Be the Bridge 8th Anniversary! RECOMMIT with the Be the Bridge Development Department!

Lauren Brown
Have you gotten your copy of Brown Faces White Spaces by Latasha Morrison yet? The New York Times best-selling author of Be the Bridge calls people of faith to be a part of a lasting challenge and help heal the racial disparity in our country together. We might think of systemic racism as an unfortunate part of American history, something that happened back in the day. But the systems were never truly dismantled in our country, leaving artifacts of injustice that continue to affect every aspect of life for black and brown Americans. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the problem and unsure of how we can make a difference. Yet God calls the church to stand firmly committed to racial reconciliation, and for each one of us to make choices that lead to healing. In Brown Faces White Spaces, Latasha Morrison explores nine aspects of American life where systemic racism still flourishes. Through story, historical context and present realities, she looks at what it means to recognize and confess the truth about inequities in the system: Preparation, commit ourselves to changing the system, dedication, and move into true freedom as a society, liberation. This honest hope-filled book shows us how we can reform historically white spaces and create systems that work for the good of all. Join the bridge-building movement that is listening, learning and working together for equity in every aspect of our lives. Find all the information at brownfaceswhitespaces.com.

Lauren Brown
Be the Bridge community, it’s June! And June around here means we celebrate because it’s our anniversary month. 2024 marks eight years of Be the Bridge. Can you believe it? It’s crazy, right? We are taking this month to look at the work we are doing and the impact we are making collectively. Thank you for listening and for supporting us as we empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity and reconciliation.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Hey, everyone, this is Dr. Shondrika Moss-Bouldin, I am the Director of Development for Be the Bridge. And I am hosting the podcast today! I’m so excited for you all to meet our guests. Because we are celebrating Be the Bridge’s eighth anniversary! And, in order to do that properly, the Development Department wanted to talk to you about ways that you could also celebrate with us our eighth anniversary. So we have Tremayne Manson. He is our Development and Operations Manager. Say “Hey!” Tremayne, and where you’re coming from!

Tremayne Manson
Hey, everybody. My name is Tremayne Manson, as you heard I’m the Development and Operations Manager for Be the Bridge and I’m coming to you from Durham, North Carolina. I’m so excited to be here and have this conversation with these lovely ladies, about how folks – like Shondrika said – can celebrate with us our eighth anniversary through support for Be the Bridge. So that’s me.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
All right! Thanks, Tremayne. And then we have Michelle Bannister Williams. If you just introduce yourself and where you’re from.

Michelle Bannister Williams
Hi, my name is Michelle Bannister Williams. I live in the Chicagoland area out in the suburbs. And I am a part of Be the Bridge Dayton which is my former hometown. I used to live in Dayton, Ohio, and I’m part of their Be the Bridge group and work with bridge-builders down there from a distance and I visit them as often as I can.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
That’s awesome. Thank you, Michelle. And then we have Hilary.

Hilary Sloat
Hi, my name is Hilary Sloat and I am coming to you from Columbus, Ohio. I have been a part of Be the Bridge really since its inception and have done things for Be the Bridge digitally or virtually and also just got connected with a Be the Bridge group. I’ve led a Be the Bridge group before, but having fun joining the Be the Bridge dating group. So I’ve gotten to know Michelle a lot more as well.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Awesome. So you all have a lot of things in common. So even though I am right now a Georgia peach, I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. So that’s how Hilary and I connected. And then Michelle, I don’t know if I told you that I went to school in Northwestern University in the Chicagoland area, in Illinois. And North Carolina is a place that I love, because I also have family there. And then my oldest son, he wants to go to either Duke or UNC. I know they’re both rivals! So we’ll see where we’re at. But, Hilary and Michelle, one of the reasons why I invited you is because of course, I wanted you to celebrate your anniversary. But you are reccurring donors. And I don’t think a lot of people understand what that is, or what that means. Sometimes I feel like, I know, when I went to the booth for Be the Bridge live in Ohio, I remember someone coming up to me and saying “I would like to give but I just don’t feel as if I have enough.” And I told her that any amount adds up. And we know this, we see this on the news all the time, especially with the election, that that was Obama’s claim to fame, that he raised millions of dollars off of small donors. And I know one of my colleagues and friends, he’s the artistic director and founder of hat, even theater, and he always called them small but mighty donors. And he’s so right. So it’s very inclusive, when people think about any amount is investment, because it’s anything that’s better than zero. We all know this, right? This is the maths, I just wanted to just explain like, what we do in development, and why I feel it’s important for people to know about this, I would love for you all to really share your Bridge story, because we have it in what’s so wonderful is that Hilary and Michelle became friends, because one of the main reasons because they are reccurring donors. And I’ll let them talk more about that. Because we do create a community with our donors, which is so important because you can have embedded group of people who are all invested in the same thing. But I will let them get more into that. I just wanted to improve you about what you all can do. And we will for this anniversary, I don’t want anyone to feel like pressure, like, “Oh, I can’t afford to do a reoccurring gift.” Like if you’re at a single time donation, that’s fine, too. If you are like you know what orphans will give me our prayer, we’ll take that too, because praying is an investment as well. So I don’t want people to think about that in that way. But in development, we really pride ourselves on building relationships and creating community. That’s really what it’s about. I think sometimes people think that it’s something else, like all we care about is the dollars. And it’s not about that it’s really about making sure that people know that they have the opportunity to invest in a community that they believe in. And that’s what I love about being the Director of Development. Because of this, I’m able to meet a lot of people and connect a lot of people to a lot of things. Because we’re building a relationship and I’m so proud to be part of an organization that inspires, partners and equips people, right? So we’re going to do that in a little bit. We’re going to do Michelle’s story and if you could just tell us, you know, why you became a recurring donor, your story to how you came to Be the Bridge what inspired you to become part of Be the Bridge.

