Episodios

  • Community Disengagement - The Disastrous Outcome of Gentrification

    Community Disengagement - The Disastrous Outcome of Gentrification
    Sep 3 2025
    InflexionPoint Podcast | Episode 92
    2025 Theme: Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change
    Introduction Welcome to another episode of InflexionPoint Podcast, where we are dedicated to antiracism activation and the art of listening in authentic conversation, engagement, action, and accountability. Featuring creator/host Anita D. Russell, joined by co-hosts Mavis Bauman and Gail Hunter. Throughout the year, we’ve been lifting up stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements. But in this episode, we take a different approach: exploring the adverse impact of community disengagement, focusing on the painful story of gentrification in Pittsburgh, PA.
    How We Got Here Anita opens up the conversation with a stark reality: Community disengagement in Pittsburgh cannot be separated from the city’s long arc of gentrification. Policies that began with redlining and urban renewal set the stage for today’s tech-driven investment and redevelopment, which often unfolds without strong tenant protections or genuine community power. The Pittsburgh Paradox: Pittsburgh was named one of America’s Most Livable Cities (2005–2018). In 2019, it was also identified as America’s 8th most gentrified city. In 2021, Jerry Dickinson, law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, described it as “America’s Apartheid City.” This is the Reality We Must Confront
    The History of Displacement Gail leads a disccussion revealing Pittsburgh' multi-layered history: From racial covenants, redlining (1930s) and urban renewal devastating a vibrant Black community (1950s-60s); to so-called "modernization" that triggered decades of decline (1960s); to Steel Collapse to "Eds and Meds" (1980s-2000s) leading to struggles against overwhelming odds for communty nonprofits. 2010s to Today: The city formalized “community input” via Registered Community Organizations, but too often those processes lacked teeth. Meanwhile, private reinvestment accelerated land values, displacement, and racialized housing cost burdens.
    Imagine Authentic Engagement Mavis guides you to envision what true engagement and anti-displacement could look like in Pittsburgh. The short answer is this: Participation without power is not enough. Authentic engagement means redistributing decision-making power back to the people most affected. Key shifts required: Shift from input to shared governance. Stabilize residents where they live. Integrate commuunity equity and inclusion in development rules. Resource community voice. Execute real-time accountability.
    Call to Action Gentrification in Pittsburgh is not new—it’s another chapter in a long story of disinvestment, removal, and broken promises. When people feel decisions are made over them, not with them, they disengage. But disengagement is not destiny. What action are you willing to take?
    Watch: https://youtu.be/XBBNWXAErWs
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    56 m
  • The Heart of Engagement for Equity - