Be The Bridge - Juneteenth 2021 with Professor, Poet, Scholar Dr. Claudia May

In this special bonus episode that you will not want to miss, Be the Bridge founder Latasha Morrison talks with Dr. Claudia May. Along with being a professor and the Director of the Reconciliation Studies Program at Bethel University, Dr. May is a poet, scholar, and award-winning children's book author. She joins Latasha in this episode to discuss Juneteenth. They dive into the history, the beauty, the complexities around the important day. The depth of this conversation will bring enlightenment, healing, and hope.

Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison
Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown
Producer, Editor & Music By - Travon Potts
Transcriber - Sarah Connatser

Quotes:

“And what the spirituals remind us is that these were composers, creators, theologians, critical thinkers who did their exegesis, did their hermeneutics through the spirituals.” -Dr. Claudia May

“We need to acknowledge pain and injustice, and we address that. But we also need to embrace the truth that Black people are contributors.” -Dr. Claudia May “We need a variety of stories speaking about a variety of experiences that show us that Black people are not monolithic. We're complex human beings and multilayered. We need to see that.” -Dr. Claudia May

“Some of the principles for me of Juneteenth: acknowledging the injustices that we have confronted and ignored and lived through, to learn about and celebrate the histories and contributions of Black people, and applaud our lives and gifts and achievements.” -Dr. Claudia May

“I often say to my students, y'all need to travel, especially my Black students. Y'all to travel to see the impact we're having on world culture. Juneteenth acknowledges those kinds of contributions.” -Dr. Claudia May

“Our artistic expressions give multiple people's ways to access what their truth means to them.” -Dr. Claudia May“That we continue to learn from our ancestors, which is what Juneteenth reminds us. That we are interconnected, and that those in the past can contribute to our present. We don't have to be confined to our ancestors. But our ancestors, the cloud of witnesses shaped us, they can inform how we engage with the injustices that we encounter.” -Dr. Claudia May

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