S2 Episode 14: Tasha Morrison

Hi y'all, it's Chrystal Hurst and I'm here with LaTosha Morrison. Hello. Okay, so let me tell you what I do know about her, what I know of her, and then what we're going to get to know more about today. So, uh, I know LaTosha Morrison because I have heard Jenny Allen talk about you all the time. Um, both from her platform as well as just one-on-one. And of course she speaks very highly of you and loves everything that you're all about and everything that you've done to, um, just y'all's relationship, your friendship and all that jazz. So I know that Latasha Morrison, um, loves Jenny, loves IF and all the things that have been happening around IF Gathering, which we're here still at IF Gathering taping. And, um, beyond that relational, um, the relational conversations and the building of connection that they've had, Latasha, I also know of her, that she is the founder of Be the Bridge, which is an organization I'll let her tell you about in just a second. And here's what I want to get to know. So I'm here— when I do these interviews, this is the thing. First of all, it's usually because I have questions, and it would be weird for me to call people up and say, so let me just— can I just get to know you? Do you have 30 minutes? I can just talk to you for a minute. But if I put a camera on or put a microphone, then it's official. Then I get to ask all the questions I really want to ask. And I have a bunch of things for you, but let's start with this. Um, just who are you? What season of life are you in? Just general, just general landscape before we go into some other stuff.

Yes, I am LaTosha Morrison and I currently live in Atlanta, Georgia. And when I met Jenny, I lived, I was living in Texas, but Texas was too hot for me. I'm sorry. I had to leave you guys. Atlanta gets hot. But no, it's a different kind of hot. It's a different kind of hot. But, uh, I wanted to be closer with family. And so I moved back recently within the last year. Um, for me, I'm in a really, um, I would say a content season, you know, in that sense where, um, open to what God is doing, but doing what I know to do in this sense, you know. And so, um, um, I feel like it's an exciting season and I'm always looking for the opportunity in the season, you know. So I think, um, my age has, you know, once you turn 40, you're like, you have an MBA in life. That's what I'm saying. And it's like, it is what it is.

It is what it is.

Exactly. Exactly. You know, it's like the things I can control, my controllables. Okay. I can control those things. My uncontrollables. I ain't worried about those things. And so that's where I am in this work.

Then the question is, what are you doing? But before we get to that, you're single and married?

Yes, I am single. Very much so. Kids or no kids? No kids. Okay.

Cause whenever I'm talking to anybody about anything, um, usually the single women are like, okay, but you know, what about us? What about us?

Well, I am, I am your what about single. I am very much single.

And the other part of that is just, um, you know, doing some things that are totally purpose-driven and totally ministry-oriented, but passion, passion-oriented too. Okay. So Be the Bridge is your thing. Yes. Okay. So what is it and how did you even—

my accidental nonprofit.

Is that what we— okay, let's go with that.

Yeah. And I like to call it my accidental nonprofit because I don't know, maybe there's some people where that is your goal. That's what you want to do. This is the work that you've been called to. But for me—

were you called into ministry before though?

Yes.

Okay. So you were called into ministry.

I was—

I've been in the church.

Yeah.

Okay.

So I started off in corporate America originally. Yes. So I was, I was 10 years corporate and then, um, I was always working as a volunteer in the church that I was going to and then that turned into a full-time position. And, but I've always had things on the side. So I was still, you know, doing a behavioral aid, you know, within the community. Um, I was, um, doing a lot of work in human trafficking with organizations. So I've always had these threads that no matter what I was doing, I was always doing other things, you know. And so for me, I'll just start with the little things that I know to do, and that little thing turned into all of this. And so my little disturbance of what I was feeling, um, started with having conversations, uh, with people about movies that would come out, like 12 Years a Slave, Selma, you know. It started like that. Um, and having, having worked in a predominantly African American church and then moving into a predominantly white church environment.

Was that intentional?

You know what it was? I would say it was intentional in a sense, but kind of rounded about like, you know, when you've had church hurt, you know, I think how I was coping with it was like, mm, I can't deal with us no more. Just to be honest, I was like, I can't deal with us no more.

So these conversations just, I guess, kept happening.

