The Power of Bridging
How to Build a World Where We All Belong
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The Power of Bridging
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Narrated by:
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john a. powell
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By:
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john a. powell
About this listen
A bold guide for connecting across difference—even those that seem impossible
“Wise and visionary, powell helps us find the courage to forge connections with others, the earth, and ourselves in order to transform the world from the inside out.” —Valarie Kaur, bestselling author of See No Stranger and Sage Warrior
We don’t want to live in a society in turmoil. In fact, 93 percent of people in the US want to reduce divisiveness, and 86 percent believe it’s possible to disagree in a healthy way. Yet with increasing political and social fragmentation, many of us don’t know how to move past our differences. Civil rights scholar john a. powell presents an actionable path through “bridging” that helps us communicate, coexist, and imagine a new story for our shared future where we all belong.
With inimitable warmth and vision, powell offers a framework for building cohesion and solidarity between disparate beliefs and backgrounds. Bridging is more than a discrete list of actions to follow—it’s a mindset we can develop to help us foster belonging and connection. Key elements of the bridging mindset include:
• Understanding how deeply “othering” shapes our world, priming us to see difference of any kind—race, gender, political orientation, etcetera—as a threat
• Identifying where “breaking” happens, when people are excluded or treated differently for being perceived as other
• Embracing “belonging” as one of our core human needs—we all want to feel seen, valued, and appreciated just as we are
• Committing ourselves to treat all people like they belong
• Allowing ourselves grace when we inevitably fall short—and resolving to try again
Throughout the book, powell shares personal reflections as well as practices to help you begin bridging wherever you are—in your community, friendships, family, workplace—even with those whom you might never have imagined you could find common ground.
“Bridging is a salve for our fractured world,” powell says. “We can overcome the illusion of separateness by honoring our differences, transcending the notion that difference divides us, and instead cocreate a world where everyone belongs.”
Critic reviews
“A revered scholar and beloved educator, john a. powell inspires us to believe in a world of belonging—and shows us how to labor for it. In his masterful new book, powell teaches that separateness is an illusion: in the face of cruelty and injustice, we can choose to succumb to fear and despair—or find the courage to forge connections with others, the earth, and ourselves in order to transform the world from the inside out. Wise and visionary, The Power of Bridging is your essential guide for building a world of belonging, right where you are.” —Valarie Kaur, bestselling author of See No Stranger and Sage Warrior
“john a. powell’s vision for a world where we all belong is powerful and compelling, in large part because it's rooted in decades of values-based work advocating for civil and human rights. His ideas have inspired shifts in policy that have transformed people's daily lives, and his approach to justice questions has influenced countless activists and policymakers alike." —Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow
“With careful attention to the realities of fragmentation and the stories that reproduce it, john a. powell points us toward a better story—what he calls a ‘bridging story’—that can help us find a bigger ‘we.’ This is the kind of work we need to build toward a Third Reconstruction of America.” —Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, author of White Poverty and The Third Reconstruction