By Anna Bedell

 Almost 100 residents came out for the Third Annual Community Conversation despite the balmy 90-degree temperature to participate in a presentation on cultural humility by Hartford’s Kamora Le’Ella Herrington. (See photo essay here.)

 “I want to share that this is our space for the purposes of tonight’s evening,” said Herrington.  “Whatever tonight’s conversation, whatever words are the ‘words’ that you’re comfortable with, or the words of the space; whatever beliefs that is that you bring to the space.”

Herrington, dressed in a pink shift and often barefoot on the stage set up in the center of the Rockwell Park Amphitheater, provided the crowd some food-for-thought with her transparent rhetoric, and exercises which encouraged audience participation.

The 2022 recipient of the New Haven Pride Center Dorothy Award and a 2019 100 Women of Color recipient awards, Herrington began her career in Hartford as an educator in Hartford’s Early Learning Center.

Cultural Humility

“We talk about what this cultural humility thing is, and why this is not your ‘mama’s cultural diversity class,’” said Herrington, in reference to a class has taught at area colleges.

“Back in the 80s and 90s, when we first realized that maybe there was some stuff that we needed to deal with as a nation, as a people, we came at it with this very self-centric idea saying, ‘You know what, I am so incredibly brilliant.’”

But that experience proved futile in many ways because it avoided dealing directly with social issues.

She then launched into a description of how language is key to addressing the issues that society has faced since then, and often how the use of language takes us into some difficult discussions, but that those discussions are essential in working through the problems.

Attendance was lower than the previous two years, 82 people including city employees who worked at the registration desk and with other duties, Police official in bright white shirts and city officials including the mayor.

In an exercise that set the tone for the presentation and the many small group activities where the audience members interacted, Herrington asked the crowd to hold open their hands as a gesture of participating in the exercise. She encouraged everyone to take a deep breath.

“In order for us to have these conversations, we really need to come from an open space,” she continued. “We’re going to do some visualization – look at your hands again, within your hands is all the information, knowledge and wisdom that you can attain.”  

“When your hands are open like this, you can share it, when your body feels like this,” she added. “Please step into this brave space with me and understand that as this conversation is happening, you might feel this happening.”

Audience Participation

Herrington invited community members to take the microphone that was passed around the amphitheater, where people sat in small groups on the stone steps or in their own chairs.

One of the first community members to speak was Laura Minor, who is a member of the Bristol Interfaith Coalition as well as other local organizations.

“I grew up in a home that was Jewish, and we celebrated Jewish holidays, and then we moved to Africa when I was 11,” said Minor. “I went to an international school until I was a teen, I learned a whole bunch about people from different countries, different languages, different religions.”

“I also belong to the NAACP and have for many years have celebrated in Black churches. I’ve celebrated in Hispanic churches,” she added.

“I’ve celebrated at the Church of Eternal Light, a Pagan Spiritualist church because we have a Bristol Interfaith Coalition.”

Diversity Council member Marcus Patton spoke of growing up in Bristol and what some of his experiences were as an African American man.

“My brother Morris, he’s over there, is the chair of the Democratic Town Committee,” said Patton while pointing to his brother nearby. “I am his younger brother; I am a registered Republican here in town.”

Patton said he graduated middle school from Memorial Boulevard with about 25 total minorities.

“I graduated from Bristol Central with I think a little less,” he continued. “Somehow though, I always had a ton of friends, and they always had my support, which meant that in order for me to have any friends, I had to learn to work, communicate and be friends with everyone.”

Pick Battles

Patton said he had to choose to pick his battles while at the same time realizing, everyone had a chance to have the choice to pick their battles.

His brother, Morris “Rippy” Patton, spoke about having a different experience, attending a prom with a male friend because asking a white girl friend was out of the question.

He shared times when he waited inside event venues while parents picked up their kids, because if the parents knew he was there that meant there wouldn’t be a next time.

