Fi be diverse and inclusive at the same time.
I have to be inclusive.
So I feel like having that happen to us as a organization was like that, you know, because it’s like, I can’t even say that diversity anymore around my peers is like, yeah, you’re not a diversity cheer anymore.

13:28

You’re inclusive cheer now.
That’s hard and sad.
So that’s why.
Crystal.
Yeah, I was just gonna say that.
I feel like it’s really dehumanizing.
And I think it’s the powers that may be trying to like tell us you will never amount to anything ’cause today we have, we have the control.

13:56

It’s I just feel like it’s like it’s just sad because I was actually, I was getting my hair done earlier.
And my hair stylist, she, she supports Trump.
I’m still with my hair done though.
So I don’t really, you know, but like she, he was telling me I, I had asked her about like the whole DI thing ’cause I was actually never really versed, well versed in DI in the 1st place.

14:22

But she was telling me about how like the plane crash has something to do with DI, similar to something that Trump had apparently said, I think on some type of platform.
Again, I don’t have to talk, so bear with me please, but because I only have these, you know, manufactured sound bites from media.

14:41

I just saw like the little video of him saying that DEI was the reason those planes that crashed and apparently one of the pilots was transgender.
And it was all this whole thing of like conspiracism and paranoia.
And I was just like, what does have to do with the rest of the world and people that have black-owned companies at Target that are now being discounted in, you know, like Reagan’s organization?

15:04

Like it’s affecting the the communities that matter.
Like it’s it’s affecting all these small things that help bigger things like last.
And it’s just, it’s weird.
Like there’s no other way to really point it out.
It’s just a really weird feeling.

15:20

And yeah, doesn’t even feel that at all.
So I think this is a really, really interesting topic too, because I, again, I’m not, I’m not someone who’s really into politics, but I, I try and at least pay attention to what I think are relatively unbiased and want to give people the right information, their resources.

15:41

It but also in like a way that’s interesting because like some people will just like rattle off information and I’m like, I can’t digest this the way I want to.
But so one of the orders that Trump issued when he was inaugurated, I have like, I have an article about it here.

15:57

I’m just going to read the name Ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit based opportunity.
That sounds good but in reality what he did was he took a bunch of executive orders from the past that basically helped with affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity on mainly on the basis of race and sex and said bye.

16:18

And we don’t.
I don’t know what it’ll look like if businesses will continue to still hire diverse groups of people or if we’re going to see a complete reversal of what the the corporate world looks like when it comes to new hiring.

16:36

But at the same time, it’s, it’s not a good sign because it, it just, it just allows more prejudice and more select selectivity to be integrated into probably the most important aspect of life, like working a job, right?

16:55

Like, I, I just think that that plus a lot of the removing critical race theory stuff like not allowing like middle schools, like early, early education, like high schools from like talking about race and even religion, talking about sex, like sexual orientation, stuff like taking all this stuff out of the curriculum.

17:18

That’s like essential to a more diverse understanding of how the world works and how the country works.
It’s, it’s just, you know.
Just a deep breath.
Beside it’s, it’s, it’s tough to think about the fact that there are kids that look like me, that growing up in the like in the four years that Trump is in office, like there are kids out there.

17:45

Unless this stuff is reversed, there are kids out there that will not learn about like we Were We the last episode Black History will not learn about important aspects of black history at school where they should be learning.
Aren’t they trying to take black history months away?

18:02

Did I read some about that or am I?
Is that just another?
I don’t know.
Yeah, but they’re changing the language and making a lot of adjustments.
So this is backwards movement, this is this is not progress, this is not forward movement.

18:19

And when you think about DEI, when you understand affirmative action and DEI, who has benefited the most has been white women.
And so when they don’t, a lot of people don’t understand, when they don’t know the history, you don’t understand the language and you don’t know who’s benefited.

18:37

The things that they are coming up against is going to hurt them more than what they think that it’s going to hurt them.
And but we know that as a people, you know, for Black people that historically, as we talk about Black History Month, that when things have been taken away, when things have not been approved, when things have not been made available, we have been innovative.

19:00

In the midst of injustice, we have been creative when we have been criticized and have been manipulated and controlled, that we always find a way to make things work.
And it makes me think about Tupac.
It’s like making a dollar out of what, 15 cent?

19:19

So we find a way.
We have always, we are a resilient people.
We have always found a way.
And so even in the midst of all this going on, you know, it it with this presidency, with the rollbacks, with the changing of the language, with the removal of opportunities and even how, you know, grants are being impacted, funding is being impacted for nonprofit organizations.

19:48

And it is going to have a ripple effect in a lot of communities.
And the services and projects and opportunities that are available for people who don’t have it’s going to it’s going to, it’s going to impact a lot of people.
And when you impact the least of these, guess what?

20:06

You impact the entire nation as a whole.
And so as we’re continuing to have this conversation, I want us to talk a little bit about how this administration is impacting Christianity in America.

