Be the Bridge Podcast

Latest Episodes:

250 - Take it to the Bridge: Cultural Views - A Conversation on Gun Violence Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

With the gun violence epidemic in our country, one brave step we can take is to have courageous conversations. This episode is part of our Take is to the Bridge series where we do a deeper dive into societal and cultural issues with the intent of exposing our listeners to opportunities for the reassessment of their own values and perspectives. Have you ever wondered about the history of gun ownership in the U.S. or of the original intent of the Second Amendment? In a time where we have more guns than people, what does a collective response to this gun idolization and violence look like? Elizabeth Behrens and Gina Fimbel join Latasha Morrison to give historical context into the gun debate. May this conversation remind us that we are all connected and allow lament and hope to foster needed change.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:
“When we're able to apply that lens of history, we're able to really shift our perspective and make some more informed decisions.” -Elizabeth Behrens

“Part of racial bridge building is to be able to have vulnerable, historically informed, nuanced conversations about race and racism in America. Let's embrace that same mindset, that same sort of path forward with this debate too.” -Elizabeth Behrens

“Hope requires us to take action.” -Gina Fimbel

“We've made a mistake of thinking that military superiority is a moral superiority.” -Gina Fimbel

“My citizenship is just not tied to me, but it's collective. It's tied to other people.” -Latasha Morrison

Ads:

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Resources Mentioned:

The Brady Plan

Moms Demand Action

Sandy Hook Promise

Be the Bridge:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Latasha Morrison:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

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

249 - Truth's Table: Black Women's Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation with Theologian Ekemini Uwan Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

As a public theologian and a midwife of culture for grace and truth, Ekemini Uwan speaks and writes words of truth, of conviction, of wisdom. She joins Latasha Morrison on this episode of the Be the Bridge podcast to discuss the new book she co-authored, Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation. They talk through the chapters she wrote on colorism, deconstruction and decolonization, the realities of living single as a Black woman in America, and diaspora dreams. This conversation is packed with deep insights and knowledge. Ekemini shares needed reminders of the fundamentals of our faith and blackness as an image of God. She vulnerably shares parts of her story and heart. Ekemini is a theologian we can all learn from.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:
“Just because we're centering Black women doesn't mean you can't learn. In fact, you can learn a whole lot from a group that is deeply oppressed in this land about what it means to not only be resilient, but to overcome, to persevere, to bask in joy and Black joy.” -Ekemini Uwan

“You cannot be anti-racist and be a colorist. You have to be anti-racist and anti-colorist.” -Ekemini Uwan

Links:
Ads:
Become a Recurring Partner of Be the Bridge
Shop the Be the Bridge Store

Resources Mentioned:
Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation Book by Ekemini Uwan, Christina Edmondson, and Michelle Higgins
Ekemini Uwan’s blog “Deconolized Discipleship” Truth’s Table podcast Get in the Word with Truth’s Table podcast
Black Women, Black Love: America’s War on African American Marriage by Dianne M. Stewart
Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism by Derrick Bell

Ekemini Uwan:Website Facebook Twitter Instagram Be the Bridge:Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Latasha Morrison: Website Instagram

248 - Be the Bridge's Sixth Birthday: A Conversation on the BTB Impact - Local Church Jun 28, 2022

Show notes

It is important in this bridge-building work to be reminded of the good being done on a local level. So for this episode, guest host Dr. Will Gravely is joined by three women who are leading and reproducing Be the Bridge groups through their local church. Lisa Miller, Beth Yokley, and Rikeesha Phelon share their individual and collective experiences engaged in this work. This look into their connections and conversations from their Be the Bridge groups is hopeful for us all and will be helpful for anyone wanting to begin their own local group. They share the important aspects of creating groups that are psychologically safe spaces for people of color, that see this work as part of discipleship, and that know the cost is worth it.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:
“It is so important, not just for people of color and white people who are geared toward justice, but I think the work of anti-racism and Be the Bridge is part of discipleship, and it's part of how we mirror Christ-like behavior to the world.” -Rikeesha Phelon

“We have got to, as brothers and sisters in Christ, be able to have difficult conversations because we're united by the love of Jesus. If we can't have these conversations, who can?” -Beth Yokley

“It's important that Christians have this conversation because of that command of love, but also because we're all created in God's image. Imago Dei. And if we believe that then we need to act like that.” -Lisa Miller

Links:
Ads:
Become a Recurring Partner of Be the Bridge
Shop the Be the Bridge Store

Resources Mentioned:
Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison
Hope Church

Guest Host:
Dr. Will Gravely

Be the Bridge:
Website
Facebook
Instagram

Latasha Morrison:
Website
Facebook
Instagram

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

Happy Father's Day from That Sounds Fun Network! Jun 19, 2022

Show notes

Happy Father's Day from That Sounds Fun Network & Be the Bridge! Today we have a special bonus episode to share with you celebrating dads & all we love about them. In this episode, hosts from all different That Sounds Fun Network shows -- including me -- share what we love about our dads/and advice about being a dad.

ALSO! Our friends over at Storyworth are giving away TWO free subscriptions for our TSF Network listeners! To enter: visit thatsoundsfunnetwork.com & enter your email in the pop-up. That's it! Good luck & Happy Father's Day!

