Conversations on A More Beautiful Way

If you're hoping to linger with the bigger questions of personal and collective healing, this conversation is for you.

Host, Bethaney Wilkinson, interviews Nina Simons about the role self-cultivation and personal healing plays in the work of addressing the many crises we're facing as a species.

Nina Simons is co-founder of Bioneers and serves as its Chief Relationship Strategist. She is a social entrepreneur who is passionate about the power of women to transform the world, reaching racial and gender justice, indigeneity and rekindling a sacred relationship to nature, while co-creating a just transition that’s regenerative, loving and peaceful.

She speaks internationally and co-facilitates transformative leadership offerings that integrate Relational Mindfulness, Restoring the Deep Feminine and The Work That Reconnects.

Nina co-edited Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, and recently wrote the award-winning book Nature, Culture & the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership. She was named a recipient of the Goi Peace Award in recognition of her pioneering work through Bioneers to promote nature-inspired innovations for restoring (reciprocal relationships among) the Earth and our human community.

You can access our conversation transcript here.

Learn more about A More Beautiful Way at www.amorebeautifulway.co

What might it look like to find a more beautiful way to navigate the racial harm and disconnection of our time? What might it look like to find the healing pathways within our own family lineages and in the places we come from? What roles do repair and forgiveness play in cultivating a new world?

In today's conversation, we are joined by author, activist and storyteller Lisa Sharon Harper. Through the lens of her most recent book, "Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World and How to Repair It All," Lisa walks through how learning our family histories, and setting those histories within the context of the broader history of one's nation, opens up healing pathways to repair the harms of racial hierarchy in our world.

ABOUT LISA

Lisa Sharon Harper (LSMA, Columbia University; MFA, University of Southern California) is the founder of Freedom Road, a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap. A sought-after speaker, trainer, and consultant with more than 100,000 social media followers, Harper has written several books, including the critically acclaimed The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right.

Her work has been featured in the New Yorker, Relevant, Essence, HuffPost, The National Civic Review, and CNN, and she has appeared on PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, TV One, Fox News, NPR, and Al Jazeera America. Harper previously served as chief church engagement officer at Sojourners, where she mobilized the church to engage campaigns on immigration reform and racial justice.

She has researched her family origins for three decades and presented on her ancestors achievements at the African American Civil War Museum. Harper lives in the same Philadelphia neighborhood where three generations of her ancestors lived.

LINKS:

Learn more about Freedom Road.

Learn more about Lisa Sharon Harper.

Purchase the book, Fortune.

Learn more about A More Beautiful Way.

Follow AMBW on Instagram.

In today’s episode of A More Beautiful Way, you get to hear from an AMBW Community Voice: Jordyn Robinson. Jordyn takes us on a journey into three powerful questions, giving voice to what it’s looking like for her to embody ~a more beautiful way~ in this season of her life.

You can learn more about A More Beautiful Way at www.amorebeautifulway.co and by following our work @amorebeautifulway.

In this soul-filling conversation, Leah and I discuss the importance of learning to be one another’s story-keepers. We talk about working with art and floral design to help a community remember and heal from the tragic Greenwood Massacre (also known as the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.) We reflect on how working with plants and created-things sustains us. And Leah shares a gracious invitation for us to partner with her and The Wild Mother to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women. 

Leah Palmer (she/her) is an 8th generation Afro-Indigenous artist and anti-racism educator located in Oklahoma City. With her two sisters, she is a founder of The Wild Mother, a floral design studio based in the Arts District of Oklahoma city, on Kickapoo, Osage, Wichita and Comanche lands, which should be returned back to these sovereign nations.  In her work as Storyteller at The Wild Mother, Leah spearheads projects that marry art and activism, while engaging with fellow artists to help them discover a unique position in a world that requires art as medicine to educate, reflect truth, and issue healing for broken communities. 