Michelle Bannister Williams
Alright so my Be the Bridge story is that I had a high school friend (a white person) who recommended that I meet one of their friends because they were doing this really important work through Be the Bridge in Ohio. And sometimes those conversations don’t go so well, those connections – like you have somebody I should meet, just because we both have brown skin. So nevertheless, I went ahead with a meeting and I met Alicia Brown, who runs the Dayton Be the Bridge group. And it was the biggest blessing at the time. It was 2020, I had just lost my father, the pandemic was in full effect, locked down for the day job. And I had had a house fire, being relocated and not in my home, a lot of things going on. And the space that was being provided through Be the Bridge – even though my friends were in Dayton, and my connection was in Dayton, and it was hours away from where I live – I felt like these people were there giving me a hug every week when we got on these calls, and when we did activities virtually. So I had an opportunity, probably a year and a half in, to meet them in person, after the [inaudible] is over and went to Dayton, Ohio for the first cookout gathering, and got to meet all of the folks that I had been connecting with. And it was just amazing to be a part of such a great community. And it wasn’t just about doing the work and learning more about being bridge builders, but it was that companionship and knowing that I wasn’t alone. Because at home, I felt very alone with the community that I was a part of making really inadequate attempts to do the work of DEI and bridge building and just not being successful at it. So it came to me at the right time. And it just was the biggest blessing. What convinced me to become a recurring donor? I never thought that that was something that was needed. I thought what we pay to get materials or do the academy – whatever we put in – was enough to support the work. But learning more about what it means to an organization to have recurring donors, it shows the rest of the community, it shows the world that this work is important, and that there are people that support the work. And so when I found out how simple it was to become a recurring donor, I signed up, Hilary was the one that convinced me as we were sitting at the table at a Be the Bridge dating event. And I jumped right in. And I thought, “I’m a recurring donor to a lot of things: My kids, some of my favorite restaurants, a lot of places, that I have recurring funds to.” But what shifted for me is knowing that my church was not doing the work in a way that was supporting me as a person of color. It made it easy for me to take the money that I was using for offerings (I still continue to tithe at my church) but I took the money that I was using for offerings that was above and beyond the 10%, and I started to find organizations that I wanted to give to, and organizations that were giving back and doing doing the work that was aligning with the hard work of diversity, equity and inclusion. So that’s how I became a recurring donor. I consider it my mission field. I’m not huge on international missions and leaving the country to go serve others – it’s not my calling – so my mission field is right here in my community. And this is the way that I can help give back and help make other people who may not be able to afford it to be able to have access to all of the valuable information that Be the Bridge has to share.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
That’s awesome. Thank you Hilary! See, I did not know that. That’s the word of mouth. That is the number one way that we can spread so many things in an effective way. And Hilary, we’ll get into your story, and after Hilary’s story I do want to ask Tremayne if he could just explain simply how easy it is to become a reccurring donor at Be the Bridge.