They kept happening. And so I started making those. I said, we really need to have some family talk. Like really, we're going to be in this together. Then we need to have some real talk. And that, that was the thing where I want to say we need to have these environments where we're talking about these difficult things. And that was the beginning stages of how do we do this and why are Christian spaces is so separate and so homogeneous. And so, you know, and when you look at that, you know, the Black church is the expression of, of, of really of the body of Christ because we were not allowed to worship in those spaces. So it's not about really us going into those spaces. It's really, I think people in those dominant spaces should be coming to learn from the Black church and from, you know, and I, and so, so just in those conversations we would have started having those types of conversations and, um, went to a conference, met Jenny Allen and I was like, this is a beautiful conference, but what is if this was if, and I was like, wow, why do we have these separate conferences? You know, these conferences, like, is there any intentionality that goes into thinking about how can I make Could this be for all Christians? Like, is that even a thought? You know? And, um, Jenny, someone knew Jenny that was a part of that I met at the conference. There was like 5 Black people there. And so Jenny knows I tell the story. It was like 5 and I met all 5. Cause we will find each other. We'll find each other. And we had coffee afterwards and we talked about all the things. And, um, but you know what? Um, one of the girls invited Jenny to the conversation. Jenny showed up cause she wanted to learn and she was like, I want to— how, how can I do this?

Was it the taco conversation?

Yes, it was.

It was the taco conversation.

Yeah. We talked about that and, um, and we just said a lot of things to her and I think some other people said some, spoke some things to her and she was like, you know, I really would like— and the conversation ended up being a lot of other things, you know? And so, You know, the conversation ended, you know, with, "Let's get together and let me get some of my friends together with some of your friends." And our friend Kim Patton, her organization did like this restorative justice in the schools and we kind of used that model and everything. And that was really the beginning.

Why do you think you are wired? Is it a part of your DNA or is there something that makes you mindful of being a bridge builder versus someone who is not naturally wired that way? They just would rather not bother.

Yeah, I think it's both. I think it's both.

As a Black woman?

Yeah, I think for me it's both. I think it's the way I was raised. I grew up in a very diverse environment. My father was in the military.

Okay.

My grandfather was in the military. Um, and so my neighborhood was really diverse. My school was really diverse. My life became more segregated when I went to college and became a Christian in college. That's when my life became more segregated.

Wow.

Yes. And so with that, because on our campus we had, it was predominantly white, but we had the fellowships for African American students, and then you had fellowships, Christian fellowships for predominantly white students. And so a lot of the, I'm not gonna date myself, but a lot of the Christian organizations hadn't really expanded into to really have a reach. Yes, reaching all students. And so, you know, a lot of what we have to do is like look out for our own and fill those needs. And so I was reached through an African American ministry and, um, I can't tell you one white person I met in high school, in college. I can't think of one. We lived in the same dorms together. I went to class, I went to a predominantly white campus at large.

But you found your world and you stayed in it.

And I stayed in it. And that was it. And then we, and people, you can easily do that, you know? And I think that thread was always there. I was involved in minority student affairs there. I was looking out for, I went to East Carolina University and so I was always looking out for, I went to A&M, Texas A&M, we had a minority student affairs. Okay. Yeah. I was a part of ABLE.

Yeah. I worked in the minority student affairs.

You did? Me too.

Yeah, me too.

I worked there and, um, I was a part of this organization called ABLE Allies. Allied Blacks for Leadership and Equality, you know, but this is the thing, I was doing all these things, but really not tying it, it was just, I was just doing the things I was doing.

Well, but many times the things that we're doing, we're not supposed to tie.

Exactly.

You know, we do the things, I call it throwing spaghetti at the wall, and it just looks like these random noodles that are on the wall, but eventually you start to see a picture emerge, and it's sometimes not until someone else calls it out. But it was there.

You just didn't see it. It was there.

Or it's not until there's enough of what is seemingly random for there to be enough of the seemingly random to form a cohesive picture.

