A Peace of My Mind

Joe Davis is a spoken word artist in Minneapolis. I interviewed Joe in front of a live audience for one of our Creative Changemakers events on July 25 at Squirrel Haus Arts in Minneapolis. He joined us with his band Poetic Diaspora. Enjoy a little music with them and then our conversation.

Jan Selby is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has been screened internationally in settings ranging from film festivals and art museums to university classrooms and on Public Television. BEYOND THE DIVIDE premiered at Montana’s Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and won Best Feature Documentary at the Peace on Earth Film Festival. After a year of traveling to festivals world-wide, BEYOND THE DIVIDE was broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television, which led to national distribution by American Public Television.Jan’s previous film, A CIRCLE AND THREE LINES, won a regional Emmy, screened at numerous film festivals including the Woodstock Film Festival and was featured in the Walker Art Center exhibit, The Reel Thing. Jan is the founder of Quiet Island Films where she brings her documentary and storytelling experience to projects for corporate and non-profit clients.I interviewed Jan in front of a live audience before screening her film, which she has now made available for streaming for free on the website for BEYOND THE DIVIDE.Between the interview and Q&A segments of the podcast, you will hear musician Chris Koza play the title track from the film.

Duncan Gray is a retired Episcopal Priest and was the 9th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. I met him at St. Peter's Episcopal church in Oxford, Mississippi, where he was rector, like his father before him. His father served from 1957 to 1965 during the turbulent era when James Meredith was the first Black man who was allowed admission into the University of Mississippi.St. Peter’s organized itself in 1851. The church building was completed just prior to the Civil War in 1860. Its first service was just prior to Mississippi’s secession and, according to Duncan, “has a history of being an enlightened community in some pretty difficult times in Mississippi.”

Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar is chief of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. She has spent decades helping her community fight for federal recognition of their tribe and finding resilient solutions to the political and environmental challenges that have seen their traditional lands literally wash away into the Gulf of Mexico.(We did this interview on the front porch, on a windy day, along a busy road, so there is some background noise, but the conversation is rich.)

Greg Campbell has gone home to die. His liver and kidneys are failing and on Wednesday, March 8, he left the hospital because he didn't want to die in an institution. He has chosen to die at home where he finds peace and love and safety.We talked about his faith, his desire to teach people that they don't need to fear death and the deep joy in having time to say goodbye to friends.Greg said, "Am I sad? Yeah. But this is the trail I'm on. And I have to finish the trail."

April Grayson was born and raised in Mississippi. She left the state after college and returned again 10 years later to tell stories about her home state and, in particular, about the Civil Rights Movement and the history of race in Mississippi through oral history and documentary films. April is the director of Community & Capacity Building at the Alluvial Collective, formerly the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, an organization that works to hold space for difficult conversations.We talked about her love of storytelling, her work to build healing dialogue and the difficult history she finds in her own family's story right down to the name she was given.

Randell Sam is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. I met Randell while spending some time with the Water Protectors near Palisade, Minnesota. After a brief introduction in Ojibwe, Randell shared some of his history with alcohol and drug addiction. After years of using, he found the true meaning behind his Anishinabe name, which is, “I Am The Walking Light.” Randell plays an important role in the recovery movement in his community, fighting the opioid epidemic. Through living honestly and practicing truth, love, and humility, he's able to continue connecting and supporting others to stay sober. He's found his life's calling, sharing that he recovered loudly so addicts don't have to die quietly. 

Harvey Goodsky, Jr. lives in McGregor, Minnesota. As a part of the Sucker Fish Clan, he carries the responsibility of being the shepherd of the land. His priority is to keep that teaching and learning alive through his own seven children and their future generations. Harvey opens our interview with a message in his native language, Ojibwe. We talked about his childhood and growing up as Anishinaabe, his connection with their land and learning the clan's traditions. He shared the historical challenges that his ancestors have gone through and the contemporary struggles of today, losing touch with nature and lack of infrastructure in their community. 

