Advertise on podcast: Inclusivi-TALKS Sustainability: A Podcast About Creativity, Health, Equity, and Kindness

Grab a cup of tea and join us for conversations, laughter, and community building focused on environmental, social and economic justice. With wonderful guests and our partners, Alliance for Sustainability (www.afors.org), Black Iowa News (blackiowanews.bulletin.com), and Inclusivi-TEA Collaborative (https://www.facebook.com/groups/inclusivesustainability), we pledge to work together to cocreate a future where the earth and everyone on it thrives. Alone, you can make a difference. Together, we can make THE difference.  A special thanks to our sponsor for today, TwentyFourSevenBlac. More information can be found at www.twentyfoursevenblac.com. Thank you again to our sponsor.

Grab a cup of tea and join us for conversations, laughter, and community building focused on environmental, social and economic justice. With wonderful guests and our partners, Alliance for Sustainability (www.afors.org), Black Iowa News (blackiowanews.bulletin.com), and Inclusivi-TEA Collaborative (https://www.facebook.com/groups/inclusivesustainability), we pledge to work together to cocreate a future where the earth and everyone on it thrives. Alone, you can make a difference. Together, we can make THE difference.

Grab a cup of tea and join us for conversations, laughter, and community building focused on environmental, social and economic justice. With wonderful guests and our partners, Alliance for Sustainability (www.afors.org), Black Iowa News (blackiowanews.bulletin.com), and Inclusivi-TEA Collaborative (https://www.facebook.com/groups/inclusivesustainability), we pledge to work together to cocreate a future where the earth and everyone on it thrives. Alone, you can make a difference. Together, we can make THE difference.

Grab a cup of tea and join us for conversations, laughter, and community building focused on environmental, social and economic justice. With wonderful guests and our partners, Alliance for Sustainability (www.afors.org), Black Iowa News (blackiowanews.bulletin.com), and Inclusivi-TEA Collaborative (https://www.facebook.com/groups/inclusivesustainability), we pledge to work together to cocreate a future where the earth and everyone on it thrives. Alone, you can make a difference. Together, we can make THE difference.

Grab a cup of tea and join us for conversations, laughter, and community building focused on environmental, social and economic justice. With wonderful guests and our partners, Alliance for Sustainability (www.afors.org), Black Iowa News (blackiowanews.bulletin.com), and Inclusivi-TEA Collaborative (https://www.facebook.com/groups/inclusivesustainability), we pledge to work together to cocreate a future where the earth and everyone on it thrives. Alone, you can make a difference. Together, we can make THE difference.

Grab a cup of tea and join us for conversations, laughter, and community building focused on environmental, social and economic justice. With wonderful guests and our partners, Alliance for Sustainability (www.afors.org), Black Iowa News (blackiowanews.bulletin.com), and Inclusivi-TEA Collaborative (https://www.facebook.com/groups/inclusivesustainability), we pledge to work together to cocreate a future where the earth and everyone on it thrives. Alone, you can make a difference. Together, we can make THE difference.