Yeah. So it just takes time. That is my life, you know, and just one thing led to another. Jenny asked me to, she said, can you take what we've done and kind of put it together in some kind of format? And that process of coming up with that first guide, she just said like a 1 to 2 page guide to help, a prayer guide to help people. Yeah. And I came up with basically a whole curriculum, you know, that for— and she said, we're going to give it out at the conference. You know, I said, okay, that's good. And we did that. Then she said, okay, can you like have a conversation at the conference? Like we can model how to do this so that people understand they have context for downloading, you know, the guide. And I was like, oh yeah, you should do that. She's like, no, you need to do that. I want you to like lead that. And I'm like, You want me to get up in front of all these white people and talk about this?

Because there were 5, now there are 10.

Yes, you know, I was like, you want me to get up in front of all these people and say this? And I was like, because if it goes sideways, she gonna blame the black girl. And I shared that with her at another event. She was like, you thought that? I was like, mm-hmm, I did. I had some trust issues, you know. That conversation, even from there, it was just more like, this is something I do. Like, this is, it's not an organization. It was just, this is a way, one way of doing something. There's many ways. There's other organizations out there doing some great and beautiful things. I just feel like this is just one way. This is one choice, you know?

So Be the Bridge now is, there's a curriculum, there's a curriculum, there's groups.

We have over 1,000 groups across the country. Our Facebook group started with 69 people. Just 69 of my friends because I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this conference. I'm not an organization. What, like, what are we going to do? So I started a Facebook group and put some friends in and we started doing some talking, you know, and to see, you know, just to get some stuff. So we had a place to take people because I didn't have a website. This isn't an organization. I didn't have any intentions of building an organization. And now we're at over online 22,000. And that's just, and that's a secret group that you have to answer questions. You got to do, uh, a unit, units of work.

And the goal of this group is just ongoing cultural development conversations.

And we call it racial literacy and racial literacy. And it's 3 months. You have 3 months of silence. So when you join our group, I don't care who you are, you can't say nothing.

You know what that is?

You can rule in life. You just need to show up and just know you gotta watch and listen and learn for a little bit.

Exactly.

Exactly. Yeah. Because sometimes we think we come into a conversation thinking we know everything. And so you can, you can read, you can download stuff, but you cannot comment and you cannot post. And that is hard for a lot of people. And so that's when you know you're not ready. It's okay if it's hard for you. You could go, you don't have to, you know, it's okay if you don't like the rule, that's okay too. You know, but this is our rule and these are our values. This is our mission. We make sure we remind people. This is how we have the conversation in this group, but it's okay if you don't want to have the conversation like this in our group. There's other groups. I'm telling you, we're just one way. That's it.

I'm just one person with this mentality of bridge building.

Uh-huh.

Everybody, I'm sure, does not agree with the concept of bridge building.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

I think that societally, what I'm, what I'm running into is that while it can, while that thought process can be with anyone in any place within, but there is a generational thing. Yeah. I think as far as, um, those who are Black but are younger, so millennial age, it's like, why do we have to do all that?

Yeah. I think you have, people have different roles and I think there's, you just like you have prophets and priests, you know, and then you have some people that can do both. You know, I don't think it's an either/or question.

But don't you think that in our culture right now there's a drawing of a line?

Yes, but I'm just saying we have to resist that as Kingdom Builders. We have to resist that because I don't feel like nobody has to do things like I'm doing.

You're called to be the bridge. Maybe I'm called to fight for justice in a different way. And that's what God is putting in me.

Just think about our leaders. You had King, but you had other people that were around that did things differently. You had James Baldwin. You had, I mean, you had like different Christian leaders, some that weren't Christian leaders, but everybody did things and they had their own separate types of impact, you know. And, but for me, this is just the path that God has given me. And you know, when, and when I'm talking about bridge building, this is what I have to explain to a lot of people because people think, oh, we'll walk across the bridge and it's kumbaya and you listen to me and I listen to you. No, that's not what I'm talking about. The type of Racial— when we're talking about racial bridge building and we're talking about history in America, it's about lifting up that marginalized voice. And so you shouldn't come into this conversation thinking like, okay, we're building a bridge and it's equal. No, because when we think about the kingdom of God, it's about equity, you know. And so we have to give, you know, we have to listen to those voices that are not voiceless, they're just unheard because you're not listening. And so we have to elevate those voices. So people come into our group and they're like, well, why do we have like the people of color? Like, this is about da da da, we need to tell our side. No, we live your side, you know? And so, but, and so, so, so I think sometimes when people think of bridge building, they think of comfort. Um, and no, there's discomfort.

