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We talk to Ashley Winters and Darian Wigfall about their work on the Racial Healing + Justice Fund as members of Forward Through Ferguson's Community Governance Board. We discuss their efforts to “heal the core” – that is, to create space for communities to express narratives of oppression and grief; to create spaces for community members to find sources of support to build networks of resilience; and to find and exercise their individual and/or collective power.This is the first episode in an ongoing series titled Racial Community Healing, where we explore how the St. Louis region and other cities have developed community-driven solutions to racial injustices.Links:Episode webpageEpisode transcriptRacial Healing + Justice Fund webpage
“I'd love for the education space to meet students and families where they are and adapt to them instead of the other way around. I think families, they have voice. And decision making power when it comes to the education of their children. And I'd like to see the education space lean more into that. And support that.” -Angel McCain Today's guest is Angel McCain, St. Louis Region Program Director for the Education and Training Organization, who works with Forward Through Ferguson to create equity in education. Angel sits down with Staci to discuss FTF's Community Governance Board, having the hard discussions, and healing through community.
Jia Lian Yang - Justice for All (Forward Through Ferguson) We hosted Jia Lian Yang, director of storytelling and communications at Forward Through Ferguson. Jia believes that real, trusting relationships are the first step toward building power for systemic change.Forward Through Ferguson (FTF) was established as a 501(c)3 to be a catalyst for lasting positive change in the St. Louis region as outlined in the Ferguson Commission Report. Embracing the Commission's mandate, FTF centers impacted communities and mobilizes accountable bodies to advance racially equitable systems and policies that ensure all people in the St. Louis region can thrive.In this episode we spoke with Jia about the impact of FTF, Transforming 911, and more. Support the show
We talk to Faybra Jabulani from Forward Through Ferguson along with her community partner Michelle Barbeau about how to reimagine community partnerships.This episode is part of an ongoing series where we chat with members of the Anti-Racism Consortium. These conversations are between organizations and their community partners to highlight how to deeply work with community in a way that shares power and that moves us all towards liberation.Links:Episode TranscriptThe St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice FundTransforming911Still Compromising: The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 in St. LouisStill Separate, Still Unequal: Education Inequity in St. Louis
The Ferguson Uprising ushered in a new wave of young leaders looking to create systemic change in policing, education, and race relations. In the nine years since the killing of Michael Brown by now-ex-Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, several organizations have taken shape to address those very issues. David Dwight IV invested time and energy in one such organization — Forward Through Ferguson. Dwight plans to step down at the end of March, and he reflects on his years of activism, and shares his critiques of St. Louis' tendency to shut out, and shut down, young leaders.
For the 2-year anniversary of the Ethical Rainmaker and Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF), Michelle sits with Rachel D'Souza Siebert and Henry Ramos to discuss where CCF is at today … and why it's making itself at home because it's here to stay.
An analysis of 911 calls in St. Louis County shows that few are about violent crime. That raises questions about who is really best-suited to respond. Karishma Furtado, senior director of data and research at Forward Through Ferguson, joins the show to talk about reimagining public safety.
A preliminary report from Forward Through Ferguson focuses on the inefficiencies and fragmentation of St. Louis County's 911 system. Some of the findings include low dispatcher staffing levels and outdated technology.
Dr. Kira Hudson Banks is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Saint Louis University. She is co-founder of the Institute for Healing Justice and Equity at Saint Louis University, and has served as a racial equity consultant for the Ferguson Commission and Racial Equity Catalyst for Forward Through Ferguson. Along with that work, she is co-principal of The Mouse and the Elephant, an innovative diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm. She has consulted for numerous organizations and has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in addition to popular articles in publications such as the Atlantic and the Guardian. You can find her podcast, Raising Equity, anywhere podcasts are found.
Charlie Brennan debates via Zoom with Wendy Wiese, Alvin Reid, Ray Hartmann and Bill McClellan. In the second half-hour on Donnybrook Next Up, the panel is joined by David Dwight, Executive Director of Forward Through Ferguson, and Saint Louis University law professor Gregory Willard. Topics discussed this week include the first week of Mayor Tishaura Jones, Cardinal fans yelling WOOO! like Rick Flair, making a "left on red", and Senator Hawley's vote on the Asian hate-crime bill.
Christy Maxfield is the President & CEO of Purpose First Advisors. After a lengthy professional fundraising career, Christy started her entrepreneurial journey in the spring of 2010 when she co-founded The Mission Center, an administrative services company for nonprofits. Today, she is President and CEO of Purpose First Advisors and co-hosts the Entrepreneurially Thinking podcast. Christy was on the inaugural board of Forward Through Ferguson and has taught entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis and University of Missouri - St. Louis.
ArchCity Defenders and Action St. Louis present the premiere collaborative podcast, "Under The Arch." Your hosts Blake Strode, Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders, and Kayla Reed, Director of Action St. Louis, explore the issues facing our community and the people working to transform them.In this episode, our hosts discuss the movement to defund the police with guests David Dwight IV, Executive Director & Lead Strategy Catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson, and Montague Simmons, Campaign Lead for the Close The Workhouse movement and Local Justice Director at Movement Voter Project. Follow David Dwight on Twitter @David_Dee4 and follow Montague Simmons @MontagueSimmonsJoin the conversation around this week's episode using #UnderTheArch and send us your feedback at underthearchpod@gmail.com. Know a local artist who'd like to feature their song in our Music Minute segment? Email us with subject "Music Minute".
