Interfaiths 13: Beyond the Binary: Building Bridges Through Arts and Dialogue

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Welcome to another episode of the Interfaith
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Podcast. I'm your host, Professor Iqbal Akhtar
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here at FIU, and we're very honored today to
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have Jenny Pearson to talk to us. She's from
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the Jewish Federation here in Miami, and we're
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going to kind of go a little bit into her background,
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her experience, and the work that she's doing
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for Federation. Welcome, Jenny. Thank you. Thank
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you for coming. Talk to us a little bit about
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your life. Who are you? So, wow. So, professionally?
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Life. Like, start off from, you know, who are
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you personally? And then we can get into professionally.
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Talk a little bit maybe about your childhood.
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Okay. What are some of the things that shaped
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who you are as a person? OK, so I grew up in
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New York and but I spent part of every year here
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in Florida. My family had a lot of family here.
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And so we would be here for like every summer
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and every school break and everything. And my
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father, you know, my father eventually had a
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part of his company here and everything. So Florida
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is a big part of my life, even though I grew
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up in New York City. But I grew up with parents
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who were very active in their community. They
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both were community leaders in different ways,
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either as part of boards or presidents of organizations,
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from everything from the neighborhood association
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to the local hospital to a Jewish school for
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kids with special needs. My dad was a big part
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of that growing up. And our synagogue. So being
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Jewish was a big part of my childhood. We were
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a observant reform home. So what that means is
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even though my mother grew up traditional and
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my father grew up in the sort of worker circle,
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which is the sort of. socialist kind of like
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eastern european jewishness um he became more
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actively uh religiously active when he became
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part when he met my mom and when he married my
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mom and um so we celebrated every holiday we
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marked shabbat we um uh We were very Jewish,
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actually, in a neighborhood that was not Jewish
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in Brooklyn. It's hard to imagine that when you
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think of Brooklyn, you think of like Jewish.
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But we lived in a part of Brooklyn that was like
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people from the Mayflower. OK, so. Yeah. So it
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was really weird. And I always was kind of like.
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Feeling like an outcast as a Jew, not as anything
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else, not not intellectually, not not socially
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so much, but. I definitely felt like my family
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was different. There were big cultural differences
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that I felt. And then, of course, in Florida,
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we were on the Gulf Coast, which is also less
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Jewish than this coast. And so it also was sort
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of like being an outcast to be Jewish. So as
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I grew up, I did decide that I was more interested
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in making a life in Florida than New York City.
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I grew up active in the arts. I went into the
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arts professionally as an adult, and I thought
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it would be a more interesting challenge to be
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in Florida, which was at the time a growing cultural
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community. I mean, it's still growing, but...
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It wasn't like New York City, which is like you
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would really be a really small fish in a really,
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really big sea in terms of the arts. And so I
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thought it'd be a much more interesting challenge
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to be in a place where culture is sort of less
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present and less understood. And so I worked
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in the arts from the beginning of my career.
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And I was working in the arts in the in in in.
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in a field that centers on community engaged
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practice. So artists and organizations that do
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arts for social change. So very early on, I was
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introduced to the values of community -based
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work and community responsive work and community
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values and social change values. social justice
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values. So I've done that in my career at all
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different kinds of organizations, from very small
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grassroots organizations to very large major
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institutions like the Florida Philharmonic, which
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doesn't exist anymore, and the Adrian Arsht Center,
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where I was the director of community engagement.
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So my work sort of became Because there was so
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much of it was about building that bridge between
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the arts and community. I focused a lot on community
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engagement. There was about 10 or 15 years that
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I was specifically focused on the community that
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I was focused on in my community engagement was
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the Jewish community. So I was really interested
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in arts programs that and I produced arts programs
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that were about pushing. the edges and redefining
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or helping people get beyond stereotypes about
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what Jewish culture is and also doing. breaking
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the boundaries of what Jewish culture is. Can
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you give us an example? So, yes. So one of the
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things I did was I took a traditional Passover
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Seder and I worked with a group of artists and
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I assigned them all, well, they chose self -selected
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different parts of the Seder that they felt a
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particular connection to and they interpreted.
