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“We live in a world full of fractures and one where polarization, division from one another, and isolating ourselves are becoming increasingly normalized,” wrote john a. powell in his recently published book “The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong.” 

“Bridging,” he said, is a way for us to "reclaim our ability to see one another."

Powell is an internationally recognized civil rights expert and the director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.  He is also a professor of law and a professor of African American studies and ethnic studies at UC Berkeley.

 series, which aims to help Minnesotans have hard political conversations better, correspondent Catharine Richert spoke with powell, who was the founding director of the University of Minnesota's 

They discussed some of the key concepts in powell’s book and how they can help us think through how to bridge the dual occasions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration day.

Below are edited excerpts from powell’s interview remarks.

“Bridging is not about agreement. When you’re trying to reach an agreement, it's like, ‘OK. You give a little. I’ll give a little.’ That's legitimate in certain circumstances… We negotiate and we reach a compromise, but I still don't like you.

“What bridging is, is that I want to see you. I want to see you as a person, as a human being. I want to see you, in the South African terms, as a child of God — not that I want you to be like me, not that I insist that you have to agree with me. The research suggests that when you really bridge with someone, the possibility of them changing and your changing goes up exponentially. So it's actually much more effective in terms of moving people.”

Martin Luther King Jr. was a ‘natural bridge builder’

“The Reverend Dr. King wasn't just a doctor. He was a religious figure, and religion can play a very positive role. So King, first of all, he told a powerful bridging story. He refused to demonize the other. 

“Who is the other? Well, in the 1950s and early ‘60s, a lot of these divisions were along racial lines — and still are — in many ways. There are a lot more on class lines. And so King tried to do stuff with that, but he did it in a way that always invited conversation. He always invited the apparent other into the conversation. He didn't demonize people. He was a natural bridger.

“He talked about creating not the Black community, not the white community, not the Asian or Native American community; he talked about creating the beloved community. 

“What's the beloved community? The Beloved Community is where everyone matters. Is where everyone is cared about. Now that may sound very quaint today, but King was one of the most powerful, effective social justice leaders in the country's history. There was a time where people said, ‘Look, the country is treating Black people poorly. You're an African American leader, you need to advocate on behalf of Black people.’ He refused to do that. He not only advocated on behalf of Black people, he advocated on behalf of all people.”

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To address their political divide

“King refused to have an ‘out’ group. When you refuse to have an ‘out’ group, sometimes you're pushed out of the ‘in’ group: ‘If you're going to hang out with those girls or boys, we're not going to be your friend.’ Well, King was saying, ‘I'm going to hang out with everybody.’ There were a lot of people who were more like, ‘We only have to focus on Black people.’ But  he was one of the people who helped push for Thich Nhat Hanh to get the Nobel Peace Prize. He talked about what was happening in Vietnam. He talked about what was happening around the world. So some people were like, ‘Stick to your knittings. You know, you're a civil rights leader. You're not a world leader.’ Well, they were wrong. He was a world leader. 

“So if you bridge… if you reach across the aisle to the other, you're likely to be punished by your group. And King was certainly punished by many different groups while he was alive.”

Bridging Martin King Luther Jr. Day with President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day 

“There almost always is a possibility of a bridge. It won’t always happen, because people have to be willing to engage in it. And part of the thing that happens in terms of [the] inauguration, is that it's not happening at an individual level. We're talking about institutions and systems and people strategically adopting positions right now. We're not necessarily, as a country, celebrating our common humanity. There's talk of revenge, for example. That's certainly not bridging. So it's not clear if people are ready to bridge. 

“I think it's very important not to make this left, right or Republican, Democrat, or even Black and white. Part of bridging is taking the time to actually talk to someone, taking the time to actually listen to someone, taking the time to see what systems and structures are actually doing. 

“But I think even if it doesn't happen at the national level or international level, it can happen at the local level. It can happen in our own families.”

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Civil rights expert john a. powell, author of the recently published book “The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong,” addresses the dual occasions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration day and how to bridge the two.

Civil rights expert john a. powell, author of the recently published book “The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong," addresses the dual occasions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration day and how to bridge the two.

How to bridge Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Trump's inauguration

Photo by Nicholas Lea Bruno | Courtesy of Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley

Courtesy of Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley

Fans featuring an image of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights expert: How to bridge Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Trump’s inauguration

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