Multicultural BRIDGE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Staff And Volunteers
    • Board and Advisory Council
    • Partnerships and Coalitions
    • Organization Members
    • Impact
    • Support Us
  • Programs
    • Happiness Toolbox Summer Program >
      • HT2022 Photos
      • HT2021 Photos
      • Happiness Toolbox Sessions
      • HT Bios
    • Community Education >
      • Cultural Competence Community Training
      • Real Talk On Race
    • Youth >
      • Happiness Toolbox >
        • Happiness Toolbox Blog
        • Coloring Pages
        • Happiness Toolbox Photos
      • Real Talk
    • Towards Racial Justice And Equity In the Berkshires >
      • TRJ-South
      • Race Task Force
      • Great Barrington Trust Policy
      • Honoring Du Bois's Life & Legacy >
        • Du Bois Legacy Participants 2022
      • Not In Our County - Berkshires
    • Women To Women >
      • Immigrant Women's Group
      • Professional Support/Community Integration
      • Mindfulness and Movement
    • New Pathways >
      • New Pathways Social Justice Conference 2020 >
        • New Pathways Conference Keynote
        • New Pathways Conference Videos
        • New Pathways 2020 Conference Bios
      • New Pathways Labs
      • New Pathways Talks
      • New Pathways Podcast
      • New Pathways Bios
    • Food Sovereignty & Sustainability >
      • Resource Kits
      • Distribution Sign Up
  • Services
    • Business >
      • Educational Support
      • Workplace Programming
      • State Vendor: Supplier Diversity Program
      • Recruitment
      • Language Access Services
    • Memberships
    • IDEA Institute Trainings
    • Online Training >
      • Virtual Training Hub >
        • Cultural Competence Foundations
      • Inclusive Leadership Cohort >
        • ILC Project Proposals
  • Ways To Give
  • News And Events
    • Mosaic Stories
    • Catalyst.Love.Impact GALA >
      • Gala Photo Gallery
      • Gala Impact
      • Gala Bios
    • Events >
      • Event Photos
    • Announcements
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Photo Gallery
  • Resources
  • Contact
    • Join Our Mailing List
  • Members
    • Member Resources

Angela Davis believes 'new footprints' will provide path toward social justice

11/13/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Activist and scholar Angela Davis addresses the audience Sunday, during the remote “New Pathways” social justice conference organized by the Lee-based nonprofit Bridge. Criticizing a law enforcement system that she described as a “prison-industrial complex,” and one responsible for the disproportionate incarceration of Black people, Davis offered housing, education and jobs as some paths through which reform could lead to more equitable systems. Photo: Gwendolyn VanSant
Danny Jin | The Berkshire Eagle

As communities begin to contend more seriously with racial injustice, what’s next for those seeking more equitable societies?

That was the question taken up in a social justice conference organized by the Lee-based nonprofit Bridge, which held various events on Zoom from Friday through Monday. Attendees explored methods to work toward social change amid a coronavirus pandemic that disproportionately has hurt Black communities, and a spike in recognition of police violence after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

And, while some celebrated news that Joe Biden will succeed Donald Trump as the nation’s next president, several speakers — many of them were Black women — stressed that a return to the familiar would not be good enough.

“The New Pathways program is about creating a space to internationally acknowledge and build a road that does not lead us back to normal, because normal has been so lethal for so many,” said Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant, Bridge’s CEO and founding director. “2020 has brought us a clearer vision that we can’t go back, only forward.”

Activist and scholar Angela Davis echoed that sentiment in a Sunday keynote, addressing nearly 200 people on the Zoom call.

As the slogan “Black Lives Matter” and other anti-racist ideas have moved, Davis said, “from the sidelines of established political discourse to the center,” part of the task is maintaining the radical and transformative intent of those ideas.
Read the full article
0 Comments

Social justice conference to feature keynote from Angela Davis

11/5/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Activist and scholar Angela Davis, pictured speaking in 2015 in Flint, Mich., will deliver a Sunday evening keynote during Bridge’s “New Pathways” conference. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Danny Jin | The Berkshire Eagle

Social justice, Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant says, is more a concrete process than an abstract goal.

“The definition of social justice is the shifting of resources for positive social impact,” said VanSant, CEO and founding director of the Lee nonprofit Bridge. “The way we sustain it is that daily practice. It’s not just you write a check, but every family dinner, every encounter, you have to really be in the work and be committed.”

Bridge launched a series of “New Pathways” talks to highlight issues of equity when the coronavirus pandemic first hit. Now, it’s hosting a conference under that banner to explore possibilities for equitable transformation as communities continue to navigate the pandemic, a growing movement in support of Black lives and a tense presidential election.