Hilary Sloat
That’s awesome Michelle, I didn’t know that our conversation [was] what made you become a reccurring donor. So that’s funny how you have these little conversations and you never know what you’re planting. So that’s really cool. Thank you for sharing that. So my journey with Be the Bridge started, like eight years ago. I had the opportunity to see Latasha Morrison speak at the If gathering, which was kind of where she kicked off Be the Bridge, and I can remember writing down in a notebook (I’m a big note taker), her talking points and how much they resonated with me. And I remember hearing her the next year speak at If gathering and [by then] she’s launched Be the Bridge. And there were questions at the table that we were talking about and talking through. And I started to really check out Be the Bridge from there. That’s when the organization had kicked off, and there was some content and curriculum. So I started to see what options they had. I joined a few classes. I joined the Foundations class, which was for white Be the Bridge builders. (I believe it was called Whiteness 101, but now is the Foundations class) and joined in. It was virtual at that point, they were recorded lessons and you could watch when it worked for you. It was great, because I was able to pause it, rewind, take some notes. So much so – and I have it here – that I created a binder. So I have a binder – I got my Be the Bridge binder! And it has all of the learning that I did. So I took the Foundations class. I took more classes – [for instance] there were some parenting classes – I got my daughter involved in Be the Bridge Youth, they were just starting to kick it off there. And there was a youth guide. And I purchased the youth guide. And I said “Let’s work through this together.” So my daughter and I got to work through that together. Then I started to build my knowledge. Because of the classes that Be the Bridge was pouring into me, I was then able to get the confidence to lead a Be the Bridge class. And so my requirement was, though, is that they bought the guide from Latasha Morrison. Like, that was what you needed to do – I wasn’t going to take and make copies of the guide and hand it out. Like we needed to make sure that not only were we willing to do the work with our hearts and our minds, but also with our pockets because we want to make sure to give credit where credit is due and give payment where payment is due. And so [I] led the class, it was great, it was over zoom, we did it for like eight weeks. It was a great conversation. And I still am in contact with everybody. We’re always having conversations. But it was at that point that I thought about how much not just the individual classes, but just how much learning Be the Bridge had really supported me in and I thought I really wanted to give back. And so I became a recurring donor then and thought, you know, “I can do some one time donations here and there. But a recurring donor, is actually a commitment not only to myself to say I’m going to continuously do the work. But it also pours into other people who are doing the work because me the bridge is able to use this to develop more materials.” And the materials really blessed me. So that was kind of like, at a distance. So I did a lot of my Be the Bridge things from a distance at first. And then I heard that Latasha Morrison and Be the Bridge was coming to Dayton, which is only about an hour away from where I live, and I happened to be free – and I knew early on and blocked the date out – and I’m like, “I am going to this conference! I cannot wait to meet everybody in person or see everybody in person.” And it was really cool because Shondrika called me and she’s like, “Hey! Because you’re a reccurring donor, we want to give you VIP [access], and there’s gonna be a little gathering beforehand.” And I was like, “There’s a VIP? Like, I’m invited to the VIP? Oh my goodness! This is gonna be great!” And Dr. Moss-Bouldin was like, “Yeah, we’ll give you a free ticket, bring somebody along,” and I was like, “I’m gonna take my mom! Because my mom’s gonna want to go and see this.” Because my mom has kind of been on a journey – you know, wanting to support her daughter [Hilary] but also wanting to support her family. My mom has been on the journey as well and I always am constantly referring to Latasha Morrison’s work and I’m like, “Come on, Mom, we’re gonna go do this. I know this great meeting spot (because my mom lives about an hour away) and we’re gonna meet in the middle. It’s gonna be great.” And so I kind of got this idea – this is totally fan girl stuff right here – I was like, okay. Because Dr. Moss-Bouldin was like, You’re gonna get a chance to meet Latasha Morrison.” And I was like, “I’m gonna meet Latasha Morrison?! ” Like, what do you do when you get to meet somebody who has had such an impact on you, but has no idea of who you are? Like, she has no idea who I am. I sat down and wrote her a letter because, like, that’s the that’s what you do, right? And I so I wrote out this letter. I told you like, I’m like, I follow things intellectually, I got my pen, I’m always taking notes. But I had to let her know even if I didn’t get a chance to only just like, hand her the letter and be like, read it later. I just wanted her to know, what a blessing that she was to me and, and I look at I look at equity work. And I think about how we make an impact. It’s really small. We look at it like grains of sand, right? And so there are times I say, Okay, we don’t move a grain of sand today. Because when you think about how vast equity work can be, I think about what part I can do. And so moving grains of sand, and I got a chance to speak to Latasha Morrison, when I told her like you are moving grains of sand, and you’re moving them to beaches that you’ll never see. And I just wanted her to know that there’s a beach in Columbus, Ohio because of the work that you’re doing. And so I got to tell Latasha Morrison this, and I wrote it in a letter to her. I think she’s read the letter, I’m gonna hope maybe she did.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
She did. We read it together. We did.

Hilary Sloat
And then I was like, “Wait, is this too much of a fan girl thing, right?” Like, you’re like, is it too much? Is it over the top? I’m definitely gonna take my book to have her sign it. But anyway, so that is…a pivotal moment in my Be the Bridge engagement, because it had gone from virtual and doing learning on my own to building a community. Because Michelle and I sat next to each other at a table, we had no idea who each other was. We, you know, we had conversations. Then halfway through, Michelle gets up because she’s on a panel. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, she’s sitting on a panel?” Like, it was it was just like this moment of, like, this is where I’m supposed to be at this moment. And then of course I didn’t get Michelle’s name or number or any contact information. But there was the Be the Bridge national conference in Atlanta in January. And I took a friend with me. I’m like, “Let’s go to this conference, let’s go to Atlanta, like this place has really blessed me in doing racial reconciliation work. Let’s go, it’s gonna be great.” And so we go and Michelle’s there. And I’m like, “Oh, my gosh! We get to connect.” And so what has happened is I’ve had this community move to in person and have built so many relationships from it. So that’s a very long story to tell you my journey with Be the Bridge. But it’s just amazing and awesome at how it is has evolved and grown, and grown deeper and stronger over the eight years that I have known about Be the Bridge.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
That is a awesome story. You brought it full circle, really. I mean, that is amazing. And I do want you to know that you’re better than a lot [inaudible].

Michelle Bannister Williams
I did. Listen, it’s tabbed! Right? I got tabbed and everything!