Charlie Brennan debates with Bill McClellan, Wendy Wiese, Alvin Reid and Ray Hartmann. In the second half-hour, the panel is joined by David Dwight, Lead Catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson.
Reversing the Cycle The focus of this discussion is disenfranchised communities and the organizations and people who are helping to reverse the cycle. A discussion led by Emeara Burns, Steward Family Foundation Program Director at Saint Louis Story Stitchers and Story Stitchers Youth Council members and neighborhood leaders Antwan Pope (Hassan Shariff), Director of Community ReConnect and Justin Idleburg, board member of Forward Through Ferguson and founder of Idleburg Consultants. Recorded live at Wellston Loop Community Development Corporation on October 26, 2019.
Entrepreneurially Thinking: Innovation | Experimentation | Creativity | Business
ETHINKSTL 148: Charli Cooksey | WePower [Season 12, Episode 4] Joining us today is Charli Cooksey, Founder, and CEO of WEPOWER STL, Executive Director of Inspire STL and the Interim Executive Director of Forward Through Ferguson. Charli is a firm believer that a different St. Louis requires a different kind of leadership. In this episode: Charli talks about coming from a long family line of artists and shares her opinion on the similarities between arts and entrepreneurship as well as creativity and believing in things you can't see tangibly then taking that vision to make it tangible. Charli discusses how she merged entrepreneurship and social injustice through Inspire STL and her newest venture WEPOWER STL. Charlie says she felt the need to introduce the concept of positive performance early on in education by providing college preparatory course and intense college preparatory Summer programs as early as the 7th grade. Charli tells us in detail about WEPOWER and its mission to create solutions that lead towards transformation WE POWER is focused on building political and economical power within the Black and Latinx communities by partnering with those communities and activating change makers. Charlie discusses a new accelerator called Elevate/Elevar, which gives elevation to companies that elevate communities. This accelerator offers 6-month programs that help Black and Latinx based start-ups by giving them access to capital, providing them with connections and coaching that can help them build their capacity in an effort to be investment-ready. Learn More: Email: charli@wepowerstl.org WEPOWER STL Website:
Host Sarah Fenske delves into how municipal boundaries and school district boundaries were drawn to exclude and how local policies and services were weaponized to maintain civic separation. Joining the conversation are: history professor Colin Gordon, author of "Citizen Brown: Race, Democracy, and Inequality in the St. Louis Suburbs," as well as Erica Williams, a North County resident and founder of the nonprofit A Red Circle, and David Dwight, of Forward Through Ferguson.
Forward Through Ferguson has released the second report of their State of St. Louis series, “The State of Police Reform: What has and hasn’t changed in St. Louis policing?” The report concludes that since the Ferguson unrest, there have been more programs implemented than actual changes in policy, and that these programs bring short-term benefits, stopping short of lasting growth. The report says that the St. Louis region is in desperate need of holistic public safety policies that don’t rely on an arrest-and-incarcerate model. Sarah Fenske talks with Karishma Furtado, data and research catalyst for Forward Through Ferguson, in this episode of St. Louis on the Air.
Dick Weiss, a former editor and writing coach at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, joins the podcast to talk about a nonprofit called Forward Through Ferguson and his role as a “story catalyst.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
David Dwight, Catalyst for Forward Through Ferguson, talks about what he has learned and is unlearning from homophobia at the […]
With the work of organizations like Forward Through Ferguson, racial equity has come to the forefront of conversations on race in St. Louis. Much research is being done on how change can happen in the areas of racial and gender equity in healthcare, the workplace and our government. In this episode we are joined by Professor Ruqaiijah Yearby. Ruqaiijah specializes in racial disparities in health care, the political economy of health care and social justice in medical research. She is also working at the university level to start a Center for Equity and an Institute for Healing Justice and Equity.
Forward Through Ferguson catalysts's Yinka Faleti, Karishma Furtado and David Dwight discuss their organization’s newly released assessment of progress toward racial equity in the St. Louis region.
As described by his church, "The Reverend Starsky D. Wilson is a pastor, philanthropist and activist pursuing God’s vision of community marked by justice, peace and love. He is president & CEO of Deaconess Foundation, pastor of Saint John’s Church (The Beloved Community) and former co-chair of the Ferguson Commission." To learn more about the ongoing work of the Ferguson Commission, now called "Forward Through Ferguson," check out this organization's impressive, dynamic report. Here's a look at how the conversation went: Chapter 1. Get to know Rev. Wilson and the causes he has been called to serve. (0:00-8:30) Chapter 2. "I don't think much s going to happen... We're in St Louis." At first, Wilson didn't expect much to change following the death of Mike Brown. He would go on to serve as a co-chair of the Ferguson Commission. (8:30-18:30) Chapter 3. "Kinda like apartheid, huh?" Laying the groundwork to move away from the minority rule of a majority population. (18:30-24:45) Chapter 4. "A terrific drive to be resilient." Thompson struggles with some of the philosophical differences within the black community. (24:45-32:00) Chapter 5. "We put a lot into programs, but not into policy." Rev. Wilson helps walk Thompson through a systems analysis of building power for the black community to create a more equitable world. (32:00-41:15) Chapter 6. "We've all been on a learning journey." Articulating the difference between equity and equality and how Rev. Wilson came to recognize the difference. (41:15-50:30) Like most weeks, Hank occasionally refers to an "Andy" through the course of the conversation, that would be KDHX volunteer engineer/producer, Andy Heaslet. You can also catch guest host Hank Thompson on the air Sunday nights at 6pm on 88.7 WSIE. *Get well soon, DJ Wilson!*