Azna Amira was the first Black woman reporter for the Wall Street Journal. She's lived in Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Northfield, Minnesota—the town where we both attended Carleton College.

I met Azna in Northfield, where she returned to live following a reunion. She was among the first Black students, graduating the year I was born, and first to challenge prevailing white perspectives. Eighteen years later, Carleton was where I first had my white mindset challenged. So it felt like coming full circle to sort through this year's landmark events with her.

In Azna's words:

We've survived 2020, and—surprise!—graphically grasped the fatal flaws in our trusted institutions laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Whew!  

Radical change is necessary, but it seems to offer as much pain as promise.  There's no "normal" to return to, so what do we do?

Well, what if we learn to TALK with those who seem so different from us? Maybe they're not as "crazy" as they are simply human.  Demonizing others damns us all, but hearing hearts and minds through their STORIES might reveal much of value for all.  

We are our stories, and our stories are US.

Amy Hallberg is the author of Tiny Altars: A Midlife Revival and German Awakening: Tales from an American Life. She is the host of Courageous Wordsmith Podcast and founder of Courageous Wordsmith Circle for Real-Life Writers. As an editor and writing mentor, Amy guides writers through their narrative journeys—from inklings to beautiful works, specifically podcasts and books. A lifelong Minnesotan and mother of grown twins, Amy lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two cats.

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