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin[Laughter] Yeah, it’s very impressive. I will have to say she is very serious about what Jesus is doing right now, thank you. But I’m glad that you are just talking about how it’s the importance of community as we’re celebrating Be the Bridge’s eighth anniversary. And so now Tremaine if you could just talk to folks about how easy it is to become a reoccurring donor (or if they want to do a single time, that’s fine, too). And then I will talk about some of the things that we are doing to engage donors after your speak.

Tremayne Manson
Yeah, sure, so before I give that (because it’s really easy to make a gift to Be the Bridge), I just wanted to, you know, there were things that Hilary and Michelle said that I was like, “That was so great,” you know. Michelle mentioned the thought of well, you know, we do have materials for folks to purchase and resource. We even have like merchandise that we have.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Michelle has anti-racism [inaudible], yay!

Tremayne Manson
Oftentimes people will think, “Well, those are those things, like, isn’t that enough to support an organization like Be the Bridge?” And while we certainly appreciate when folks are willing to purchase resources or merch, the truth is that over 70% of our revenue comes from people being willing to make donations. We are a nonprofit. And that’s, you know, for a nonprofit like us, that’s not unusual that a majority of revenue would come from the kindness of folks willing to invest in the work that we’re doing. And so I heard Michelle mentioned that and I was like, “Yeah, a lot of folks will think that sometimes, but we really are dependent on individual support to continue to do this work.” And, you know, one of the things that I didn’t even realize, when I started working at Be the Bridge is that of all of the philanthropic dollars that are given, a very small percentage of those are given to women or organizations that are led by women of color. I think last time I checked it was, like 2% of all the philanthropic dollars that are given are given to organizations led by women of color. And so even the act, in my opinion, of giving to an organization like Be the Bridge is an act of racial justice and equity. And in a way to be engaged in this work, especially because of the type of work that we do, and racial healing and racial reconciliation. So yeah, to be able to give, it’s very simple. Very, very simple. You just go to www.bethebridge.com/give. And right there on that page, there is a form that you can fill out to begin making a recurring gift, or a one time gift. We try to make it really easy, you don’t have to do a whole bunch of clicks or find a page buried somewhere. Even if you go to www.bethebridge.com, there’s a button at the top that says “Donate” and that takes you to be the www.bethebridge.com/give where the form is right there, you say the amount that you want to give, either recurring or one time, and then you click the button, and it asks for your contact information and your payment information. And click that and you’ve made your gift. And so it’s very simple, very, very easy to do. And if for some reason, you have issues or problems making a gift, you can email us at [email protected] and we can walk you through that process as well. So we want to make it as simple as possible for you to be able invest in this really important work that we’re doing. It’s probably not a surprise to anyone given our current kind of climates, socially and politically that this type of burden is not being seen in the most positive light, particularly in light of 2020 and what’s been called the Racial Reckoning. There was a lot of attention to work this kind of work. And with that attention did come a level of willingness to invest, or at least a lot of folks were saying they were willing to invest. But what we’re finding now is in the current climate, that a lot of those commitments are being rescinded. People are starting to pull away from this work and supporting it. And so for those of us who really believe in this, and we know folks who listened to Latasha, who listened to the podcast, are the folks who are continuing to stay committed to this work of racial justice and reconciliation. You’re the ones that we are really looking to see the value in this work and to be willing to make again, whether it’s recurring gifts, and/or one-time gifts. And one last thing I did want to say as it pertains to recurring gifts (Hilary made me think of this) is that recurring [gifts] really help us to be able to plan for the future. Because when you’re making a recurring gift, it helps us to have an idea of what we will receive so we can really be able to plan for future ideas, resources, and allows us to innovate, because we can know that we’ll have that amount of support coming to us on a regular basis. And so that is really, really, really valuable for us to have recurring donors, which is why we have opportunities for recurring donors to be able to have opportunities to meet Latasha Morrison or, you know, have other privileges or perks that we want to give to folks who are willing to make that level of commitment.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Yes, it’s so important. One of the things that we do have with our reoccurring donors, it’s our Tea with Tasha, which I love. And it’s a virtual tea, that’s what you’ll see, and Latasha always has her tea, and I like to have my tea. And Latasha, she will engage with the donors in a very personal way. We just had one a few weeks ago, and those recurring donors, they were able to preview Latasha’s book, a chapter that was not listed on the website, it was a sports chapter, yes. (Brown Faces, White Spaces – get your copy now!) And the chapter was Shut Up and Dribble. And during that time it was the NBA Playoffs. And so to me, that was just a very timely chapter that she just really talked about, not just basketball, but the impact of this structure of the system, and how it impacts people of color. Because these are white spaces, even though some of the sports we see more brown faces, but those are not the people who are in power. And so I just wanted folks to know that, again, to reiterate with Tremayne, that it is really great to be able to pull together community that believes so deeply that they do invest, because our materials, I think, are very reasonably priced, because it’s an equity issue. So we do not charge exhorbitant amounts for people because we want to give access, and some of our materials are free. But it is, I think, sometimes people do think that we’re getting like, you know, millions of dollars, and it’s like, no, it’s not true. That’s not the case. And I love the fact that you did require people to properly start a group by having them download it from our website. This is also great too, because then we can keep track of the groups and we can engage with you. So I know, with our birthday, we were going to do some really fun things, we’re going to do some fun challenges with some of the groups and then they will win a type of engagement with Latasha. And so when we do come to cities, when we do go live, when we do the programs, we do try to provide unique opportunities for people who have decided that they would give, that’s monthly. And the other thing is that I’m proud to say, when I came to Be the Bridge not everybody was, in fact, was not a recurring donor, and now they are. And so we did a campaign, Tremayne and I, with Sarah, our marketing person called Empowered by Hope. And it was so successful. And I was so proud of my staff, because that also looks great in grants to other funders to be able to say, we are so committed to this work that we invest in it ourselves. And we did not require any minimum. And that’s the same thing but now like, seriously, if you want to donate $5 a month, that’s $60. You know what $60 will pay for? A course at the Academy. So these are things that you think they’re so small, but the small things add up. And so I just want to encourage folks, because we’re always, when we’re in town, we’re trying to think about things or ways that we can engage with our reoccurring donors. These are things that we do turn to, we want people to keep this community going. I know at the last Tea with Tasha, no one dropped off. And that’s like, unheard of, because I’ve been busy all the time. And there’s always somebody, “Oh, I gotta go, I got another meeting.” No one did that. I felt like it could have lasted another hour, and people still would have been on. So it was just really amazing. But I wanted to talk about one of the things that’s unique with Michelle, that in her situation is that with her company, they do corporate matches. And so I know that we send out a lot of times reminders to ask people, ask your employer with them, do they do a corporate match? So Michelle, do you mind just like explaining to people how you came to find out that your company would match your donation? And the importance of that.

