This past week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Juliet Bennett Rylah, manager editor of Rapid Growth, and discuss the idea of diversity within Grand Rapids, and more specifically, how Rapid Growth was continuing to present the topic through the publication. Now, I can't speak for any other Black Rapidians who read this publication, but I was encouraged by the latest movement to incorporate more diversity and diversity-related issues in both the content and the writers for Rapid Growth and its blog.
In fact, it was this progression that propelled me to seek her out after attending the "Not Your Average Speaker" series: East meets West, hosted by Generation X and Y. I was so "fired up" by the stimulating conversation had, both on the panel and afterwards at the Meanwhile Bar. I wanted more -- more of the discussion, more from Rapid Growth, more from the community-at-large and more from myself. I felt compelled to seek out Juliet to offer my thoughts and enthusiasm for what has been happening with Rapid Growth and to see how I could participate in the process to help the Conversation move forward and have greater resonance with members of the ethnic communities. The Conversation is not just about the topic of diversity. It goes beyond our demographics and skin color to get to a personal conversation between people -- not black people and Hispanic people and white people… just people. The Conversation is personal.
So Juliet agreed to sit down and have a Conversation with me and we talked about our lives and our personal experiences with racism and ignorance (issues strongly tied to the broader issue of diversity), and how those experiences have shaped our perspectives as human beings and how we relate to the world and our community as a result. In the span of an hour or so, we talked about the nuances of Grand Rapids diversity challenges and what having the Conversation in both written and audible formats can do to help transform our city. It's funny. We didn't know each other before that first meeting, and there we were, not a week later, talking and actively listening in turn, having a Conversation. Would this have taken place if I hadn't taken the initiative to speak with her? It's possible, but probably not. However, I did, and the end result was for me to achieve a greater sense that I, as a Black woman, am not alone in my desire to see a more truly diversified city of Grand Rapids, and perhaps, I also made a new friend in the process.
There are others, different from myself in many ways, but like-minded in the hope and action of bringing the Conversation forward to help our city be more. Take this entry as an encouragement to be more too. Seek out members of your community and have Conversations with them. The root word in community is commune, which means "to converse or talk together, usually with profound intensity, intimacy, etc.; interchange thoughts or feelings." Start talking.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.