Tag Archive for: Black Lives Matter

Black History Month: Achievements, Change and Justice. Special Episode

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What can Black history teach us about the legacy & future of civil rights? Get insights from past guests.

Black History Month is a celebration of the remarkable contributions of Black Americans to our nation. We share some personal thoughts and stories about the lessons of history, with extracts from past podcasts and a Common Ground Committee public event. We learn about the legacy of the civil rights movement, and recent calls for social change, justice, reform, and respect.

This episode features “Let’s Find Common Ground” podcast guests: Professor Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X and the author of the memoir Growing Up X; Dr. Brian Williams, Associate Professor of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center; Hawk Newsome, Cofounder and Chair of Black Lives Matter Greater New York; Errol Toulon, Jr., Ed.D., the first African-American Sheriff of Suffolk County, New York; and Caroline Randall Williams, a poet, author, teacher and Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

We also share moving extracts from a remarkable conversation between Donna Brazile and Michael Steele for a Common Ground Committee forum in 2018. As the first Black chairs of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee, respectively, their views represented different ends of the political spectrum. But in tackling essential questions of race and governance, they found many points of agreement.

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Ep 50 – Black History Month: Achievements, Change and Justice. Special Episode

 

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The Case for Black Lives Matter: Hawk Newsome

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As the Black Lives Matter movement grows, are there opportunities for common ground and solutions?

“All lives will matter when Black lives matter,” says our guest, Hawk Newsome, in this passionate, challenging, and fascinating podcast episode.

The co-founder and Chair of Black Lives Matter Greater New York answers the skeptics and makes the case for a movement that has grown in scale and significance since widespread protests erupted last summer after the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

A devout Christian who has spent much of his life campaigning for racial and social justice, Hawk Newsome, discusses his views on love versus violence, systemic racism, and how he reached out to Trump supporters during a tense rally in Washington in 2017. The conversation transcends the simple designations of left and right and seeks to find meaningful solutions that respond to the realities faced by people and communities. This conversation is part of our podcast series that builds on the case for finding common ground.

Read more about Hawk Newsome and how he spends his weekends in this New York Times article.

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Ep. 24-The-Case-for-Black-Lives-Matter-Hawk-Newsome

Hawk Newsome

Hawk Newsome is a former candidate for New York City Council, a cast member on Cop Watch America on BET, and a political activist working at the forefront of the New Civil Rights Movement who has dedicated his adult life to the betterment of his community and our nation as a whole. Mr. Newsome previously served as Special Projects Coordinator at the Bronx County Office of the District Attorney, partnering with tenants’ associations and social service organizations throughout the Bronx. He is co-founder and Chairperson of Black Lives Matter Greater New York.

A Statement from Our Co-Founders: Black Lives Matter – The Time is Now

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We stand in solidarity with the urgent work of healing racism.

This time, it really is different. Since the founding of Common Ground Committee in 2009, there has never been so much agreement on any issue as there is on the recent death of African-American George Floyd. Not just the country, overwhelmingly, but the world has come together to stand against the unjust murder of Mr. Floyd at the hands of four white Minneapolis police officers. This has included strong voices in the law enforcement community. We stand with them, without hesitation. And we join in the effort to wrap the Floyd family in a virtual embrace of love and support.

Common Ground Committee’s purpose is to bring healing to the incivility and polarization that increasingly prevents the progress our nation can and should be making. We are resolute in our view that finding common ground is the most effective path to progress and solutions for the vast majority of issues.

We also believe there are times when one must stand firmly on principle, and refuse to accept as valid any argument that would deeply violate one’s fundamental values. This is one of those times. For us, it is heartbreaking that an incident like this was the catalyst to bring so many people together. But here we are. Now we need to do the work to change not just behavior but thinking, to ensure that these incidents will stop. We believe each of us – not just elected officials and those in authority – can do our part.

The wide-spread uprising is focused on police interaction with African-Americans, but the elephant in the room is racism. Many voices on race, long ignored, or lost in the constant yelling from all quarters of public discourse, are now being heard and acknowledged. This listening must continue, and we firmly stand with those voices whose purpose is to peacefully bring healing to the disease of racism.

In our efforts of “bringing light, not heat to public discourse,” we will provide a platform for those voices that uplift rather than deflate, that foster understanding rather than incite demonization. We will demonstrate what good engagement looks like when conflicting views are brought together, inspiring people to think and act differently so that they can play their role in this healing work.

This is a rare moment in history where Americans individually and collectively have the opportunity to make enormous progress on one of the country’s most pressing issues. All of us at Common Ground Committee are dedicated to seizing that opportunity. We invite you to join us in that effort.