By On March 5, La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), joined Rev. Ronnie Galvin, Jr., guest host of the Next System Podcast, to talk about WKKF’s racial equity and racial healing work. Galvin is the vice president of racial equity and the democratic economy at the Democracy Collaborative.
On racial healing:
"There have been times where I have been asked why the Kellogg Foundation funds some of this soft work. And I firmly believe that this isn’t soft work at all. In fact, it is the most difficult work that everyone else has avoided … if you don’t start with trust-building, relationship-building and bringing people together, any mandate won’t sustain itself."
Their conversation explores:
- WKKF’s 90-year internal and external organizational journey to pursue and advance racial equity.
- How community-based Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation efforts aren’t only about systems change – they are about people. The work requires truth-telling, trust and relationship building, and creating space for people to process their trauma. An example from Chicago is shared.
- How communities cannot get to racial equity before they go through the work of racial healing.
- The intersections between racial healing, racial equity and wealth building in communities of color, while lifting up the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund the foundation supports in Detroit.
- How some may perceive racial healing work to be soft, but it can be some of the most difficult work there is. And, it’s often avoided.
- That the work of racial healing might help America live up to its highest ideals and aspirations.
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