“I think what I hope people walk away with is inspiration, hope and community because I think people are operating out of fear and anxiety, and it doesn’t really get us where we need to go,” she said. “I really hope it gives people a multitude of ways to get excited. I hope it ignites everybody’s power source to get going in the right direction.”
The “New Pathways” conference boasts a keynote from activist and Black feminist scholar Angela Davis.

“Just thinking about what she stands for, in terms of criminal justice, in terms of recognizing the harms that capitalism has had on Black communities, and as a Black feminist, I’m nothing short of thrilled to have Angela Davis,” VanSant said.
Read the full article
0 Comments

New Pathways Social Justice Conference to feature Angela Davis’ keynote address ‘Examining Race, Class and Gender’

11/1/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Gwendolyn VanSant, co-founding director and CEO of Multicultural BRIDGE.
Hannah Van Sickle | Berkshire Edge

Lee — As next week’s presidential election looms on the horizon, the importance of doing one’s part for the benefit of society comes into sharp focus. Just ask Gwendolyn VanSant. “Everyone has their own personal power and civic power; they need to exercise it for the common good [and to create] positive social impact,” the CEO and founding director of Multicultural BRIDGE told The Edge in a recent Zoom interview. This perspective, in large part, is the impetus behind “New Pathways of Empowerment and Transformation: Moving the Dial on Race, Class and Justice Strategies.” The four-day event (Nov. 6-9) curated by VanSant and fellow activists, will focus on continuing the movement for gender, race and economic justice. American scholar and civil rights activist Angela Davis will deliver the keynote address Sunday evening.

“[To avoid] wallowing in whatever the outcome [of the presidential election] brings: that’s my hope and dream for the conference,” said VanSant, calling the online event everything she dreamed it would be without being in-person. “How do we stay strategic? How do we keep movement building? And how do we work toward equity and justice? No matter who our federal leadership is, we have a lot of work to do as individuals and organizations,” VanSant reminds readers.
​
VanSant created New Pathways — a collection of talks and webinars intended to seed an equitable and resilient future based on justice, healing and transformation — during COVID-19. She saw the series of short, accessible talks with local and national leaders as instrumental in supporting new forms of leadership and organizing both during a period “when the disparities [are] so stark” and in the aftermath. “We can’t go back to the way anything was. We have to create new ways of working together,” VanSant underscored in a nod to the program’s moniker. “And that’s what this conference is: all of us coming together to do this work.”
Read the full article
0 Comments

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    July 2024
    October 2023
    July 2023
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

Stay Connected
via Our Newsletter

SUPPORT US
Donate
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Staff And Volunteers
    • Board and Advisory Council
    • Partnerships and Coalitions
    • Organization Members
    • Impact
    • Support Us
  • Programs
    • Happiness Toolbox Summer Program >
      • HT2022 Photos
      • HT2021 Photos
      • Happiness Toolbox Sessions
      • HT Bios
    • Community Education >
      • Cultural Competence Community Training
      • Real Talk On Race
    • Youth >
      • Happiness Toolbox >
        • Happiness Toolbox Blog
        • Coloring Pages
        • Happiness Toolbox Photos
      • Real Talk
    • Towards Racial Justice And Equity In the Berkshires >
      • TRJ-South
      • Race Task Force
      • Great Barrington Trust Policy
      • Honoring Du Bois's Life & Legacy >
        • Du Bois Legacy Participants 2022
      • Not In Our County - Berkshires
    • Women To Women >
      • Immigrant Women's Group
      • Professional Support/Community Integration
      • Mindfulness and Movement
    • New Pathways >
      • New Pathways Social Justice Conference 2020 >
        • New Pathways Conference Keynote
        • New Pathways Conference Videos
        • New Pathways 2020 Conference Bios
      • New Pathways Labs
      • New Pathways Talks
      • New Pathways Podcast
      • New Pathways Bios
    • Food Sovereignty & Sustainability >
      • Resource Kits
      • Distribution Sign Up
  • Services
    • Business >
      • Educational Support
      • Workplace Programming
      • State Vendor: Supplier Diversity Program
      • Recruitment
      • Language Access Services
    • Memberships
    • IDEA Institute Trainings
    • Online Training >
      • Virtual Training Hub >
        • Cultural Competence Foundations
      • Inclusive Leadership Cohort >
        • ILC Project Proposals
  • Ways To Give
  • News And Events
    • Mosaic Stories
    • Catalyst.Love.Impact GALA >
      • Gala Photo Gallery
      • Gala Impact
      • Gala Bios
    • Events >
      • Event Photos
    • Announcements
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Photo Gallery
  • Resources
  • Contact
    • Join Our Mailing List
  • Members
    • Member Resources