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that part of the Seder through their artistic
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practice, whether they were performing artists
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or visual artists. So we had poetry, we had film,
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we had sculpture, we had painting, all that each
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piece represented a different part of the Passover
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Seder. Should I explain Passover Seder a little
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bit more? Probably, yeah. So a Passover Seder
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is, Seder means order in Hebrew, and a Passover
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Seder Seder is the home service that we have
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during Passover, which is an important Jewish
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holiday in the spring that's around when Easter
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is. And it reminds us of the story of Exodus.
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It's all about the story of Exodus. And it has
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a prayer book called the Haggadah that takes
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you through the story and takes you through remembering
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that we were slaves in Egypt. And that is really
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important to the work. I do now. So a really,
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really significant value is remembering always
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that we were slaves in Egypt and we were the
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strangers. And so it's always really important
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that we take care of anyone who is enslaved,
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anyone who is oppressed, anyone who is othered
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or marginalized. That's a really, really important
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Jewish value. And as is welcoming the stranger.
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So it's very much about... building bridges.
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It's very much about that. So that's what a Passover
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Seder is. It has all these different parts. It
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has something called a Seder plate, which has
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different symbols. So like, you know, one symbol
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reflects our tears. One symbol reflects the mortar
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that we used between bricks when we... when we
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were slaves and we had to build buildings for
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the Pharaoh. And so we took the Seder plate.
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People took things on the Seder plate, but they
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also took different prayer sections. Like, for
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example, there's the four questions, which is
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when the youngest person at the table asks. Oh,
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and Passover Seders happen around the table.
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I should have said that. And in the four questions,
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the youngest person asks all of these questions
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most significantly. Why is this night different
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from all other nights? Which always reminds us
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in everything we do to to really look at the
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uniqueness of every situation and and what we're
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trying to remember by it, that we're that we
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are keeping it unique and holy. And there's another
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part. So somebody did the four questions as their
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theme. And there's also there's a lot of themes
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of four. There's four cups of wine traditionally.
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And there's four children, which traditionally
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is four sons. But having grown up in a progressive
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Jewish movement, we're egalitarian. So we call
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it we do it as children. And so like one is one
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doesn't know how to ask and one doesn't know
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how to, you know. get themselves out of a situation.
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And, you know, and it's really interesting to
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look at all of these different ways of being
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human. And we can find ourselves in all four,
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all four. My husband did a reinterpretation of
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it that we use in our Seder, which is for intelligences.
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So we focus on that. So that was an example of
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an art project where artists... took a Jewish
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tradition and turned it into their artistic practice.
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So it was extremely obviously very contemporary
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because it was live living art that was made
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in the moment. And I liked to think of the Jewish
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culture that I produced as being beyond Fiddler
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on the Roof. I always used to say it's beyond
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Fiddler on the Roof because so often when people
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think about what is Jewish culture, they think
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of Fiddler on the Roof. Being Jewish is so much
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more than Fiddler on the Roof. One of the main
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things is that Fiddler on the Roof talks about
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one community of Jews in a certain part of the
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world. And in fact, the diaspora, the Jewish
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diaspora has taken us all over the world. And
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there's Jews in every continent. almost every
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country and people practice in so many different
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ways and there's so many different traditions
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and foods and different kinds of music which
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was another thing that I did is I created a music
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festival called the Guava Ragalach. music festival.
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So ragalach is a little pastry that's common
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in Eastern European Jewish communities. And I
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walked into a store. and um a kosher market here
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in miami and i saw a package that said guava
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rug and i was like only in miami like only in
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miami would they take a tropical fruit and make
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an eastern european pastry out of it and um that
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was when i got the idea for the name of the festival
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but i was already working on this unnamed music
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festival that was about bringing together all
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the different um kinds of music that comes from
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all the different kinds of Jewish communities
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that exist in Miami. So that festival happened
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about three or four times. And that was really
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fun. And then we also had like a, I forgot what
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we called it, Guava Jam. And it was the different
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cultures of music coming together and playing
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a song together, but with their own musical traditions.
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So like all the artists jammed together on the
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stage. It was pretty cool. That's amazing. Wow.