Michelle Bannister Williams
Absolutely. So last – I want to say it was around 2020 – when I was trying to decide where I was going to take all my funds to align better with some of the things that I wanted to work with. And I discovered we have this donation platform, there’s a few things. It’s called Benevity. But it could be different with every company. But essentially, you can go into this app and donate money, and then the company will match your money. My company does one-to-one 365 days a year, but then they also have two dates where they do two-to-one matching. And the money is put there by the company to give back to organizations that they know the employees are either passionate about, some foundations that employees actually run, they’ll donate on to them. But that two-to-one matching day, what I do is two things: my company offers us an opportunity to earn virtual volunteer dollars. So I take all my time that I volunteer (I work for different organizations in a volunteer capacity). And I can load in all those volunteer hours, up to 40 hours, twice a year. And they pay me for my volunteer time. But I have to use that money to donate to an organization of my choice. So I take that, and I’m able to on those double donation days, get that money doubled, and then also be able to give back to organizations that I care about. So Be the Bridge is top of my list. That was how I gave before I became a recurring donor. And I felt like that was pretty impactful. But then learning more about the importance of doing recurring, I’m doing both. So I June we have a two-to-one match day coming up. I’ve already put in my volunteer hours. So I’ve got my money in my bank account, my virtual volunteer bank account, and I literally can’t spend it on myself, it has to go to an organization that I care about. So the important thing is some organizations restrict that you can’t give to like religious organizations and certain certain types of organizations. But Be the Bridge is loaded in there. If it’s a 501c-3, Dr. Shondrika Moss-Bouldin, or Tremayne, can get you the numbers that you need, both of them (because I did have to get Be the Bridge added to my company’s platform to make sure that I can make a donation), but all 501c-3s qualify.Because they’re not considered religious organizations, you can donate to them. So if you work for a corporation, chances are they have this. Ask their HR team if this is one of the benefits. And this donation also happens to be tax deductible. I get a statement at the end of the year of how much I gave, because I technically earn that money by doing other volunteer activities. Volunteering at my kid’s school earns me the dollars that I can have to be able to give back to the organizations that I care about. And Be the Bridge is number one on my list.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Yay, thank you for making us number one! That’s awesome. And what a great, wonderful anniversary gift. Because we are intentionally raising money. Our goal for June, which is our anniversary month, is $50,000. And I know that we’ll be able to achieve that with our book tour with all of the events that we’re doing. We’re going to do some really fun things online, doing things with groups, getting people engaged, because we want folks to understand that they’re not alone. The money that we raise is to help us do our programming. Right? And also to keep our wonderful staff working and doing the work. It was interesting, because a couple of weeks ago, someone asked me, “Oh, what are you raising money for?” I’m like, “We’re a non-profit! (laughter) We’re an organization. We have budgets also!”

Michelle Bannister Williams
I think sometimes people think that nonprofits don’t need the money or we’re doing this type of work (racial equity work), that we don’t [need the money]. That we’re good, that we can just volunteer our time. But it’s like volunteer hours do not pay grocery bills, right? So you know, people, they have lives. They have families, and I just wanted people to just think about investing. Like I said, single-time or to reoccur.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Tremayne, can you talk about your Be the Bridge story?

