Being a Bridge

The Maxwell’s Playbook community was started with the goal of bringing together a diverse group of women of different races, ethnicities, backgrounds, and ages to find and create the interests that bond us together so that we all can grow and live our best lives. Part of living our best lives is ensuring that justice and equality are had for all the different women who comprise this community.

I’ve studied the histories of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Emmitt Till’s murder, and the police dog attacks in the 1960s. I remember as a child being afraid to go to church one Sunday after hearing about the four little black girls who were killed in a church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. My father attended the March on Washington in 1963 where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. All of these moments were significant, epic even, yet they did not result in full equality for Black Americans. Over the last few weeks especially, I have wondered, “Will today’s protests result in meaningful long-term change, or will we just keep doing the same thing every few years?”

One of my main sources of strength is my faith. We might all be from varying faith practices or none at all, which is part of our beautiful diversity, so I did want to share this one thing I saw last night that stopped me in my tracks and gave me a little hope for all of us.

Just before bed I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a post featuring Jennie Allen, Founder and Visionary of IFGathering, and Latasha Morrison, author of the New York Times bestseller, Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation. IFGathering exists to equip women with gospel-centered resources, events, and community so that they may learn about who God is and disciple other women right where they are. Jennie, a white woman, and Latasha, a Black woman, have a long and deep friendship, and together they talked about the reality of racism in our country and the next steps forward. Since I watched this, instead of feeling despondent, my head has been buzzing with thoughts about ways that I want to help make this world better than I found it.

I invite you to take a look at this IF:TV special ASAP! It’s about an hour long but it is a very engaging conversation about how we can take the first steps so that we no longer repeat our past but persistently move forward.