In episode two of our podcast with Christopher Bell, Christopher further explains his work and his passions and tells us a story. Christopher C. Bell Jr. was born a black male in the mid-1930s, and raised in Campostella, a small, poor, Negro suburb of hard-wired, racially segregated Norfolk, Virginia; one of the most progressive cities in Virginia.  He luckily dodged many of the pitfalls that endangered many of his friends as he escaped into Boy Scouting and reading.  Chris attended Virginia State University, obtained a degree in Chemistry, and upon graduation was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Chris served twenty (20), bitter-sweet years in the army and retired as a Major.  Twelve (12) of those years he served overseas and most of the time his duties required him to serve elbow to elbow with the natives of the country concerned.  He served 2 years in Germany; 5 years in France; 2 1/2 years in Korea; 1 year in Vietnam; and 2 years in Ethiopia. Chris credits his foreign living and travelling with opening vistas of sensitivity and awareness in his “made in America” mind, and moved him toward more self-examination and critical thinking about things he had always taken for granted. While in the army, he completed a Masters of Education (Ed.M.) degree from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. After retirement from the military, Chris resumed his graduate studies.  He earned a Certificate of Advance Graduate Studies (CAGS) in Administration, Supervision, and Social Policy from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a Doctor of Education Degree (Ed.D.) in Organizational Development from Boston University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Bell’s employment history includes; managing and supervising Job training programs in the U.S. Department of Labor, mid-level management positions in the District of Columbia School System, and serving as a management analyst at the U.S. Department of Education Dr. Bell’s studies of the works of scholars and his own observations regarding the workings of the societal structures that surround human beings have led him to conclude that one of the root causes of what he defines as the White Superiority Syndrome is the “White male God and White Male Savior myth” promoted by Christianity.  This White Superiority Syndrome promotes a feeling of racial superiority in White people and prompts them to build a white racist culture.  This White Superiority Syndrome promotes a sense of racial inferiority in Black people and prompts them toward behavioral patterns of self-abuse, low self-expectations, and self-disparagement. Dr. Bell has concluded that racism is an inherent feature of the” White male God and White male savior myth” that is taught by Christianity, and he has committed himself to explain this problem to all who will listen.  He teaches that black people must free themselves from believing in this “white god, white savior myth” if they are to ever see themselves as beautiful, and as competent, and as deserving of life’s treasures as they imagine white people to be.  Other black educators, psychologists, and thinkers have written tangentially about the need for black people to stop believing in this “white god and white savior myth” in order to authentically feel equal to white people, but most of them have gone unheeded.  Dr. Bell dares to write “right on.”  He trusts that his small contribution in his book “The Belief Factor and the White Superiority Syndrome” will help the “new” theological change-makers of the twenty-first century to begin their work in earnest.

In episode one of our podcast with Christopher Bell, Christopher talks about his path to understanding white supremacy and explains his use of the term white superiority.  He talks about his childhood and goals for the future. Christopher C. Bell Jr. was born a black male in the mid-1930s, and raised in Campostella, a small, poor, Negro suburb of hard-wired, racially segregated Norfolk, Virginia; one of the most progressive cities in Virginia.  He luckily dodged many of the pitfalls that endangered many of his friends as he escaped into Boy Scouting and reading.  Chris attended Virginia State University, obtained a degree in Chemistry, and upon graduation was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Chris served twenty (20), bitter-sweet years in the army and retired as a Major.  Twelve (12) of those years he served overseas and most of the time his duties required him to serve elbow to elbow with the natives of the country concerned.  He served 2 years in Germany; 5 years in France; 2 1/2 years in Korea; 1 year in Vietnam; and 2 years in Ethiopia. Chris credits his foreign living and travelling with opening vistas of sensitivity and awareness in his “made in America” mind, and moved him toward more self-examination and critical thinking about things he had always taken for granted. While in the army, he completed a Masters of Education (Ed.M.) degree from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. After retirement from the military, Chris resumed his graduate studies.  He earned a Certificate of Advance Graduate Studies (CAGS) in Administration, Supervision, and Social Policy from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a Doctor of Education Degree (Ed.D.) in Organizational Development from Boston University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Bell’s employment history includes; managing and supervising Job training programs in the U.S. Department of Labor, mid-level management positions in the District of Columbia School System, and serving as a management analyst at the U.S. Department of Education Dr. Bell’s studies of the works of scholars and his own observations regarding the workings of the societal structures that surround human beings have led him to conclude that one of the root causes of what he defines as the White Superiority Syndrome is the “White male God and White Male Savior myth” promoted by Christianity.  This White Superiority Syndrome promotes a feeling of racial superiority in White people and prompts them to build a white racist culture.  This White Superiority Syndrome promotes a sense of racial inferiority in Black people and prompts them toward behavioral patterns of self-abuse, low self-expectations, and self-disparagement. Dr. Bell has concluded that racism is an inherent feature of the” White male God and White male savior myth” that is taught by Christianity, and he has committed himself to explain this problem to all who will listen.  He teaches that black people must free themselves from believing in this “white god, white savior myth” if they are to ever see themselves as beautiful, and as competent, and as deserving of life’s treasures as they imagine white people to be.  Other black educators, psychologists, and thinkers have written tangentially about the need for black people to stop believing in this “white god and white savior myth” in order to authentically feel equal to white people, but most of them have gone unheeded.  Dr. Bell dares to write “right on.”  He trusts that his small contribution in his book “The Belief Factor and the White Superiority Syndrome” will help the “new” theological change-makers of the twenty-first century to begin their work in earnest. www.drccbellbooks.com www.drchrisbell.com. Email: [email protected]

