Tag Archive for: policing

Episode 20 - Let's Find Common Ground Podcast

2020 Special Moments: Our Search for Common Ground

Episode 20 - Let's Find Common Ground Podcast

Subscribe to the Podcast

  
Listen on Google Podcasts

In a year marked by crisis, we look back at remarkable moments of hope, collaboration and healing.

From the tragedy and disruption of COVID-19 through impassioned pleas for racial justice heard across the country, to the deep divisions in our politics, 2020 was a year like no other.

In the first year of our “Let’s Find Common Ground” podcast, we’ve enjoyed a mix of thoughtful, personal and surprising conversations about some of the most important topics of our time. We revisit a few of the most memorable and special moments in this year-end episode.

Among the highlights: Houston’s Chief of Police Art Acevedo, and New York City civil rights activist and mayoral candidate, Maya Wiley, discuss ways to find common ground on police reform. Eva Botkin-Kowacki of The Christian Science Monitor talks about how environmental activists and farmers use different language to discuss the threat of a changing climate. Republican Brian Fitzpatrick and Democrat Abigail Spanberger reveal how they work together to pass laws and find solutions to controversial issues in a dysfunctional Congress.

We also listen to remarkable insights from an inter-racial couple, Errol and Tina Toulon, about their marriage and the story of Jordan Blashek and Chris Haugh, two young men with different political backgrounds who took a cross-country road trip across an ideologically divided nation  to explore an important question – how far apart are we really?

Join us for our special moments of 2020 in the search for Common Ground.

Read the Episode Transcript

Ep. 20- Special Moments

WATCH: Donna Brazile and Michael Steele on Race and Governance

In April 2018, eight months after white supremacist protests in the city ended in tragedy, Donna Brazile and Michael Steele came together in Charlottesville for a Common Ground Committee forum. 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.

On Dealing With Hate Speech

On the Role of Policing in Communities

On Profiling as a Law Enforcement Tool

Navigating these questions is more important than ever to move our country forward. And Brazile and Steele’s discussion remains a master class in the art of making connections through personal stories and listening to understand, so we can find a common path to progress in this polarized time.

Learning From an Interracial Couple in a Time of Racial Awakening

Subscribe to the Podcast

  
Listen on Google Podcasts

It’s urgent that we find common ground on how to improve race relations. What lessons can be learned from an interracial couple?

The need to find common ground for improving race relations has taken on new urgency with recent protests, and demands for profound change in America.

In this episode, we gain insight from the deeply personal perspective of an interracial couple. Errol Toulon is the first African-American Sheriff of Suffolk County, New York. Tina MacNichols Toulon is a physician liaison and business development executive. She tells us what she’s learned since their marriage in 2016 about racism, “driving while Black,” and other indignities that are often part of a Black person’s daily life.

Both Tina and Errol believe that education is a crucial ingredient in reaching a much better understanding about widespread racism. By speaking out publicly about their own experiences, they wish to contribute to a vital discussion aimed at improving public understanding of a painful part of American life.

Read the Episode Transcript

Ep. 8 – Learning from an Interracial Couple in a Time of Racial Awakening

Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr., Ed.D.

On January 1, 2018, Errol D. Toulon, Jr., Ed.D., became Suffolk County, New York’s 67th Sheriff and the County’s first African-American to be elected to a non-judicial countywide office. As Suffolk’s highest-ranking law enforcement official, he works to serve and protect 1.5 million residents through innovative programs to reduce crime and recidivism, and the implementation of sound fiscal policies.

Sheriff Toulon launched the Sandy Hook Promise School Safety Initiative, which has taught more than 22,000 students how to recognize the signs of a peer in distress and report concerning information to a trusted adult. He has also made it a priority to get to the root causes of youthful delinquency and inter-generational crime. His work in this area includes launching the Deconstructing the Prison Pipeline Task Force; Choose Your Path for young adults; Choose to Thrive for incarcerated women; a Senior Citizen Program POD;  and the nation’s first jail-based Human Trafficking Initiative, which assesses all county inmates for signs of victimization. He has also expanded correctional rehabilitation programming aimed to reduce recidivism, and made significant improvements to the Sheriff’s Addiction Treatment Program, with programming offered to both pre-trial and sentenced individuals.

Sheriff Toulon has more than 30 years of criminal-justice experience, centered upon corrections intelligence and combating gang violence. Prior to serving as Suffolk County Sheriff, he worked for the New York City Department of Correction. He received his Master’s degree in Business Administration and Doctorate in Educational Administration from Dowling College; an advanced certificate in Homeland Security Management from Long Island University; and attended leadership courses at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.

Tina Toulon

Tina Toulon is an accomplished expert in sales, marketing and relationship building. She founded and was President of The Catamount Group, a successful marketing and list brokerage agency serving numerous corporate clients which she sold to Eway Direct.

She has also held senior positions with Epsilon Data Solutions and LSC Digital managing key client campaigns. Currently she works with New York Cancer & Blood Specialists.