20:24

And so before we get into that, I want I want to share a quote by Frederick Douglass.
And this is what he said.
He said between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference so wide that to receive the one as good, pure and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt and wicked.

20:58

So as we talk about Christianity in America, how do you all see this administration impacting Christianity in this in this country and even in the world?
Go ahead, Sebastian.

21:15

So I just want to start off by saying that when he was inaugurated and he was sworn in, he was not touching the Bible.
He.
Did not touch.
That Bible, he did not touch that Bible.
In addition to that, he got upset afterwards when they had the nice little ceremony where they prayed over Trump.
He got really upset because she basically asked Trump to or asked him to like not put fear into the hearts of people that will be affected by what he does.

21:41

And his response was, I didn’t like it.
That wasn’t a good serve.
That wasn’t a good service.
I didn’t like it.
And so, like, it’s really difficult because one thing I wanted to say earlier is a lot of what’s going on and it’s it’s been there have been precursors to this idea for a while when it comes to what we view as modern politics in this country.

22:00

There’s for a lot of people, there’s this sense of like for and for not a large group of them, but they’re like specific groups on both sides are specific groups of people within our political system that are just so removed from reality that the concepts they come up with make no sense for the people that they’re representing.

22:19

I’m not going to name names.
If you know names people at home, you know who I’m talking about.
But it’s tough for me to witness and be a be in a country, but mainly witness what happens when you select people that they may say they have your best interest at heart, but most of the time they won’t.

22:43

And I think, I think that before I kind of talk about the Christian aspect, the biggest thing that I think this will show, at least for us young people that have for the most part have neglected the the democratic process, like like getting involved in voting because I said we got to vote.

23:00

This should show what happens when we don’t do something because a lot of people when they talk about, oh, Trump’s going to be good for the economy.
Oh, Trump’s going to do all the biscuit stuff.
We going to see if the if the economy is as big as selling point and the economy suffers when he takes action.

23:19

The results speak for themselves.
I, you, I, I’m giving my opinion, but hard numbers cannot lie.
That’s right.
And let’s see one of the.
Things they cannot lie.
One of the things you mentioned, though, is that in this nation with people, we’ve noticed that many care more about their paper than they care about people.

23:38

And we’re going to see the impacts of that when we become a heartless people towards people.
When we don’t care about, we don’t have the empathy, right?
When we don’t have compassion, when we don’t have mercy, when there isn’t justice.
These are the things that Jesus talked about and it irritated the religious people so.

23:58

And, and I don’t want to cut anybody off, I’ll make this part quick.
But I also think that there’s this issue that I’ve seen with people on that side of within that administration specifically, not Republicans in general, but specifically with that administration and the people that a lot of people that support it, the way that they use the Bible and the words of God to justify the things that they think are good.

24:23

At least to me, it just shows a lack of maybe not a lack of care for their beliefs, but a lack of willingness to really dive into what God’s telling you.
Like This is why I believe stuff like doing be the bridge groups like the the four of us have been in recently.

24:40

Like that stuff is important because I’m, I’m a proud Christian.
I love the fact that I believe in God and I’m able to showcase that to people, But at the same time, there are lots of gaps in my knowledge about what God wants me to do on this earth and how God’s trying to speak to me through certain things.

24:57

My, my understanding of the Bible has a lot of gaps in it.
And I want to hopefully as time goes on, progress in that.
But it’s it’s difficult to see like God did not write scripture or God did not have people write scripture for it to work for us when we want it to.

25:16

He wrote it because that’s what he said.
He’s telling us to do something.
Plot that T.
That’s good.
He’s tell He’s telling us what he wants us to do, the type of people he wants us to be, the way we treat others and how we live our lives.
He’s telling us what to do.
We’re not using it as an interpretation of what we think we should do.

25:35

So we need to let the word read us instead of just reading it.
And just a little bit before the for the ladies talk, can I just want to give a just a nice reminder for all my people.
Nobody in the Bible spoke English, nobody spoke King James.

25:53

Nobody in that Bible was American.
Jesus wasn’t and isn’t American, nor is he a Republican, nor is he a Democrat.
He is Jewish.
He’s.
Jewish.
He is very Jewish.

26:10

And.
So I think that I, I love Sebastian, how you mentioned the gaps, right?
So when we have a gap in understanding the context in the historical Jesus, there are going to be gaps in our theology and understanding of God.
If there are gaps in our understanding of God and an understanding of Jesus, there’s going to be a gap in how we treat people and how we see Jesus working through us, how he should work through US today.

26:37

All right, ladies, so we all think about this in this administration impact on Christianity in America and even in the world.
That should be saying all the good stuff, right?
Like right?
Like.
You you.
I’m sorry.

26:54

My mouth, Brad.
But you got your own way of saying it, Crystal, what you got?
I was just going to say that I just think it’s through is really like clear as a spiritual warfare.
I feel like really happening right now.
And they know God is real.