In episode two of Lori’s interview with Darius Ross, Darius talks about his hopes for the future and the passions that drive him, offers some advice, and tells us a story. Darius Ross, A 35 yr veteran of entrepreneurship and real estate (real estate investing, brokerage sales, Property management and acquisition) whose life’s path has gone from inner city struggles including poverty, violence ,eviction and foreclosure to the corporate suites. Along the way through those struggles He used those guerilla transitional skills to create a lucrative business and become a philanthropist & social activist. Who has fought and been a spokesperson for the following causes :the estate taxes,the minimum wage, the Pre-K program in NYC and Millionaire Tax.  Darius has also won numerous Who’s who awards and has been a Past member of Carnegie Hall Junior Board among other Civic boards! Facebook.com/dariusross            Twitter.com/dacatman.        Instagram.com/darreexec Song “Beautiful Too” Written and Sung By: Teghan Devon

In episode one of our podcast with Darius Ross, Darius talks about his current passion for funding women-owned businesses, his childhood in Chicago, and his family’s deep connection to the civil right movement, starting with the Goodman, Chaney, Schwermer murders. (https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/human_rights_vol27_2000/spring2000/hr_spring00_chaney/). Darius Ross, A 35 yr veteran of entrepreneurship and real estate (real estate investing, brokerage sales, Property management and acquisition) whose life’s path has gone from inner city struggles including poverty, violence ,eviction and foreclosure to the corporate suites. Along the way through those struggles He used those guerilla transitional skills to create a lucrative business and become a philanthropist & social activist. Who has fought and been a spokesperson for the following causes :the estate taxes,the minimum wage, the Pre-K program in NYC and Millionaire Tax.  Darius has also won numerous Who’s who awards and has been a Past member of Carnegie Hall Junior Board among other Civic boards! Facebook.com/dariusross            Twitter.com/dacatman.        Instagram.com/darreexec Song “Beautiful Too” Written and Sung By: Teghan Devon

Author of “The Grow System: An Essential Guide for Modern Self-sufficiency From Growing Food to Making Medicine” published by Penguin Random House, featured by National Geographic as an expert is off-grid living, hosted Mother Earth News Online Homesteading Summit, selected by Authority Magazine as a Women Leader in Wellness, focus of award winning Reuters Sustainability Media contest, nationwide PBS campaign teaching people to grow half of their own food in their backyards, and on the cover of Masters of Health Magazine for Earth Day. www.thegrownetwork.com www.growhalf.com Instagram: @the_grow_network Twitter: @TheGrowNetwork Song “Beautiful Too” Written and Sung By: Teghan Devon

In this episode of Inclusivi-TALKS Sustainability, Liz Loeb, Civil Rights Attorney and Associate Director at Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, talks about working at the intersection of racial justice and climate justice; the forces that drive and empower her; and how the pandemic has shifted her experience of nature. Liz Loeb is a civil rights attorney and community organizer with twenty years of experience working in political and social movements for justice. A graduate of Brown University, Liz holds a law degree from NYU School of Law and a Ph.D in critical social theory from the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Liz has worked as an international human rights attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and as an attorney with the national ACLU criminal justice project, where she was part of the litigation team that won the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Safford v. Redding, which led to a national prohibition against forced strip searches in public schools. Liz led the successful statewide campaign to defeat the 2012 Voter Restriction amendment and recently served as Co-Director of Kaleo Center for Faith, Justice & Social Transformation. Liz currently works as the Associate Director of Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, with a special focus on civic engagement, relational organizing, and collective resourcing. Liz is a highly sought after trainer, facilitator, and speaker, and has supported local and national groups in organization development towards dismantling white supremacy and building the conditions of shared liberation. In addition to her organizing work, Liz is a 500 hour registered yoga teacher and an active member of Shir Tikvah synagogue in Minneapolis. Liz lives on Dakotah land in Northeast Minneapolis with her partner Sarah and their dog Chloe. You can reach Liz at [email protected] Song “Beautiful Too” Written and Sung By: Teghan Devon