January 27, 2022
After guest speaking for Rebecca Powe’s diverse women’s empowerment group in May 2020, licensed psycho therapist, Keisha Brown-Moore realized how rare it is to see a diverse group of women working together and supporting one another. 10 days later, the world watched as George Floyd was murdered. This fatal event, which sparked social uprising, prompted another conversation in which Keisha and Rebecca discussed the footage of this traumatic event. They reflected on growing up in a rural town and the discrimination they faced in their youth. Why had Brown-Moore, Powe, and other minorities moved away with no intentions of moving back? Why had there been almost no change since their childhood? In the pursuit of change, Keisha and Rebecca were met with resistance by some of the local city officials and townspeople.
After having their research, experiences, and feelings discredited, Keisha and Rebecca decided to press forward and advocate “bridging the gap” in their hometown. This was the catalyst for Bridging the Gap: Virtual Discussions on a Culture & Diversity series. These discussions are a safe space for rural area residents to have deep, yet necessary conversations and work together as a family to address local racial issues. The first meeting of the Bridging the Gap series in September 2020 proved to be powerful. It started as a group of 21 ladies conversing about race relations, but grew to 40+ women and men meeting monthly. In May of 2021 LaToya Ray decided to take a more active role and joined the team as an executive director.
Rural areas get together on Friday nights to support their local schools at sporting events, yet are divided the rest of the week. Keisha, Rebecca, and LaToya’s purpose-driven goal is to spearhead a movement of unity, building better and together. Thus, on June 11, 2021, the nonprofit, Building Resilience Inclusion Diversity and Growth thru Education (BRIDGE) was born.