What I've heard too is that, uh, one of the people who have talked a lot about this and her thing is why do I have to explain You keep asking me to explain. Why do I keep having to explain? And she said, the reason why you want me to explain is not because there can be change, but so you can feel better. So you want me to now work hard to make you feel better.

And that's why we make people, we encourage people, not make people, we encourage people to educate yourself. And so we have 16 tips.

But my white friends then say, if I've been living in this world that I didn't know, that there were these things. I don't even know where to start.

But this is the thing, and see, that's what we do. We give you where to start. We give you a whole curriculum.

Okay.

And we give you 16 tips. We give you all the tools that you need.

We give you books to read, different things to do.

Yes, videos to watch, movies to watch. We give you a whole— we even have a whole curriculum that you can pay for.

There are all kinds of people here watching, including some of us.

Exactly. We give you a free curriculum, and then we give you one that you can pay for and invest in this, you know.

And so I think, you know, some of us don't know why we think the way we think. Exactly. We know we think that way. Exactly. All our people think that way. Yeah. But historically it goes back to the glossary and the terminology. We don't, right.

But we're tired. This is the thing because this is not a new conversation. You know, it's maybe, maybe there's some polarization right now, but this is, yo, this has been going on for centuries. You know what I'm saying? And we've been saying the same things for centuries. All I'm doing is saying maybe a different way than somebody else said it, you know, 40 years ago, 20 years ago, you know. And so we're tired and it's okay. And you know, and for me, for my brothers and sisters, if you're, you know, you're tired and you're like, look, I'm tapping out, tap out, do what's good for you, do self-care, you know what I'm saying? But then there's some that I feel like God gives just this extra ability to move forward. But this is the thing, our values is one of grace but also truth telling. So holding that tension, like, I'mma love you, but I'm gonna give you truth. You know, I'm not gonna curse you out, you know, but I'm going to make sure that I'm exemplifying grace to you because, you know, I've been given grace. I want to give you grace. You know, I think there's something in it that, you know, we all should walk in humility. You know, we have this value of justice, but I don't want, you know, justice more than I want your redemption, you know? And so I think holding those—

you don't—

yeah, yeah, exactly. But those are the things that we have to look at in ourselves because we remember, yes.

If you were going to say one thing to the baby boomer generation, the Gen X, you're Gen X, right? Are we Gen X? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We kind of went under the radar. Baby Boomers got a lot of mouthplay. The Millennials get a lot of mouthplay. I don't know, nobody ever talks about us.

Yeah, but we're still here.

I see you rolling your eyes over there.

We're still here. We're still really here.

Okay, so Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers, in terms of just, you know, how they approach this— of course this is a generic statement and it's not generic, but how typically we think of Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers approaching the issue, if you were going to say one thing to each generation, just as something that they need to take a second look at, um, a question that they might want to ask, just anything like that, what would you say?

I would say, um, I think listening is an art form and I, and I really feel like we should listen, um, not just hear people, but listen intently because there may be something you're missing. And I think for me, you know, when I look at the generation, the baby boomers, just like before us, you know, as messed up as they are too, you know, I'm sorry, they messed some stuff up, you know, but they did some amazing things too. But being able to listen and learn from those mistakes in the same way that those, you know, millennials after us can, you know, there's something that we're doing right that you, if you, if you listen and you pay attention, you can pick up that mantle and continue it on. But I think, you know, not even picking up the mantle, I think some of them have the mantle now, but we can walk in partnership, you know, and I think that's what MLK tried to do when you talk about the Children's March and, um, you know, how he worked with the college students on You know, you think about the Freedom Bus rides and all those things, like that was a movement for the older generation, you know, the middle, you know, the middle generation, 'cause MLK was only in his 30s, you know, at that time. And then you have someone like John Lewis, which was like a teenager, 19, 20 years old coming up behind him, and look where he is today, you know? And so I think it worked, you could see You can see in that movement, you can see the different generations. We can't miss that in what we're doing now. We need to be inclusive. We need to live out this work of reconciliation. It's not just this binary of black and white. We're talking about reconciliation amongst God's children. And you know, and the reason why I use that word is because God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. And I understand there's never been any ciliation. Why are you using reconciliation? What Jesus did on the cross That was reconciliation. And so that's why I use that, because that's a word that was given to us, you know, and I, and I believe in the ministry of reconciliation. So we need that amongst each other. And so I would say to millennials and to Gen Xers and all the different people, like, if we can work on having reconciliation, you know, too. So there's not just—

you're saying between the generations?