Be The Bridge - Juneteenth 2022 with Pastor, Content Creator, Scholar Rasool Berry Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

What is the significance of Juneteenth becoming a national holiday? How should we celebrate Juneteenth? What are the links between faith and freedom? Listen in to pastor, content creator, and scholar Rasool Berry share the important historical and spiritual contexts of Juneteenth, where on June 19, 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced in Galveston, Texas freeing Black African Americans who were enslaved. This Jubilee Day carried weighty implications for faith and society then and continues to today. Dr. Will Gravely hosts this incredible conversation for the Be the Bridge community that you do not want to miss.

Quotes:

“Juneteenth is an intrinsic opportunity to build bridges between the past and the present.” -Rasool Berry

“Juneteenth offers us an opportunity to think about both the resistance to that resetting of the relationship but also the ongoing need for us to renew our minds about how we see each other as coequals, and that legacy of that story of white supremacy has still continued throughout time in 157 years since.” -Rasool Berry

“This institution of slavery had implications across every area of life. It wasn't just socially, it was psychologically, even theologically. And so, the Union soldiers did not come to inform, they came to enforce.” -Dr. Will Gravely

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Links:

Become a Recurring Partner of Be the Bridge: BeTheBridge.com/Give

Shop the Be the Bridge Store: Shop.BeTheBridge.com

Rasool Berry: rasoolberry.com/
facebook.com/rasool.berry
twitter.com/rasoolberry
Where Ya From? Podcast

Dr. Will Gravely: instagram.com/dr.willgravely/

Be the Bridge: BeTheBridge.com
facebook.com/beabridgebuilder/
instagram.com/bethebridge/

Latasha Morrison: latashamorrison.com/
facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison
instagram.com/latashamorrison/

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

Best of Be the Bridge - Juneteenth 2021 with Professor, Poet, Scholar, Dr. Claudia May Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

In this special bonus episode that you will not want to miss, Be the Bridge founder Latasha Morrison talks with Dr. Claudia May. Along with being a professor and the Director of the Reconciliation Studies Program at Bethel University, Dr. May is a poet, scholar, and award-winning children's book author. She joins Latasha in this episode to discuss Juneteenth. They dive into the history, the beauty, the complexities around the important day. The depth of this conversation will bring enlightenment, healing, and hope.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor & Music By - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:

“And what the spirituals remind us is that these were composers, creators, theologians, critical thinkers who did their exegesis, did their hermeneutics through the spirituals.” -Dr. Claudia May

“We need to acknowledge pain and injustice, and we address that. But we also need to embrace the truth that Black people are contributors.” -Dr. Claudia May “We need a variety of stories speaking about a variety of experiences that show us that Black people are not monolithic. We're complex human beings and multilayered. We need to see that.” -Dr. Claudia May

“Some of the principles for me of Juneteenth: acknowledging the injustices that we have confronted and ignored and lived through, to learn about and celebrate the histories and contributions of Black people, and applaud our lives and gifts and achievements.” -Dr. Claudia May

“I often say to my students, y'all need to travel, especially my Black students. Y'all to travel to see the impact we're having on world culture. Juneteenth acknowledges those kinds of contributions.” -Dr. Claudia May

“Our artistic expressions give multiple people's ways to access what their truth means to them.” -Dr. Claudia May“That we continue to learn from our ancestors, which is what Juneteenth reminds us. That we are interconnected, and that those in the past can contribute to our present. We don't have to be confined to our ancestors. But our ancestors, the cloud of witnesses shaped us, they can inform how we engage with the injustices that we encounter.” -Dr. Claudia May

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE

Podcast link: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/be-the-bridge/

Social handles/links:

Instagram: @LatashaMorrison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison/

247 - Be the Bridge's Sixth Birthday: A Conversation on the Heartbeat of BTB - Be the Bridge Groups Jun 14, 2022

Show notes

As we celebrate the sixth birthday of Be the Bridge, we are peering into the heartbeat of the organization: Be the Bridge Groups.

Be the Bridge groups. Guest podcast host Dr. Will Gravely connects with two Be the Bridge group leaders, Regina Alexander and Leah Anderson, as they share their experiences in leading and navigating local groups and virtual groups over the years. Be the Bridge groups are where this hard work of moving toward racial healing, racial equity, and racial unity is engaged.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Be the Bridge: BeTheBridge.com
facebook.com/beabridgebuilder/
instagram.com/bethebridge/

Latasha Morrison: latashamorrison.com/
facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison
instagram.com/latashamorrison/

246 - God’s Design of Emotions and the Connection Between Hearts and Brains with Trauma Therapist Dr. Anita Phillips May 31, 2022

Show notes

In the midst of so much tragedy and so much to lament after weeks of white supremacy raging through racial terrorism and gun massacres, Latasha Morrison spoke with trauma therapist Dr. Anita Phillips for a timely and needed word. Dr. Anita shares about the importance of singing together, of physical touch, and of living sacrificially as a follower of Jesus. She dives deep into God’s design of emotions and the connection between our hearts and brains. This episode is filled with Dr. Anita’s pastoral voice as she invites us into a better understanding of how God created us to feel and to live.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:
“With everything that we have going on from some of the police violence with Black and Brown brothers and sisters, from Buffalo, to Texas, it's just all really too much to bear. I cannot understand how to do this apart from Christ.” -Latasha Morrison