Tremayne Manson
Sure. Yeah, I’ll share mine. So I found out about Be the Bridge, I think in 2018. At the time, I was on staff at a church andmy job was not to do diversity work or reconciliation work, but it was something that I was passionate about. And so I was asked to do a series of events, asked to kind of lead an effort at the church towards growing in diversity. And so I just went, honestly, I just googled. I think I googled, like, racial reconciliation, Christian, or something like that. And Be the Bridge was one of the things that popped up. And so that was my introduction to Be the Bridge, and just really appreciated – very similar to Hilary – just the resources that were available. And so I purchased the guide as well. And, and was really just, I felt like this would be a great tool for our church to be able to use. And so I think this was before even the book had come out. And so I think I was on the launch team for the book when it came out. So I got an early copy, it was amazing. I started recommending it to everybody that I knew. It’s still in my top five books for anyone that’s beginning their journey in racial justice and reconciliation and Be the Bridge has remained in that top five, since I’ve created that list. There have been some books that have come on and off but Be the Bridge has stayed. And so in 2021, I saw in the newsletter (because I’d been getting the Be the Bridge newsletter for years), and I saw that there was a job opening at Be the Bridge, and I didn’t know anybody personally at Be the Bridge. Now a lot of times they say you get your job, you know, because your networks and who you know And I didn’t know anybody, and I was just kind of on a whim, like, “Hey, I’m gonna send my resume in.” And maybe, honestly, my thought was that, “I don’t know, they probably have somebody in mind for that. And they’re just doing their due diligence by putting this out there. But maybe there’ll be something in the future, and they’ll pull my resume out and be like, ‘Hey, let’s give this guy a call.'” So I sent my resume in. And a few weeks later, I heard back from someone at Be the Bridge. And even then I was like, “Oh, they’re just, you know, they’re just weeding, you know, they have to interview a certain number of folks just to say they did a search, right?” It wasn’t until the second interview I had where I felt like, “Oh, they’re really serious about this.” And then I had the chance to enter my final interview with Latasha. And I was very much kind of, you know, that fanboy. Like, “I can’t believe I’m actually going to have a conversation with Latasha Morrison! Like, this is crazy!” But yeah, that went really well. And, you know, here I am today, as a part of the team. I have been here for a little over two and a half years now. I started and have really enjoyed being a part of this team and being able to because I’ve had such a desire to be a part of this work. It has been great to be able on this side of things, you know, kind of from afar was utilizing resources. And now to be on this side, we’re helping to make these things available and being a part of this amazing team of folks who just, you know, encourage, and inspire me every day to keep doing this work when it gets hard. So yeah, that’s my Be the Bridge story. And from a giving standpoint, I’ve actually been giving to Be the Bridge since 2018. I would give kind of [sporadically] probably until about 2020. And then I became a recurring giver in 2020. And so I’ve been a longtime giver to Be the Bridge and recognize the value of this work. And, you know, certainly continue to do that as a staff member. So just really, really believe in the work that we’re doing believe in Latasha. And we have some really great folks on our team who, day in and day out are, you know, they’re thinking about, you know, folks like Hilary and Michelle and others who would listen to this podcast and what are the ways in which we can continue to equip folks and inspire folks and partner with folks to continue to do this work? You know, one thing that Latasha says often is that, you know, this, you know, we’re not a, the work is ongoing. We’re not just, you know, going to do this, it’s kind of in season and out of season, but you know, she always says, this work, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And we’re not just going to do it when it’s in the news or when everybody’s eyes are on it. We’re going to do it – sometimes I believe even some of the greatest work is done when it’s not, you know, there’s not a spotlight on. You know, those really hard conversations, you know, happen, there’s work that’s done in the background or without a lot of fanfare that really can move things forward. And so I appreciate being a part of an organization that believes that, you know, that, regardless of what’s going on, in the, you know, the news cycle, we’re going to continue to do this work, and we’re going to continue to be committed to seeing racial justice and equity and reconciliation happen. But yeah, be here and be able to be a part of you know, like you said, Dr. Shondrika, building those relationships, and finding those ways in which we can make connections with people so that they can see the value in the work that we do and make an investment in this work.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Absolutely, because I do feel like that’s the ultimate thing that you can do is to invest. You know, a lot of times when things move us people always say, “What can I do?” Because, like Latasha says, that she always tries to write in a very hopeful way, tries to speak out in a hopeful way. Well, this is the something that you can do. Of course, we want you to continue to be in groups and use our materials. But we also want to encourage everyone to invest in Be the Bridge so we can keep on doing the work. And for the people who are listening that are donors, I just want to say thank you, because what’s unique about this conversation is yes, I’m the Director of Development, but there’s something on this call that we all have in common and it’s that we’re all reoccurring givers. So that’s something that I stand in solidarity with you. I do believe that I would never ask people to do things that I would not do. I believe so deeply in this work that to me, it was just a no-brainer to be able to invest in Be the Bridge. So I just want to thank you, my fellow reoccurring donors. I sincerely, sincerely [thank you] and the staff is incredible. And Tremayne I do say this all the time that I so appreciate you, because of the work you do, it allows me to do other work that helps enhance Be the Bridge. And the staff is wonderful. Latasha has really led the staff to be just so wonderful and supportive. I truly can say, like, honestly, that I really love each and every person on the staff. They’re really amazing people and they do inspire me each and every day. So as we wrap up this podcast, can you all just say a sentence or two about what you love best about Be the Bridge as we celebrate this anniversary? We’ll just go round-robin starting with Hilary.