Sandy Gokee is Anishinaabe—Bear Clan—and lives in Ashland, Wisconsin. For the interview, we sat outside at a park overlooking Lake Superior as a storm skirted around us, so you might hear a little wind and maybe even thunder in the recording. Sandy introduces herself in her native language, Ojibwemowin. She shares her concerns about the invisibility of Indigenous people and how imbalanced life is between human and non-human beings. She also talks about the importance and frustrations of educating others on her community's cultures, beliefs, and treaties, so that they can heal and restore the harmony and balance in their way of life. 

Afton Thomas is the Associate Director for Programs at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Afton talks about Oxford as the progressive south, and the importance of continuing to share stories of the past so we can live better today and in the future. At the time of this interview, Afton's involvement and voice in the community had led her down a political path as she made the decision to run for Alderman in the city she now calls home. 

Mary Dougherty lives in Bayfield, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior. As she says, just about as far north as you can go in the state without getting wet. She is the author of "Life in a Northern Town: Cooking, Eating, and Other Adventures along Lake Superior."We talked about preserving the watershed of the world's largest fresh water lake and how we need to look upstream at the sustainability and health of the community's surrounding it in order to preserve the wellbeing of this vast, yet fragile resource for generations to come. 

Mike Radtke is the operations manager for the Madeline Island Ferry Line in Bayfield, Wisconsin. He started there as a captain and over the past 32 years, he has made the 20-minute, 2.5 mile journey between the mainland and the island thousands of times. We talked about his observations of how Lake Superior has changed through the years, his family's long-time habit of hosting international exchange students and the beauty and richness of life in a small town. 

Michael Skoler describes himself as a reformed NPR correspondent, a dad, a meditator, and a backpacker. Michael is the communications director for Weave the Social Fabric Project, an initiative of the Aspen Institute, designed to address the broken social trust in America. We spoke about  his work in Africa during the Rwandan genocide, his desire to care open-heartedly and his goals to foster community at a grassroots level with the Weave Project.

Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is the Executive Director of the Religion and Society Program at the Aspen Institute and the author of The Light We Give, How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life. We talked about his love for basketball, his advocacy for religious pluralism and a surprise lesson he learned one day recently when he forgot his earbuds while going for a run.

Shane Claiborne is a speaker, activist and author. He founded the Simple Way, an intentional community in Philadelphia, building a neighborhood of belonging. And he leads Red Letter Christians, a group that tries to live “like Jesus meant the things he said.”I interviewed Shane at the Sojourners office in DC right after the Moral March on Washington, led by the Poor People’s Campaign.We talked abut living simply, living courageously and about surrounding yourself with good people.

Lauren Reliford is the political director for Sojourners in Washington, DC. Her work is centered on applying social theory, spirituality, research, and practice to the political policy that guides our nation. We talked about her political theory, her efforts to influence policy makers to legislate for the common good, and her inclination to care deeply.

Bill Mefford is the Executive Director of the Festival Center in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington DC. The Festival Center is an outreach of the Church of the Saviour, designed as a hub for supporting community centered ministries and nonprofits, and to train faith leaders for mission and justice. We talked about his journey from Evangelical to liberation theology, his understanding of proximity and immersion with those who are marginalized that can lead us to liberation and his commitment to stay in relationship with people he disagrees with.

Mitchell Atencio is the associate news editor at Sojourners. Born in Atlanta, he now works out of the Sojourners D.C. offices on Capitol Hill.  I interviewed Mitchell three days before the Supreme Court released its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.We spoke about his work in media, his ongoing process of challenging his own assumptions, and his decision to be discalced out of religious conviction.

Sister Jenna is a spiritual mentor, the founder and director of the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Museum and the host of America Meditating Radio.We spoke about her meditation practice, her understanding of the obstacles that impede our progress toward peace, and our ability to see the divine in one another.

Andrew Cheung is the senior pastor of Washington Community Fellowship, a Protestant community located less than a dozen blocks from our nation's capital that strives to practice love as a lifestyle.We talked about his interest in crossing boundaries, his personal walk through life with a sense of wonder, and  our ability to create healing for one another.