It was Rippy, though, in his opening remarks, who let the crowd know that Herrington had a Bristol connection. He told the crowd that she is a member of Bristol’s Floyd family, and someone who often consulted with the late Johnny Floyd, former Bristol educator and coach, as well as admissions director at Central Connecticut State University.

The note led to a brief aside about the Great Immigration that saw Southern Black folks come North at the behest of industrialists seeking cheap labor, a somewhat different take on the general understanding.

Local resident Camelia Lopez, who has been active at recent city council meetings where she has questioned the mayor’s response to the distribution of white supremacist leaflets in the city, was next to address the crowd with an emotional conversation about what it means for her to be a Latina living in Bristol.

“It’s been amazing being able to go to the store and actually find stuff to cook, and to see other people and hear Spanish,” said Lopez. “And understand we have locals, that you’re safe with me.”

“When there’s discrimination against us or when people act on it, we tend to not lash out because then it looks even worse because then you’re the ‘crazy Latina,’” she added. “It’s fighting that stereotype.”

In her comments, she mentioned how threatening the white supremacist presence is and how her efforts to confront the situation have forced her into that stereotype, comments which elicited from Herrington an acknowledgement that remaining silent in the face of such a threat is complicit.

(Note: I also spoke about my experience as an Australian, coming here to the United States, being surprised about how divided society is, and despite all that, becoming a citizen just recently.)

Community events

In the closing portion of her presentation, Herrington encouraged the audience to announce any upcoming events that will be happening in Bristol.

She insisted that residents support such events, even if they are not ones they would have ordinarily attended, as an extension of this community conversation, of getting to know each other better, and as a bridge to future conversations.

Among audience members who took the microphone was Joe Grieco, president on the board of directors at the Church of Eternal light.

“We are the only Pagan Spiritualist church in the United States,” said Grieco.

He announced that on Saturday Sept. 3, the church is having their end of summer festival from noon until nightfall, which is free to the public, he said.

“We have vendors on the grounds, we offer concessions, we will have workshops throughout the day on things such as the history of the church pertaining to the town of Bristol,” he continued.

“We have chakra meditation, a few other things – our clergy will be doing tarot card readings throughout the day, and we have three musical acts set to perform.”

A local teacher from Bristol Central High School, Corey Nagle, invited the crowd to join Pride group meetings.

Pride Group Meetings

“The group meets every third Thursday at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Stafford Avenue, this month we’re going to meet Aug. 17,” said Nagle.

Effram Adams, a DJ from Hartford, announced plans for a Pride festival he has organized the last for years in September.

“All the big cities have Pride so there’s no need to compete with what’s going on, we have a concert, it’s all queer artists and LGBTQ plus all businesses that you can support,” he said.

As the Community Conversations were winding down, Herrington ended the evening with some words of wisdom.

“Practicing and living in community means that we’re listening to ourselves, in others,” said Herrington.  

“It means that you’re committed to engaging humbly and bravely with others who may not agree with, but who share a similar worldview.”

“Tensions and conflicts are gifts that allow us to grow together.”

Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services executive director Josh Medeiros introduced the program.

“It’s been a great opportunity for the community to come together and talk about different challenges that we’re facing,” he said.

“We’re excited for a great program again tonight,” he continued. “We are also proud that our event last year in 2021, we received the Inclusion Program of the Year Award through the Connecticut Recreation and Parks Association.”

Bristol Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano welcomed the crowd.

“I welcome all of you here to have a great conversation,” he said, “because we are a great-big-small town as I said 1000s of times with great diversity that we should celebrate — so this is your program not mine.”

BPRYCS’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee organized the event, BPRYSC sponsored it along with Primo Press, who provided free DEI t-shirts and Bristol Boys and Girls Club, which provided the food truck.

Audience participants who left their contact information with BPYCS personnel will receive a survey about the presentation. The results will be shared in a future BPRYCS newsletter.

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