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I mean, it's really kind of pushing the boundaries
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of like, of culture. And, and I think Miami is
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good in that sense is that you actually have
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such a remarkable combination of people and it's
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a massive. uh it was a big community yeah um
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and like you said they're representative from
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all across the jewish diaspora here all across
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the jewish diaspora and then and then it ends
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up having its own miami flavor exactly which
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is informed by all of these other cultures right
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exactly so that's very cool so um so so that
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gives you an idea that i'm you know that i was
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interested in in examining the Jewish community
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and over the years showing the world that the
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Jewish community is diverse and can be so many
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other things and forming partnerships with other
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communities which is what I've done in the arts
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through different situations where either the
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work that was when i was doing specifically jewish
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work but you know i also spent two years actually
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um examining muslim culture and celebrating muslim
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culture through the arts at an arts organization
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i was with and so i learned a lot about muslim
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culture during that time one of the things i
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learned was um just uh I learned how accessible
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it was to me because of my own traditions. I
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understand. So it was really interesting to understand
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culturally rooted work based on, or culturally
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rooted ideas based on text, based on religious
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traditions. Based on, exactly. So that was really
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cool. And I also spent some time, you know, we
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we were doing a few seasons looking at environmental
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work. And so we were forming partnerships with
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environmental organizations and learned a lot
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about that then. So so that's when I then I went
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to be director of. community engagement. And
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I was really interested in, I was producing all
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the cult, the community programs at the Arsh
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Center. So the free programs, the Free Gospel
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Sundays, Family Fest, which was a program for
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young families, and forming relationships with
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all these different kinds of community groups.
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And then September 7th, October 7th happened.
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And I felt this instinct to work Jewishly again.
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And so I was very, very lucky to find my current
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job, which is community relations manager for
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the... Jewish Community Relations Council of
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the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. So my work
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is about bringing all of those partnerships that
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I started forming around the community, plus
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forming new ones, and really building bridges
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between the Jewish community and other... other
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communities. They're not only faith -based, they're
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also culturally and, and, and spiritual, not
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spiritual, they're culturally and, and, and,
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and socially based. So it's great because I get
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to work with the, so many of the same people
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and the same communities. But it's really about
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like, how do Jews and Muslims Live together,
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work together, celebrate together, find our similarities
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and not just talk about our differences. I just
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launched a program that I'm really, really excited
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about called Rekindle Miami. It is a program
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that is about black Jewish relations. Right.
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And it is. For people in their 20s and 30s, it's
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a cohort. We had our first meeting this past
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Sunday, I guess almost a week ago. And it was
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great. It was like great to have everybody in
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the room. People were really, you know, it's
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facilitated and there are guidelines so that,
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you know, it's a safe space where everything
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that happens there stays there. We just had the
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first meeting where we sort of like talked about
00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:28.660
ourselves and talked about our identities and
00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:31.160
talked about assumptions and stereotypes that
00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:34.019
people make about us just based on how we look
00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:37.059
or whatever. But we're going to do some cool
00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:40.019
things like we're going to be, well, not so cool,
00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:42.299
but looking at, I mean, it's cool, but not cool
00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:44.900
to learn about anti -Semitism and racism and
00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:48.640
white supremacy. So I love the idea of Jews.
00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.539
And people from the black community being in
00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:55.640
a room together and together hearing about racism
00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:57.619
and being able to talk about it and together
00:17:57.619 --> 00:18:00.220
being able to talk about anti -Semitism and together
00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:02.240
being able to talk about white supremacy, which
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:09.140
affects both of us. So I really love that it's
00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:15.099
a space for that dialogue to happen. I hope that
00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:17.819
what happens, it's six months long, and I hope
00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:20.339
that afterwards people remain friends and remain
00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:22.480
in each other's lives and remain doing things
00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.880
together. That would be a real sign of success.
00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:32.480
That's amazing. You've had a very interesting
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:38.539
professional journey. And what do you think is
00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:44.000
one of the... I mean, what are some of the challenges
00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.500
that you are going through now working with Federation?
00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:50.400
You talked a little bit about October 7th. How
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:54.460
does that complicate the situation in terms of
00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:57.160
the work that you're doing? That's a really great
00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:03.140
question and really real, really real. There's
00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:06.519
a lot of misinformation about October 7th and
00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:09.799
there's a lot of misinformation about what's
00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:15.660
going on in Gaza. And it's created a lot of division.
