Becoming Courageous

When it comes to nourishing a culture of belonging in our community, sometimes people ask "Where do I begin?" or "Does this small thing really make a difference?" To unpack these questions, host Jessica sits down with Brian Turcotte, Social Worker at Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus, someone we admire for showing up to do his part in learning, listening and building a more inclusive community. Turcotte is also a member of the Barrington 220 School District Equity Team, and serves on the board of BStrong Together, that works to enhance the health and well-being of Barrington area youth in mind, body, and spirit.

REFERENCES:

• BStrong Together - http://bstrongtogether.org
• Equity 220 - https://www.barrington220.org/equity-220
• QPR Method (Question, Persuade, and Refer) - https://qprinstitute.com/about-qpr
• One Trusted Adult - https://www.onetrustedadult.com
• We Belong To Each Other - http://webelongtoeachother.org

For more episodes, resources & upcoming events, visit CourageousCommunity.us

"If you don't have hope, you can never have peace," says inspiring international peacemaker Robi Damelin. Jess & Zina talk with Robi about tragically losing her son in the Israel Palestine conflict, and what she has learned through the Parents Circle Families Forum about the freedom of forgiveness, truth & reconciliation, and finding solidarity with women around the world, including on a recent Telos pilgrimage through the American South.

References;

• Parents Circle Families Forum - https://www.theparentscircle.org/
• One Day After Peace (documentary film) - http://onedayafterpeace.com/
• Women for Women - https://www.womenforwomen.org
• Telos - https://www.telosgroup.org/
• The Legacy Museum - https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/museum
• The National Memorial for Peace & Justice - https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/memorial

In the midst of loss and change, how do you find the courage to let go of certainty and lean into curiosity and humility? In this episode, Zina & Jessica sit down with Barrington native Shauna Niequist for a candid conversation about Shauna's new NYT bestselling book, I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When The Old Ways Stop Working, including reflections on the power of hospitality, apology and empathy across difference.

References:

• I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist
• Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
• Grounding Virtues from The On Being Project

To learn more, visit CourageousCommunity.us

"We have an opportunity to show the rest of America what it looks like when we come together," says community innovator Terrance Wallace, founder of InZone Project. In this powerful conversation with Rev. Dr. Zina Jacque and Jessica Green, Terrance shares what he is learning as he builds bridges and gathers circles for racial healing in Barrington, Illinois. (Including practical steps for how to join or co-lead a circle!)

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT)
• Racial Healing Conversation Guide
• Emmanuel Acho - Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man

Upcoming Event:
Courageous Conversations: Reckoning with the History of Slavery
Featuring Clint Smith, author, How The Word is Passed 
Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 7pm CST
Barrington's White House + livestream
Tickets here

To learn more, visit http://courageouscommunity.us

It's been a year since we interviewed Nathaniel Rouse, the first Director of Equity, Race & Cultural Diversity for Barrington 220 School District, so we wanted to check-in: How has it been going? What is he learning? What questions has he been hearing? How can parents, students & educators plug-in to help foster greater inclusion & belonging in schools? As we reflect & recommit to bridge-building on this National Day of Racial Healing, Nate talks with Jessica about culturally responsive learning, listening to the needs of students, and why this work of building empathy benefits us all.

Related Resources:

• Podcast Episode: Learning to Transform (with Nathaniel Rouse)
• Session Video: Parenting for Inclusion (with Courtney E. Martin & Grant Elliott)

To learn more about the Courageous Conversations series, and subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify or Google, visit CourageousCommunity.us.

"Perhaps, like a field in the springtime that is newly plowed, my brain, my opinions, my algorithms, need to be turned over, leaving me a little unsettled," says Dr. Carol Bier-Laning, who dove into Courageous Conversations from day one — and has leaned in with beautiful curiosity and humility since. In this episode, hosts Rev. Dr. Zina Jacque & Jessica Green invite Carol to reflect on what she is learning and how she is shifting — including understanding her privilege, examining her biases, and finding the right moments to scatter seeds with others, not knowing which will find fertile ground.

References:

• Small Boat, Big Sea by Dr. Carol Bier-Laning
• Proud to be Maladjusted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• We Wear The Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar
• Parable of the Sower ( Matthew 13:1-23)

To learn more about the series, visit http://courageouscommunity.us

How can we respond to bias when we encounter it? How do we not become paralyzed, but instead lean in with courage and curiosity? Zina & Jess welcome friend and community leader Ellaine Sambo-Reyther to share a story of prejudice she witnessed — and the lessons she learned about using her voice to speak up, then continue conversation with friends. 

For more tips, tools & resources:

• Confronting Prejudice
• Cultivating Curiosity
• Practicing Mindfulness
• Calling In or Calling Out?

Join us:  CourageousCommunity.us

What do we have to do in our bodies, minds & hearts to stay present and to not give up, even when it's hard? Zina & Jess welcome the amazing Dr. Krista Robinson-Lyles of Hope Education Group for a beautiful, personal conversation about practical ways to listen to our bodies, ask ourselves questions, and find our "joy, anyhow" as we surf the waves of building more just and inclusive communities.

Suggested Resources:

• Practicing Mindfulness by Dr. Krista Robinson-Lyles 
• Holding Change by adrienne maree brown
• The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolk
• My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem
• Somatics Resources from Resmaa Menakem

Questions for moments of overwhelm:

• Where is this tension happening in my body? 
• How and why is it happening?
• What are my options?
• Who else is in this with me?
• What might stillness look like?
• What might action look like?
• Where do I have influence and control?
• Where are my islands of sanity? (Margaret Wheatley)
• How difficult is this? What is possible nonetheless? (Sam Nurding)
• What is my next most elegant step?  (Gibrán Rivera) 

To learn more about building Courageous Community, visit http://courageouscommunity.us

“Asian Americans inhabit a purgatorial status: neither white enough nor black enough, unmentioned in most conversations about racial identity," writes Cathy Park Hong in her award-winning book, Minor Feelings. In this courageous and vulnerable conversation recorded during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Barrington mothers and community leaders Erin Chan Ding and Crystal Pepper sit down with hosts Zina Jacque and Jessica Green to share their experiences navigating pride in identity, the pain of discrimination, questions of visibility & invisibility, and the power of representation to create a more inclusive and equitable future for their children. 

Resources:

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (Library of Congress)
• Asian Americans (PBS)
• The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
• Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
• How to Be An Anti-Racist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (U.S. Congress) 
• TEAACH Act (State of Illinois HB 376)
• Bystander Intervention Guide by hollaback
• Confronting Prejudice by Jenan Mohajir
• Summer Book Club: Minor Feelings with Barrington Area Library

To learn more, visit CourageousCommunity.us

After our Courageous Conversations session on Disability Inclusion with deaf advocates & educators Jason Altmann and Crystal Kelley Schwartz, Zina & Jess invite Joy Wagner, Founder and President of NeuroBalance Center, to dive deeper into the question: How do we design our communities to remove barriers to dignity and belonging? Joy shares her personal story about a disability literally knocking her off her feet, and how that led her to design and build a center from the ground up to go beyond ADA compliance and set new standards for what a truly accessible building can be. 

"There is such a positive impact on everybody involved when a place is getting it right," says Joy. "There are three terms in public health: Make things accessible, make them affordable, and make them available."

Suggested Resources:

• 7 Principles of Universal Design
• 10 Principles of Disability Rights
• The Curb Cut Effect: How universal design makes things better for everyone
• Americans with Disabilities Act

To learn more about the series and join future sessions, visit CourageousCommunity.us.