Hilary Sloat
So what I love best about Be the Bridge is that they’re constantly putting out new content, and I look through the Academy all the time. And I’m like, “Well, I’m gonna take that class.” I just did a class a couple of weeks ago, and I was just extremely blessed by it. So I love it that I’m always learning and Be the Bridge is always putting out new resources. And I really appreciate it that they’re putting out different types of resources. Like there’s a different topic every week. And it’s something that maybe I haven’t thought about or studied. And I really appreciate that they’re constantly putting out new content.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
That’s awesome. I even took a class, I’m taking one now. It’s the Politics Revision class that’s being taught by Elizabeth in Oregon. And I know they’re going to teach that a couple of times this year because it’s so so needed. But yes, our academy is so awesome. If you haven’t checked it out, please do so. Thanks for that shout-out. Michelle?

Michelle Bannister Williams
Yes. So I have a couple of things that I am really committed to in my work with diversity, equity and inclusion. I live in the suburbs. I grew up in the suburbs. I’ve always lived in suburban spaces. And there’s this monolith about people of color that we are all have some sort of rags to riches story. We all came from underprivileged settings. And that’s just not the case. And so one of the things that I love about Be the Bridge is the fact that they are able, because it’s black-led, black-created, it addresses the different types of lived experiences of people of color. Because we don’t all have that same backstory. And I appreciate that and the fact that while the staff is diverse (I got a chance to meet everybody when I went to the summit), so it was so awesome to meet the staff, the staff is very diverse. But there’s a, there’s an undercurrent of submitting to the leadership of the strong black woman who has this vision, and is inspired by God. This is God’s work that we get to do. And having just a small part of being involved with this organization, it’s been empowering to hear content, where I’m not told that I’m a victim, and I’m not told that I am broke, or I am poor, or I need to be rehoused because I have housing challenges. But to get down to the nitty gritty of the things that do impact us and the way that systemic racism really needs to be addressed. And the fact that it’s scripture-based is a bonus to me as well.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Amen. I cannot agree more. Thank you. Michelle. Tremayne?

Tremayne Manson
Yeah, I’ll share really quick, because I really want this to be about about our guests. But one of my favorite things about Be the Bridge is this thing is incorporated or encapsulated in the title Be the Bridge. You know, the bridge-building, and that is a commitment of this organization. We tell the truth. And, you know, we’re about telling truth, we’re not about sugarcoating it, you know, we’re gonna have those hard conversations. But the intent is for bridges to be built. And it’s not just, you know, “I’m just gonna tell you this hard truth and you need to figure out what you’re going to do with that,” you know, and whatever, it’s very much, and that kind of comes from, you know, Latasha’s approach and just the spirit in which she does this work. It’s very much in a spirit of rebuilding, and just, you know, having been able to witness her having these conversations and sharing these things, and the amount of grace that she has in doing it that she can say very hard and difficult things. And people, they listen, and they receive, and they are changed by it, they’re not turned away from it. And I think that that permeates the work that we do at Be the Bridge. And so that’s one of the things that I really enjoy about it. And I enjoy being able to have conversations like this that are impacted by this work. Andespecially in this conversation with folks who have been so impacted that they want to be able to invest in a way so that more people can be impacted by this work. Latasha has something she does at the end of the podcast, where she asks what gives what’s giving people hope. And it’s, for me, it’s conversations like this that give me hope, that God is continuing to move us forward in this work.

Tremayne Manson
That’s a wonderful segway, because that was going to be my last thing about what gives you hope. So you started it off. So we’ll go to Hilary and Michelle about what gives you hope.

Hilary Sloat
What gives me hope is that there are so many people willing to learn, and everybody has to figure out what their on-ramp is to this conversation, to racial reconciliation. And what gives me hope, is people are wanting to know more. I think that there’s a lot of noise out in society. And I don’t find that that is very pervasive among people that I talk with. And so what gives me hope is that not only is Be the Bridge, moving grains of sand, they’re equipping other people within their 20 square feet to move grains of sand. So you know, there are four people on this conversation right now. We all meet and connect with people every single day. So now we’re equipped to move grains of sand. And then when we, you know, have conversations with people around us, then it’s in their 20 square feet. And so just thinking about, it’s the small conversations, it’s answering questions, it’s going back and you know, asking somebody how they’re doing. Did you have any more questions about that? You know, these are some of the things that I’m thinking about. That’s what gives me hope. When somebody comes back and says, “Hey, you know that conversation we had last week? I’ve been thinking about it.” I wouldn’t be having these conversations if I hadn’t built my own knowledge with my binder. Right? So all we get to have those moments of what, who we can talk to every day because that’s the thing that we can control. We can control the narrative we put out there, the questions that we ask, who we come in contact with every day and just moving those grains of sand.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Awesome, the grains of sand, so powerful. What gives you hope, Michelle?