00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:19.660
And so I would say one of the hardest things
00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:25.460
is navigating those divisions and being the person
00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:28.380
that's about everybody being in the room together
00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:32.279
regardless of those divisions or creating, bringing
00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:36.759
people together over their divisions or beyond
00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:49.150
their divisions. So there's a lot of, like yesterday
00:19:49.150 --> 00:19:55.349
I was talking to somebody about something with
00:19:55.349 --> 00:20:00.069
Gaza and like it became really clear that we
00:20:00.069 --> 00:20:04.829
had different information. I was going to say
00:20:04.829 --> 00:20:09.740
different stances, but. the stances are formed
00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:13.039
by the information we have. And so instead of
00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.319
saying, okay, I can't talk to this person. We
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:17.019
obviously feel really differently about this.
00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.859
I said, and we were at a party, so it wasn't
00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:22.759
the best place to talk. And I said, we're going
00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:25.319
to have coffee and we're going to talk about
00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:27.140
this. And I'm going to tell you everything I
00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:28.359
know. And you're going to tell me everything,
00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:31.839
you know, and we're going to find how we can,
00:20:31.940 --> 00:20:37.890
um, work together and, um, move forward together.
00:20:38.250 --> 00:20:43.049
Because I think that's a goal. And it's not just
00:20:43.049 --> 00:20:45.849
outside of the Jewish community. That happened
00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:47.289
to be somebody outside of the Jewish community.
00:20:47.369 --> 00:20:49.829
That was somebody in the black community. So
00:20:49.829 --> 00:20:53.490
even in the Jewish community, there are people
00:20:53.490 --> 00:20:55.390
that lean left and there are people that lean
00:20:55.390 --> 00:21:03.369
right. And it's really important to say, okay,
00:21:03.549 --> 00:21:06.859
but here's the things that... we can agree on
00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:12.019
and here are the things that affect both of us
00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:17.380
and how are we being the best people we can be
00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:24.339
celebrating our culture the best we can i think
00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:29.279
that we all want that right so yeah no i mean
00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:31.160
i think um i mean one of the things that i've
00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:35.500
also seen um So we're starting a student dialogue
00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:41.000
group here at FIU. And I think one of the things
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:45.480
is that we also assume that people on the other
00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:49.480
side are all kind of monolithic as well. And
00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:51.400
there's actually a lot of diversity even among
00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:54.539
people that are different from us and to be able
00:21:54.539 --> 00:21:56.240
to engage. And there are people that are open,
00:21:56.359 --> 00:21:58.099
right? And so you have to figure out who those
00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:00.900
people are and engage with them. And I think,
00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:03.299
again, part of the way that you're able to change
00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:05.240
people's opinions is just engaging with them
00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:06.859
and talking to them. And I think that's exactly
00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.440
the work that we need to be doing. And it's not
00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:11.279
just, I think, in terms of interfaith work, but
00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:14.440
even, you know, we talked earlier about political
00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:16.539
polarization in the United States as well. That's
00:22:16.539 --> 00:22:18.880
a really big issue as well. So, you know, what
00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.400
are your politics and then how do you self -select
00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:24.599
then instead of engaging with the other or with
00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:25.839
someone who has different sort of perspectives?
00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:30.539
Right. That, so actually. because you said this,
00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:32.019
I actually want to go back to something that
00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:33.599
I said, which is I said, you know, in the Jewish
00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:34.819
community, there's people on the left, there's
00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:37.059
people on the right. It's not that simple. It's
00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:40.579
not, it's not whatever the two version of monolithic,
00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:45.619
it's not bi, bi -alithic. I just made up a word.
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:50.180
It's not binary. Hello, that's the word. So it's
00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:52.400
not left and right either. It's like this incredible
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:56.059
continuum with people in all different spaces.
00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:05.480
So, and I think that, I think that I hope and
00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.700
I wish that we all remember that it's a continuum
00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.779
and it's not black and white. It's not a binary
00:23:12.779 --> 00:23:18.119
and still can come together and and move forward
00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:25.000
with that. And I a lot of my work is with people
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.240
who in some ways on the binary, you think you'd
00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:32.539
think. oh, that's totally not, you know, that's
00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:36.119
totally not something that a Jewish person could
00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:42.200
relate to or a progressive person. And I have
00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:44.900
become really good friends with some very conservative
00:23:44.900 --> 00:23:51.140
people. And it's outside of the Jewish community.
