InflexionPoint Podcast: Cultivating Change from the Inside Out Creating a Brave Space for Conversations about Personal Transformation, Racism, and Accountability

Being Black Globally - The Plight of Black Farmers in South Africa This is the fourth and final episode in a series on The Plight of Black Farmers.  This final eposide on The Plight of Black Farmers features Phangisile Mtshali, a farmer in South Africa. In this conversation she shares her personal experience with farming and the vision she has for the future of her farm. She was bor...

Discussion: Laws of the Land in South Africa Dating Back to the 1913 Land Act and Group Areas Act of 1950, Cornerstones of Apartheid Policy and Segregation This is the third episode in a series on the Plight of Black Farmers. The Plight of Black Farmers in South Africa: Land stolen under apartheid still hasn’t been given back. Broken land promises reveal how South Africa’s Black f...

The Legacy of Black Farmers in New York State This is the second episode in a series on the Plight of Black Farmers.   “All of my life my work has focused on providing opportunity to people. I have a thirst to work hard and do good things everyday. I have been given the gift to create beautiful things.” —Pamela Reese Smith   Advocacy. Education. Community Gardening...

Episode 26 November 2, 2022: The Plight of Black Farmers in the US  This is the first episode in a series on the Plight of Black Farmers. The plight of modern-day Black farmers in the United States can be traced back to the 40 Acres Promise after Emancipation, Reconstruction, Black Codes/Jim Crow, and the Great Migration. The question is what will the future bring? Recently Civil Ri...

Special Guest: Kyle R. Williams, Chief Empowerment Officer of A Long Talk   "Our goal is to put an anti-racist at every dinner table in America."  #ALongTalk2020 Meet Kyle R. Williams, Chief Empowerment Officer and creator of A Long Talk About The Uncomfortable Truth, hailing from WAshington DC. As a leader and professional educator, Kyle has amassed over 25 years teaching children and a...

Our First Year in Review: A Look Back and a Look Forward InflexionPoint Podcast reflects a commitment to Antiracism Activation conceived in 2020. Anita, Mavis, and Gail came together in allyship in October 2020. They launched the podcast in response to the murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day May 25, 2020. That day became a moment in history that cause a seismic shift felt around the world.&nbsp...

Question of the Hour: What is the connection between the backlash over Disney's Little Mermaid (played by Halle Bailey ) and Critical Race Theory?   Image by Nikkolas Smith   Artivist | Author | Illustrator | Speaker https://www.nikkolas.art         Featured Guest: Allison Gaines   Allison Gaines is a writer, editor, and unapologetic Black scholar pursu...

Question of the Hour: What is Internalized Racism and How Is It Manifested?   Internalized Racism Definition and Reality: " Internalized racism is the situation that occurs in a racist system when a racial group oppressed by racism supports the supremacy and dominance of the dominating group by maintaining or participating in the set of attitudes, behaviors, social structures and ideologies t...

Question of the Hour: How do two retired naval officers, one on a flat career track, the other on a career obstacle course, come together in the wake of the murder of George Floyd?   A Tale of Two Officers   Reuben Keith Green is a retired Surface Warfare U.S. Naval Officer who served 22 years in the Atlantic Fleet. He has devoted his energy to discussing issues regarding milit...

Recap Question: What Do You Mean...Free- ish ? “Slavery didn’t end in 1865. It just evolved. It turned into decades of terrorism, violence, and lynching,” said Bryan Stevenson, delivering the 2017 Tanner Lecture on Human Values. Bryan Stevenson—lawyer, social justice activist, law professor, and founder of Equal Justice Initiative—says the abolition of chattel slavery...

Allyship is not a noun; it's a verb, a lifestyle, and a mindset. The Activism Through Coaching Model serves as a catalyst to demonstrate true allyship. It's a personal journey of action taken to eradicate racism where the result is antiracism activation. Anita Russell, Mavis Bauman, and Gail Hunter, hosts of InflexionPoint Podcast, discuss true allyship and its personal impact.   Watch/Listen...

JK Bridges LinkedIn Article, January 19, 2017 Among many wonderful things, JK Bridges, Federal Recruiter, Corporate Recruiter, Senior Talent Acquisition, and DEI Champion  had this to say about First Lady Michelle Obama and the launch of the Joining Forces initiative . "Coming from a strong military family and as well as a military (Air Force) spouse this organization called on all Ameri...

Question: What Do You Mean...Free-ish? General Order No. 3 - National Archives “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that be...

Meet Rebecca Stevens Alder Hailing from Switzerland by way of Sierra Leone, West Africa, Rebecca Stevens Alder is an Antiracism Activist and Writer on Medium.com . Rebecca writes about racism through her personal perspective yet acknowledges there are so many other things she'd rather write about. Her call to action: "Help me dismantle racism so that I can get on with that." The Power of Pers...

Question of the Hour: How Did the New Deal Create Forced Segregation That Compromised Equitable Fulfillment of the American Dream? In looking at today’s historically redlined neighborhoods, it becomes quite apparent that community assets are greatly affected. In this episode we lean into the conversation about the impact redlining has on social determinants of health in the Black commun...

Being Black Globally - Musings from an Intellectual Brother Meet Corban Swain, Ph. D. candidate in Biological Engineering working in the laboratory of Professor Ed Boyden at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As a scientist, photographer, poet, and PhD student, Mr. Swain pursues diverse interests with a keen eye, befitting the description of an “intellectual brother.” &nb...

Recap: 2017 Publication: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press .   Key Takeaways of the Communities in Action Conceptual Model Health equity is crucial to the well-being and vibrancy of communities. Social inequities matter more than health care in shaping health disparities. He...

In this episode Gail, Mavis, and Anita continue the discussion of specific social determinants of health: social environment, physical environment and transportation, and education. Recap: 2017 Publication: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.   Key Takeaways of the...

Question of the Hour: What are social determinants of health? Discussion: Introduction to Social Determinants of Health Conceptual model   2017 Publication: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press . "Health equity is the state in which everyone has the opportunity to att...

Question of the Hour: What if we truly exercised the birthright to be Black and female anywhere? Benefits of Travel: Access is Everything. Meet Irijah Stennett, the owner of Irie Travels . She is a certified YogaSkills Kemetic Yoga teacher, Pranic Energy Practitioner, Fashion Designer and creator of "Retreat to Freedom". Ms. Stennett is excited to teach everyone from kindergartners to seniors, and...

CROWN Act: C reating a R espectful and O pen W orld for N atural Hair Pretoria High School, a prestigious South African Private School, bans natural hair styles. What's the deal with my hair? My hair naturally grows out of my head thick and curly like a rainforest, yet people expect me to mow it into a lawn with fine, straight blades of grass.  Take a Stand for for the CROWN Ac...

Question of the Hour: How does an African-American Adoptee create an identity construct that transcends the pain of historical and experiential relinquishment?   In this episode we continue the previous discussion of identity. This time Gail, Mavis, and I welcome our first guest, Mr. Michael Williams, hailing from North Carolina. We are super charged with excitement to have Michael on the sho...

We continue the saga of personal identity across multiple decades. In previous episodes we covered the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and the murder of Emmett Till, a flame that burned itself right into the Civil Rights Movement. In this episode we highlight specific moments, personal experiences and impactful words uttered in eras marked by iconic protest s...

The journey towards antiracism is not your typical journey. It requires critical self-reflection on two levels: (1) awareness of your own, thoughts, ideas, and beliefs about racism/antiracism and (2) accountability for what emerges in your words, actions, and behaviors. The Activism through Coaching model is a grassroots process that facilitates personal transformation through critical self-reflec...