She draws inspiration from Black and Brown women and femme voices, such as bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Zora Neal Hurston, Phillis Wheatley, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, and others whose wisdom and life experiences act both as guidance and a mirror.   She is grateful to stand on and continue the work of her ancestors, E.W. Perry, Peter and Martha Holloway, Gladys Perry, Flordia Palmer, C.L. Stove, Sonny Hawkeye, Marthann, James and Elnora Boykin, and so many others whose lives taught her the ways of healing forwards and backwards through storytelling, truth telling, singing, advocacy, home cooking, and communal love. 

Leah’s recent work includes a floral installation called SendFlowersToGreenwood, which paid homage to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; she is the production manager of Juneteenth on the East (2021-present); she is a founder and educator of Lay of the Land, an antiracism workshop for creative small businesses; she is a founder and facilitator of The Conversation Workshops, an antiracism workshop that teaches how to navigate interpersonal racism; she created the main logo for the Justice for Julius campaign and remains an advocate for abolition movements.   Leah received a Bachelors of Arts in English from Oklahoma Baptist University (2013) and a Master of Arts in English from Oklahoma State University (2015).

About the Wild Mother Creative Studio:

The Wild Mother Creative Studio is a studio florist owned by Afro-Indigenous sisters, Lauren Palmer and Leah Palmer, in the heart of Arts district, Downtown, OKC. Their love and honor of culture, storytelling, and their affinity for natural elements and color theory lend themselves to “Floral Stories” produced by the sisters. It’s an added bonus that they get to work alongside their younger sister, Callie, around the studio. TWM offerings include full service wedding and event floral, curbside carryout floral for large-scale events, and holiday floral offering.

Enroll in Lay of the Land, a DEI Course for Creative Entrepreneurs

https://www.thewildmother.com/workshops

Learn More and Contribute to the Send Flowers To MMIW Campaign

https://www.thewildmother.com/sendflowersto

Follow and Learn from The Conversations Workshop

https://www.conversationworkshopsok.com

Subscribe to A More Beautiful Way on Substack

https://www.amorebeautifulway.co/

Time Stamps:

0:00 Introduction 

6:52 Who is Leah Palmer?

9:23 The Wild Mother Origin 

16:59 Sending Flowers to Greenwood 

34:16 Send Flowers To Project 

Episode Notes:

For the episode transcript, click here.

In today’s episode, Bethaney Wilkinson continues her interview with Margaret Reynolds as they discuss Bethaney’s transitions within her work including how The Diversity Gap has moved into A More Beautiful Way. 

Time Stamps:

0:00 Introduction 

10:09 The Diversity Gap is Born

19:52 Summer 2020 and The Diversity Gap Transitions 

43:06 What is A More Beautiful Way?

59:44 How to Get Involved with A More Beautiful Way 

Episode Notes:

For more information and to register for the Contemplative Writing Circle and/or Seasonal Examen, click here.

For the episode transcript, click here. 

A More Beautiful Way is an exploration of what it takes to slow down, create sacred space, and bring healing hearts, minds & bodies to the work of social change. 

To learn more and read along, go to https://www.amorebeautifulway.co/. 

To keep up with us, you can follow us on Instagram: @amorebeautifulway

In today’s episode, Bethaney Wilkinson is interviewed by her dear friend, Margaret Reynolds. They discuss Bethaney’s story from childhood through college years and how these seasons impact her work.

Time stamps:

0:00 Welcome and Introduction 

13:05 Family of Origin 

28:04: Faith Origin

39:45 Bethaney’s College Journey and First Flight 

55:35 Episode Summary 

Episode Notes:

For more information and to register for the Contemplative Writing Circle and/or Seasonal Examen, click here.

For the episode transcript, click here. 

A More Beautiful Way is an exploration of what it takes to slow down, create sacred space, and bring healing hearts, minds & bodies to the work of social change. 

To learn more and read along, go to https://www.amorebeautifulway.co/. 

To keep up with us, you can follow us on Instagram: @amorebeautifulway

In this episode, Host Bethaney Wilkinson chats with her friend, Kayla Stagnaro, who appeared on the very first episode of the show. They discuss their favorite episodes, learnings from the time spent podcasting, and plans for the continued work of The Diversity Gap. 