00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:57.490
And I think that what makes it work is that we
00:23:57.490 --> 00:24:00.589
have some values that we share and that's what
00:24:00.589 --> 00:24:03.950
we can focus on. Right. And, and I think it's
00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:07.269
okay. It's okay to share some values and to not
00:24:07.269 --> 00:24:10.369
be like, I don't agree with this person and therefore
00:24:10.369 --> 00:24:13.710
I'm not going to engage with them in my life.
00:24:13.809 --> 00:24:16.009
Exactly. Right. I think it's the total opposite.
00:24:16.069 --> 00:24:19.609
I think it's like what you said. It's engaging.
00:24:19.849 --> 00:24:23.150
It's coming together. Finding your shared values,
00:24:23.470 --> 00:24:27.329
celebrating your shared values, because then
00:24:27.329 --> 00:24:31.930
you have. Then you've completely humanized the
00:24:31.930 --> 00:24:36.069
quote unquote other side. And and it's sort of
00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:40.650
when you've humanized it, it's less scary. It's
00:24:40.650 --> 00:24:46.549
like less giant, you know, and and maybe from
00:24:46.549 --> 00:24:52.220
there we can really have. conversations that
00:24:52.220 --> 00:24:55.119
affect change right yeah no i mean i agree and
00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:56.500
i think one of the other things that's really
00:24:56.500 --> 00:25:01.259
powerful um not just values but also um sharing
00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:05.240
your life experiences um you know uh having children
00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:09.390
or you know, witnessing your family member die.
00:25:09.829 --> 00:25:11.569
They're very, very profound things that happen
00:25:11.569 --> 00:25:13.910
in our lives as humans that can be shared across
00:25:13.910 --> 00:25:16.549
and that, you know, it doesn't, you don't need
00:25:16.549 --> 00:25:18.869
ideology to be able to communicate empathy and
00:25:18.869 --> 00:25:21.549
sort of love and sadness and those sorts of things.
00:25:21.630 --> 00:25:24.130
And I think tapping into the emotional connection
00:25:24.130 --> 00:25:26.170
that we have with each other. So going beyond
00:25:26.170 --> 00:25:28.069
just the intellectual and like what I believe,
00:25:28.109 --> 00:25:30.450
but really what I feel, I think is a very powerful
00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:32.329
way of being able to do that, you know. Right.
00:25:32.390 --> 00:25:34.730
And I think being able to be there for each other
00:25:34.730 --> 00:25:37.589
through all of those profound life events. Yeah.
00:25:38.769 --> 00:25:42.509
Yeah, no, absolutely. You're able to really then
00:25:42.509 --> 00:25:44.710
those are the friendships that, you know, endure
00:25:44.710 --> 00:25:47.470
for life. Yeah. If you're with someone when they're
00:25:47.470 --> 00:25:51.430
at their worst moment, they'll be with you forever,
00:25:51.569 --> 00:25:55.970
you know. So it's very powerful. So we have a
00:25:55.970 --> 00:26:01.369
lot of students here at FIU and they. are not
00:26:01.369 --> 00:26:03.470
sure what they want to do with their life. So
00:26:03.470 --> 00:26:06.410
what is some wisdom that you can give them based
00:26:06.410 --> 00:26:08.470
on your life experience, diverse set of life
00:26:08.470 --> 00:26:10.390
experiences, the communities that you engage
00:26:10.390 --> 00:26:13.609
with, the work that you do as an artist and as
00:26:13.609 --> 00:26:18.450
a creative? What would you tell students who
00:26:18.450 --> 00:26:20.309
are kind of like figuring out what they want
00:26:20.309 --> 00:26:26.349
to do with their lives? Wow, that's a huge moment
00:26:26.349 --> 00:26:31.559
in somebody's life. I would say, the most important
00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:36.920
thing is to love what you do or do what you love.