Michelle Bannister Williams
What gives me hope, specifically with Be the Bridge, is that no matter how hungry or thirsty or not hungry people are, they can take this work in small bite-sized pieces and drink as they may and be changed. And so that gives me hope because I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen people who maybe would never have had a conversation, without Be the Bridge, being the facilitator and standing in the gap. And so watching that happen over and over with my team in Dayton is so inspiring, and it gives me hope.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
That’s amazing. Well, you all give me hope each and every day that I know that this very much so is a marathon that we continue to run each and every day. And I just want to thank you all for your time. I also want to say “Happy Anniversary!” Be the Bridge, I’m so excited! I’m so excited to be able to celebrate our anniversary with this podcast and be on the lookout for a lot of donor engagement that will be coming your way this June. So thank you, everyone.

Tremayne Manson
Don’t forget, bethebridge.com/give to make that recurring gift.

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Yes, bethebridge.com/give. And if you forget that slash, that donate button, it’s right there [on our main web site]. And also our email that they can reach if they have any questions, Tremayne?

Tremayne Manson
Sure, it’s [email protected].

Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Right. [email protected]. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!Alright, thanks, everyone, for listening. And thanks again for your time. And I hope everyone is inspired and continues to be inspired by the work that we do here at Be the Bridge.

Lauren Brown
Hi, friends, we hope you enjoyed that episode. Before we wrap up, we have a special story to share with you that illustrates the impact of Be the Bridge groups. We’d love to hear your stories of impact, share them with us on social media, using #Iamabridgebuilder.

New speaker
How has Be the Bridge impacted my life? I think it’s vital to take it back to the book and impact that the book has. Some books they inform they inspire, they challenge. And other books have all that and take it to a different level. And and they create community. How could Be the Bridge not? If I were succinctly to state what the impact was personally I would have to say I garnered a sense of community, healing and freedom. I honestly had an array of suppressed emotions regarding racism, sexism, colorism and my faith. I was scanning for words, often, but left wounded and in a lot of scenarios, and Be the Bridge gifted me with the language that I had been seeking. And I’m not sure Tasha really understands what a blessing that was, and still is today. The timely invitation that I received to participate in a book club was just that, it was timely. We were not playing book club, in light of the pandemic and George Floyd, we were diving deep into some key topics, in real time. The vulnerability of the group that I participated with was unlike anything I had ever experienced. As a collective I don’t think anyone had the emotional bandwidth to pretend anymore. It was fellow Christian, are you going to love your neighbor or stick to narratives that lead to trauma and tragedy? The group sessions challenged my thinking and skill set to actively listen to people, consider other perspectives, question in kind and be comfortable and vulnerable enough to share my own story. I was eager to learn more, get more involved. I began to dive into the leadership materials that Be the Bridge has. I read copious amounts of literature of similar topics, and it was an eyes wide open season for me, and to be frank, it was, at times painful, but very critical. I began to feel equipped and connected, which led to a sense of freedom to speak up, when I would often remain silent just to keep the peace. But the [Holy] Spirit wasn’t having that silence anymore. I began to accept requests to lead others in my community and to question those within my own circle of influence, be it friends, family and coworkers. In a way that was meaningful dialogue, not debate. The influence continues to this day. I credit my experience with Be the Bridge, with having the courage to consider what representations of a healthy, Christ-centered marriage was like, from people who look like my husband and I. And now I have a blog dedicated to sharing our dating adventures and it’s a love letter for us and to our kids and for others. And it’s an extension to continue to be vulnerable, share our community, push back on preconceived notions and honor God with our relationship with others. It’s been an incredible journey and blessing. And I pray that we continue to be able to be the light as long as we can.

Tanya Rogers
My name is Tanya Rogers and I started volunteering with Be the Bridge in about 2016. I have found such a space of community, family, encouragement and education in Be the Bridge. I came in to Be the Bridge broken-hearted and despairing and found a space where there were like-minded people who could encourage me, lift my spirits, put language to the things that I was thinking, and help educate me about where I was and how to share this work of racial justice with others.

Corregan Brown
Hi, I’m Corregan Brown, I’m an admin with Be the Bridge. Be the Bridge has changed a lot of the way I have conversations on race. It’s given me a 360 degree perspective. So I can take the conversation beyond the dominant black and white conversation that happens in America. And it’s also allowed me to learn how to work across the policy differences and ideological differences toward the incontrovertible truth of our shared humanity and dignity. And for that, I thank you Be the Bridge.

Lauren Brown
Thank you for listening. We hope you reengage, recommit, reimagine and reproduce with us this month, and beyond. Together we can bring transformation and flourishing. We appreciate every way you support our work. Subscribe to Be the Bridge podcast, jump into the Be the Bridge Academy, lead a local Be the Bridge group, head over to social media and follow Be the Bridge and Latasha Morrison and go to bethebridge.com/give to financially partner with us. We are connected and the work continues.