Between the generations. So it's not— reconciliation is just not about race.

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Because that's broken. So it's about repairing and restoring what is broken.

You know, I sat across the table from a girl once and she kind of— we were having a conversation along these lines and she was just shut down. I mean, she just wasn't participating. And I said, you know, can I ask you a question? What do you feel? If I look at the millennial generation right now, I see a lot of anger. Not that I don't have my own feelings, but I see a little bit more than what I have. You know, can you explain to me what the anger is? And she said to me, you know, in terms of generationally, she said, your parents fought really hard and got further. They set you up further down the road, but they were happy for where they set you. You were happy because that was good. It was the first time, you know, you had affirmative action. You had You can move where you want to be. There were different things that opened up. She said, we're looking at what your parents started that they didn't finish and you didn't carry forward. And we're saying it's still not done. So there are these conversations. She said, sometimes I sit there in these conversations and I'm like, everybody that's saying, what's the big deal? The big deal is it wasn't done. It wasn't finished.

It wasn't finished.

And you left it for us to finish 3 generations later and you still think it's fine. Yeah.. And I just remember thinking what you're saying is in that moment it was a generational conversation about, cause I know if my mom would have been sitting at that table, well my mom's not even from America, so if my grandmother would have been sitting at that table, you know, she would have just been like, what are you talking about? You know?

So, but I think, but I, but this is the thing. We have to listen.

We have to listen.

Exactly. Just like we want them to listen, we have to listen. And then what you did was listen. And then it means to those other people of color that are coming to this country, you know, you have to realize too, you're coming to this country and you're on the bridge that was built on the backs of African Americans and Native Americans. So you have to, you have to understand that story and know that story and appreciate that story.

Not just to know the people, but to understand the country. Exactly.

To understand the country. And that, you know, we can get into a whole bunch of disunity with that stuff too, where it's important for us to know and understand the story because you know what, if we wouldn't have marched, you wouldn't be here either. You know, let's keep it real. You, you wouldn't, you wouldn't be here, you know? And so when we put it all together, you wouldn't be here. And so, um, we have to, we have to appreciate that and understand that story and know that story.

What's the end goal?

The end goal—

I know that it will never be an end per se.

Right.

If you had to say this is, this is my end goal, what would it be?

Um, continuing to people to see this as not a movement but a lifestyle and to build bridges that connect the, this now generation, you know, so that this work can continue on because like, you know, I may tap out and then I won't be the bridge to continue to go on it. To go on, and so therefore we have to make sure that we're preparing this next generation to pick up that torch and continue it, you know, to that next, you know, to that next place, because we haven't arrived. Don't feel like we've arrived, you know, like the young lady was telling you, but—

Well, as long as there's sin, we will never, but we keep working on kingdom business until it comes.

Exactly, like, 'cause you know what, I want a little bit of heaven.

A little bit.

A little bit of heaven, on earth as it is in heaven. You know, that's a part of the prayer, so I'm like, okay, we can have a little bit of that, you know?

Well, listen, thanks for what you're doing and how you stumbled into your accidental novelography. Yes, by accident. And how it's very clearly, even in days where you were not aware, it's been written onto the fabric of your life, and then it's very clear that once you realize that, you just said yes. And your yes is an echo that is blessing lots of people in lots of places of different colors, of different socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds. And, uh, it's very clear that God gave it to you so that you can give it to others. So thanks for what you're doing.

Thank you for having me.

Appreciate it. Hey y'all, I hope you enjoyed that video. Be sure and subscribe so that you don't miss anything.