00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:42.019
So if there's something that you love doing,
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:46.660
figure out how to do that professionally. If
00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:50.660
it feels like, oh, but that's so easy. I shouldn't
00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:52.420
be doing that professionally. I need to do something
00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:55.339
that challenges me or is hard. The truth is that
00:26:55.339 --> 00:26:58.059
thing that comes easy to you is probably not
00:26:58.059 --> 00:27:00.640
easy to somebody else. And the fact that it's
00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:02.960
easy to you is a message that that's what you
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.400
should be doing. Excellent advice. No, that's
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:08.799
absolutely correct. Yeah. One of the owners of
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:12.400
Ben and Jerry's has a quote that's something
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:16.880
like, if it's not fun, why do it? And I always
00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:20.430
think about that. I mean, you seem to very much
00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:22.769
enjoy the work that you do. I do very much enjoy
00:27:22.769 --> 00:27:26.990
the work that I do. And it gives me energy, which
00:27:26.990 --> 00:27:29.029
is a really important thing, too. It's like you
00:27:29.029 --> 00:27:31.369
have to be passionate about your work because
00:27:31.369 --> 00:27:36.029
you need it to fuel you. You need to go to bed
00:27:36.029 --> 00:27:38.230
every night thinking, I can't wait to get back
00:27:38.230 --> 00:27:41.809
to work tomorrow and dive into this. You know,
00:27:41.809 --> 00:27:44.390
or make that call even like, oh, I can't wait
00:27:44.390 --> 00:27:47.029
to talk to that person or I can't wait to solve
00:27:47.029 --> 00:27:49.750
this problem. All right. You know, I think it's
00:27:49.750 --> 00:27:53.490
really true. So you talk to the community. What
00:27:53.490 --> 00:27:55.690
advice would you have or what is your vision
00:27:55.690 --> 00:27:58.670
for? I mean, you're kind of the director of community
00:27:58.670 --> 00:28:02.069
engagement for the Federation. I mean, what is
00:28:02.069 --> 00:28:05.569
what would you like to see in terms of community
00:28:05.569 --> 00:28:09.680
engagement in Miami? Where are we lacking and
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:15.339
what would you like to see more of? I would like
00:28:15.339 --> 00:28:23.380
to see more sort of crossing of the aisle. More
00:28:23.380 --> 00:28:30.640
risk -taking in engaging somebody that you think
00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:36.220
you don't agree with or you think you are at.
00:28:37.930 --> 00:28:47.190
odds with um i would like to see more miami is
00:28:47.190 --> 00:28:52.269
an incredibly diverse community and um and i
00:28:52.269 --> 00:28:54.549
actually think that's really beautiful that every
00:28:54.549 --> 00:28:57.589
that you know that there are differences in communities
00:28:57.589 --> 00:28:59.390
that have their own cultures their own communities
00:28:59.390 --> 00:29:01.250
their own neighborhoods and you know i think
00:29:01.250 --> 00:29:05.740
that's great um but i also think that um We need
00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:11.900
to take each other along through it. And I also
00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:14.059
think that all of our problems will be solved
00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:24.380
if... Oh, sorry. What I think you said earlier,
00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:28.220
or what we were talking about earlier, which
00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:31.019
is that when you come together and you find out
00:29:31.019 --> 00:29:33.539
the things you have in common, you can move forward
00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:36.900
to... accept the things you don't have in common
00:29:36.900 --> 00:29:42.000
and understand what it's about right um when
00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:46.700
when you have a place for friendship um you can
00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:49.940
talk about the hard stuff absolutely all right
00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:53.000
wonderful um any last message you would like
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.410
to Nope. So, okay. All right. Well, wonderful.
00:29:55.710 --> 00:29:58.750
Thank you so much, Jenny, for your time. We're
00:29:58.750 --> 00:30:01.049
really sort of honored to have you and to have
00:30:01.049 --> 00:30:04.490
your story and your work put out there as an
00:30:04.490 --> 00:30:06.309
inspiration for our students. So thank you. Great.
00:30:06.430 --> 00:30:10.250
And I love students. I'll have you maybe give
00:30:10.250 --> 00:30:12.630
a class lecture one day. I would love to give
00:30:12.630 --> 00:30:14.829
a class lecture. When I worked at MDC, I did
00:30:14.829 --> 00:30:17.609
it all the time. Okay. Awesome. Well, thank you
00:30:17.609 --> 00:30:19.609
for coming out here. Really appreciate it. Thank
00:30:19.609 --> 00:30:22.630
you. I hope you enjoyed it. I did. Thank you.