27:11

Trump know he knows God is real.
People that mess with that mentally ill stuff then get into all that demonic energy and politics and how they control people through certain things.
They know God is real.
So they’re trying to use our religion and the way we believe to like hurt us the most.

27:31

And so that’s why I think it’s so important that we stay to our roots, stay to like we stay close to the ones that we love and we really like.
We stay grounded and just kneel deeper in our faith.
Remember who God is.
Remember that we have God in us and that we need to see more through Jesus eyes than our worldly eyes.

27:50

And yes to that’s that’s what I just think we have to do because as time goes on, they’re gonna hit us harder and harder through religion, through our books.
So.
Yeah.
OK, So I want to pose this question to Reagan.

28:06

So Reagan, how do you, how do you see God at work in all of this?
And what we, you know, we have this, we have a new president for years, we have all these things going on in society.
Things are going to happen.
How do you see God at work in all that we’re dealing with and going through?

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I mean, we’re still here, like God is still working in us because he’s loving us to do the right thing and also just like keeping our community with us and these talks like this right now.
So that’s what I think.
That’s good, that’s good.

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And I like that.
You know, you’re saying that God is working in US.
And I think with that though, is that we, we miss that we, we miss we, I think we take that for granted sometimes that this spirit, you know, the Scripture talks about how the same spirit that got Jesus up out of the grave, that resurrected him from the dead is the same spirit working in US.

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That same resurrection power that got Jesus out of the grave is working in US.
And so I think for all of us here and for all of those who are listening, that yeah, like we said earlier that, you know, we have hope, right?

29:27

Jesus is here.
We trust in Jesus.
But yet I’m angry, I’m frustrated.
I have these mixed emotions and these feelings even in that the Spirit is still in US and working through us.
What do y’all think?
What about you, Sebastian Crystal?

29:43

What?
How do you see God at work in in all of this is going on?
I think I think God, like, like Reagan said, I think God will work in and through US and heal, empower the right people at the right time.
I think that the the most powerful thing that I’ve learned about Christianity growing up was that what he does is for our good, but for His glory.

30:08

Come on, Sir.
Right.
So at the end of the day, things, things might not happen the way we want them to or the way we think God wants them to proceed, but everything has a purpose.
This could be a teaching moment.

30:26

This could be him telling us that we need to do something.
This we have like God hasn’t spoken to me about it yet, very early stages.
So like we got time, but at the same time, this, this is a part of God’s plan and whatever the end result of it may be, we shall see.

30:46

That’s good.
But I, I cannot listen.
If I had the ability to stop God’s will, I mean, that would be crazy.
Like, I don’t, I don’t think anybody has that power.
I would, I would be blessed with a power I wouldn’t know what to do with.
But God’s will will work in mysterious ways, and it always has and it always will.

31:07

And there’s nothing we can do about it.
We we just got to keep doing what we think God wants us to do in our own lives, and he’ll take care of the rest.
That’s good.
You know, Crystal, how do you see God at work in all of this?
Think like just from my daily observations through the media, I constantly see like my generation getting closer to God.

31:30

Like it’s always someone knew that’s talking about the Bible and you know, it’s kind of like this revelation, like, wait, I like, I love the Lord and the Lord loves me.
So let’s just love the Lord together.
And like, I think it’s a beautiful thing.
I think, you know, with time and like proper research and just being again, being able to stay rooted and grounded, it’s that’s the work that God is doing like this.

31:53

That’s what we’re made to do.
Like we’re here on this earth to literally love one another and spread his word, spread the gospel.
So I just, I see it through social media.
It’s just like people coming to terms with the fact that we should be with God, we should be more like him.

32:13

That’s good.
Listen to this real quick, Philippians 213 says.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

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And you all, as we’re closing out to all who are listening, and we want to encourage you all that even as we are navigating through all of this happening in our nation, that it is God working in you.

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He’s working in US and believing that he is using us as a people to fulfill his purpose in the earth.
And so y’all, I’m just like, my heart is full.
I got to be with some of my favorite people in the whole wide world.

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And I hope that this has been a blessing to you guys.
Thank you all for your time.
Thank you for being here.
Reagan, Sebastian and Crystal and just, you know, being an inspiration to so many people and we look forward to continuing to have these conversations and, you know, just share what God is doing in us to be a part of this work of reconciliation, this work of justice, this work of equity and healing as God works to us to be bridge builders.

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All right, y’all have an amazing day and we look forward to having you back again and for you all to be with us real soon.
All right.
Thanks for listening to the Be the Bridge Podcast.
To find out more about Be the Bridge and what we offer, visit bethebridge.com.

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Partner with us in this work at bethebridge.com/give, Connect with us on social media, and remember, you are not alone in your pursuit of righteousness and justice.
Latasha Morrison is the executive producer, Sarah Connatser is the producer, and transcripts are done by a wonderful team of volunteers.

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Thanks for listening.