photo courtesy Pexels
Reflections from throughout the year on our core values:
“I carry the light of Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Collective Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith.” –Jolyn Washington-Walker (Cohort 9), Reclaiming My Culture Through Kwanzaa
“Stepping out to create change in one’s community takes boldness and courage which is so often met with resistance – fear, hesitation or self-doubt. Questions arise to deter or discourage us. But as my visit with Sheila demonstrated, it’s all about sorting – releasing what no longer serves and listening to the deepest desires of the heart. So simple, not so easy. Exciting and just a little terrifying…” –Merrie Harrison (Cohort 13), What to Keep, What to Let Go
“We can say ‘I love you.’ But I realized it’s the way I show you I love you that makes all the difference. Some things don’t need words to be understood.” –Carmen Nieves (Cohort 17), Changing My Focus with Love, Gratitude & Sisterhood
“We use ‘leadership’ or ‘leader’ as one word, when it is full of so much meaning. How do we make space for the deeper complexities of leadership?” –Kia Levey-Burden (Cohort 8) Interview
“I followed what I had seen modeled by Black men and women in New Haven and in my household: Stand up, Speak up, Support, Reach back, Lean forward. Understand that the freedom for one to breathe is inextricably linked to the freedom of all to do so.” –Denise Keyes Page (facilitator, Cohorts 2&3), Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu Through Storytelling
“When I think about all the other things that I hold as important values – social justice, fairness, equity – if I’m not being authentic, then I’m not practicing those. I have to live authentically all the time.” –Janet Stolfi Alfano (Cohort 16) Interview
“…the facilitator said: ‘the work is not the workshop.’ I want to scream that from the mountaintops; what we need is to do right now.” –Liz Hammond (Cohort 8) Interview
“When I think of trust as a leadership value, I think of how it manifests in action. I can trust that someone is going to follow through with something. I can trust that this is someone who is going to tell the truth. When I think about the people I trust the most, it’s about reliability, showing up…” –Kia Honhongva (Cohort 29), Indigenous People and Data Trends on Death & Life
“Sure, growth is also process, but in each interaction I’ve been examining, “How will I grow from this and how will I help someone or something else grow?” –José Feliciano (Cohort 21) Interview
“…courage – because relationships are scary. Old relationships are scary, because they know the good, the bad and the ugly about you, so you have to face that stuff. New relationships are scary too; how do you build that trust? To accomplish anything, you have to have courage.” –Kyisha Velazquez (Cohort 16) Interview
“…we cannot have vibrant and thriving communities until we have solid and healthy family structures. I want to help families stay together as much as possible and give them the supports they need to be able to navigate the challenges that life throws at them.” –David Burden (Cohort 29), Forgiveness: The Personal & The Policy (Part 1)
“My folks have been trying to get folks to do the right thing since 1619, and I am totally spent, trying to do the collective therapy think healing pie-in-the-sky riff.” –Tom Ficklin (Cohort 13), White Lies-Masked Madness
“Family would be first for me – as I believe it is for so many. It goes beyond a desire for families to survive; we must thrive. Families can’t thrive if they’re not in good health.” –Erica G. Bradley (Cohort 26), Read Your Greens
“The last several years, I’ve awoken to a deep sense that the way we treat each other is parallel to the way we treat our bodies and the way we treat the Earth. To intervene in one link in this chain is to break intergenerational cycles of harm.” –Rachel Heerema (Cohort 2), Fighting the fight (and flights) that needs fighting
“…Black philanthropy itself – the desire to promote the welfare of others – has been in our community as long as our Motherland ancestors, those Africans who understood collective community.” –Babz Rawls Ivy (Cohort 1), What Can I Do? The Freed Woman Fund Answers
“There are so many other values in my life that are important too, but I feel like without authenticity, none of them are real, none of them work for me…. Versus trying to be something else that you’re not – it’s a façade. Without being authentic, I’m in big trouble.” –Chris Cole (Cohort 12) Interview
“When I reflect on all the work I have been a part of, we spend more time exploring than acting. And while we are learning, Black and Brown children continue to be left behind. Learning is not the solution; we must also imagine and do better. Those feeling the daily weight of centuries of unequal systems should not have to wait any longer for real solutions.” –Randi R. McCray (Cohort 12), Imagining Better for Black & Brown Children
“Silence has been and is a friend I can trust and with whom I let it all out and take it all in at the same time. Silence teaches me how to listen.” –Joshua Wyrtzen (Cohort 26), A Friend in Silence
“When I am coming from a place of balance and wholeness, it is possible to open to the light in myself and also be present to the light in others… Once I have taken the time to do this for myself, I am much more likely to be able to listen for the inner wisdom in others…” –Linda Anderson Miller (Cohort 7) Interview
“I am grateful for the ways that they are able to see past the façade and remind me that I am indeed fundamentally worthy of all the love, all the belonging, and all the connection that I desire.” –George Black (Cohort 25), To The Men Who Have Pursued Me
Curated by The Circle’s creative director & editor, Lara Herscovitch. To reach Lara directly: thecircle@clpnewhaven.org or Lara@LaraHerscovitch.com