About The Diversity Gap:

The Diversity Gap is a coaching and facilitation practice for racial conscious leaders and team. Learn more and find DEI support at www.thediversitygap.com or @thediversitygap on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Shownotes:

Podcast Archive:

https://www.thediversitygap.com/podcast

Growth Collective:

https://www.thediversitygap.com/growth-collective

In this episode of The Diversity Gap Podcast, Bethaney sits down with Faitth Brooks, author of her newly released book, “The Anti-Racism Journal: Questions and Practices to Move Beyond Performative Allyship.”

Highlights:

• Grappling with activism being “trendy”


• Mindfulness and slowing down enough to know what’s really going on when racial triggers arise


• Mindfulness for Black folks who are navigating a racialized society


• Creating peaceful places for Black women to rest and thrive


• The need for DEI leaders to revamp how we talk about our work and checking-in to make sure our policies are creating the changes we want to see

About Faitth Brooks:

Faitth Brooks is a writer, speaker, activist, and podcaster. She earned her Master’s degree in social work and a certificate in women’s entrepreneurship from Cornell University. Faitth is a social worker and advocate for those in need. She lives in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Buy The Anti-Racism Journal

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645675742/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_CTRA73R92D6PVCVCX8WR_0

The Diversity Gap is for everyday people who want to pair their good intentions for diversity with true cultural change.

You can order the book, The Diversity Gap, at www.thediversitygap.com.

Bethaney Wilkinson is the Host and Executive Producer.

Thank you to our guests and patrons who make this podcast possible!

Instagram - @bethaneybree @thediversitygap

Website - www.thediversitygap.com

In this episode, Host Bethaney Wilkinson interviews Sean Watkins, the Director of Training and Strategy at Be The Bridge, a faith-based nonprofit that exists to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation. In this conversation, they process the tragic anti-black, racist incident in Buffalo, NY. They also discuss the rich and emergent diversity present in Black identity, the importance of history, and of the ongoing tensions between progress and hopeless peace.

About Sean:

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Sean came to the University of Texas at Austin for his education but found Jesus and a lifelong passion for ethnical and cultural diversity. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in African-American Studies and History, a Masters of Divinity, and is a PhD student in Intercultural Studies at Fuller Seminary. He is the Director of Training and Strategy at Be the Bridge, a faith-based nonprofit that exists to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation. When he’s not reading and speaking, he is an avid superhero and science fiction fan and enjoys working out, watching movies, hanging out with friends, and martial arts as he holds a first-degree Black Sash in Tai Chi. For more information, check out his blog: www.smwatkins.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @seanisfearless.

About The Diversity Gap:

The Diversity Gap is a coaching and facilitation practice for racial conscious leaders and team. Learn more and find DEI support at www.thediversitygap.com or @thediversitygap on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Shownotes:

Be the Bridge

https://bethebridge.com

Access the Show Transcript:

https://www.thediversitygap.com/podcast

In this episode, Bethaney sits downs with the Cohosts of the Pantsuit Politics Show, Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland. In this conversation, they talk about racial identity, the treatment of race in mainstream news and media, leading others from a place of courage and care, as well as the collective work it takes to sustain nuance in today’s social climate.

Sarah and Beth are the hosts of Pantsuit Politics Show where they bring a different approach to the news. They are also authors of the newly released book, “Now What: How to move forward when we’re divided (about basically everything.”

Episode Transcript Available Here: www.thediversitygap.com/podcast

About the Diversity Gap:

The Diversity Gap is for everyday people who want to pair their good intentions for diversity with true cultural change.

You can order the book, The Diversity Gap, at www.thediversitygap.com/book

Bethaney Wilkinson is the Host and Executive Producer.

Thank you to our guests and patrons who make this podcast possible!

Instagram - @bethaneybree @thediversitygap

Website - www.bethaneywilkinson.com, www.thediversitygap.com

Submit a listener question of your own by visiting thediversitygap.com/podcast

Listen to Pantsuit Politics Show - https://www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com

Buy “Now What: How to move forward when we’re divided about basically everything”

https://www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com/books

The Poem “Say Yes” by Andrea Gibson - Here.