“Our mental health, our relational health, our spiritual health is being undermined by how uncomfortable we are and how inarticulate we are and inadequate we are with emotion.” -Dr. Anita Phillips

“When I'm watching Jesus, I see Jesus expressing emotion freely and often with words and with his body.” -Dr. Anita Phillips

Links:
Dr. Anita Phillips: anitaphillips.com/
instagram.com/dranitaphillips/
youtube.com/channel/UC6R3uJOyDHGvnaXHYfUC91Q
facebook.com/DrAnitaPhillips
twitter.com/dranitaphillips

Be the Bridge: BeTheBridge.com
facebook.com/beabridgebuilder/
instagram.com/bethebridge/

Latasha Morrison: latashamorrison.com/
facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison
instagram.com/latashamorrison/

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

245 - Rediscipling the White Church with Pastor David Swanson May 17, 2022

Show notes

If you’ve ever wondered about the term and concept of whiteness, if you’ve ever wondered how there can be such differences between white Christians and Black Christians, if you’ve ever wondered about how reconciliation and justice play a role in spiritual maturity, this conversation is for you. Pastor David Swanson joins Latasha Morrison to talk through the biblical exegesis and cultural exegesis of racial righteousness and discipleship. Their deep discussion is covered in the beauty and necessity of truth, of hospitality, of perseverance. This episode will leave you with a better understanding of how we got to where we are in the American church context and with hope for the days to come.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:
“What would it look like for a majority white ministry or church to take seriously the call to discipling Christians, so that they stand more and more in solidarity with the whole body of Christ, so that our witness to Jesus could be that much more powerful?” -David Swanson

“This is profoundly spiritual work that we do. As much as we need other resources and tools, at the end of the day this is a work that only the Spirit of God can accomplish.” -David Swanson

“If we're going to do this well in a healthy manner, we're going to have to directly and regularly confront whiteness. We will have to name it, we'll have to talk about what it looks like, we'll have to talk about how it manifests in very specific ways. But we'll have to do that in a way that doesn't just quote, unquote, educate white people, but actually is good news to the people of color in the room as well.” -David Swanson

“When we see each other as God sees us, we wouldn't see our differences as something that sets us against one another, but something that brings us together and causes beauty that points back to God.” -Latasha Morrison

Links:Ad for Charity Water: CharityWater.org/BridgePastor David Swanson: dwswanson.com/
twitter.com/davidswanson
facebook.com/PastorDavidWSwanson/
instagram.com/david.w.swanson/

David Swanson’s Rediscipling the White Church: ivpress.com/rediscipling-the-white-churchNew Community Covenant Church: newcommunitycovenant.com/

Be the Bridge: BeTheBridge.com
facebook.com/beabridgebuilder/
instagram.com/bethebridge/

Latasha Morrison: latashamorrison.com/ facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison instagram.com/latashamorrison/

244 - Take it to the Bridge: A Conversation on Glocal Worship with Tongan American Creative Artist Aisea Taimani May 03, 2022

Show notes

Music has the power to transform and transcend; it can build bridges and recognize intersections. Tongan American creative artist, Aisea Taimani’s honest music does just that. Listen in as he discusses glocal worship with Be the Bridge founder and podcast host, Latasha Morrison. They dive into the value of different worship styles and the necessity of experiencing them. This conversation is a reminder of the intentionally diverse creation of God and the amazing beauty found in the church. Glocal worship is an invitation to celebrate and to lament, to hope and to empathize as we work to bring God’s Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:
“We've always heard local and global. But I think this term [glocal] was just an opportunity to really imagine how we look at the world, especially as a people of faith, recognizing that in order to reach people, you no longer have to travel out of your country.” -Aisea Taimani

“Learning the songs from different cultures and different languages has really actually deepened my theology and given me tools to move towards curiosity rather than judgments whenever I experience something that's different, especially in church.” -Aisea Taimani

“I promise you that when you hear my people sing with all of their heart, they have something to teach the rest of the world about who God is.” -Aisea Taimani

Links:

Ad for Epic Will: EpicWill.com [use promo code BTB20 for 20% off] Ad for Charity Water: CharityWater.org/Bridge

Aisea Taimani: instagram.com/aiseataimani/
facebook.com/weareminorislands
minorislands.bandcamp.com/
youtube.com/channel/UCV5Nrik1Yz-rMj6RILmaD5w

Aisea Taimani + Minor Island’s song Take A Stand: youtube.com/watch?v=cYGPkcUTwJA Sandra Van Opstal’s book The Next Worship: sandravanopstal.com/the-next-worship/

Be the Bridge: BeTheBridge.com
facebook.com/beabridgebuilder/
instagram.com/bethebridge/

Latasha Morrison: latashamorrison.com/
facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison
instagram.com/latashamorrison/