By: Beth Klein Miller
Interested in sharing your perspective on how we can better solve problems together? Contact us at: https://convergencepolicy.org/contact-us
Last week, I attended Cultural Stories night at my daughter’s elementary school, where parents of her classmates read stories in their native languages. There were over 30 languages represented, and the kids sat shoulder to shoulder intently soaking in the stories – sharing a cultural exchange, widening their world – and excitedly running off to their next choice when it was time to rotate. Seeing my daughter, her little sister, and their friends, old and new, sharing bonds and building connections when they don’t even yet share a language was so comforting and heartwarming.
Unfortunately, this moment appears in such stark contrast to what we’re seeing in society today.
As a nonprofit leader –especially in the nonpartisan space– I often feel pressure to push my personal feelings aside and focus on the hard work at hand and all that lies ahead. But witnessing the two recent deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, on top of the already troubling increase in political violence over the past year involving Minnesota legislators last summer, Charlie Kirk last fall, and more, has been heartbreaking and affected me deeply. I know I’m not alone in feeling the weight of the current moment more profoundly than ever before. Mariah, my dear friend, colleague, and partner in running Convergence, lives in Minneapolis, so the tragedies and unrest in Minnesota feel especially close to home for all of us at the organization.
Watching people die on our phone screens is not normal, and we can’t let ourselves become desensitized to it. We cannot accept dehumanizing and demonizing whole populations based solely on identity markers and voting records as the status quo.
At Convergence, we emphasize vulnerability and honesty as a key aspect and powerful tool within the collaborative problem-solving process. We work hard to build a culture of creating the space to allow showing up as a whole person – regardless of our defining characteristics – both in our Collaboratives and at our organization.
Our work demonstrates that despite the deep divisions that persist, when we show up with vulnerability and determination, we can come together to solve our shared problems for a better tomorrow – which is exactly the future I hope to be creating for my children to step into. Our goal is to share this same spirit of hope and collaboration to create a better tomorrow with you, our community.
If you are still reading, thank you. I hope you join me in taking time to acknowledge and process this moment, take care of your families and loved ones, and make time to be more like our children by connecting and extending kindness – we need that now more than ever.
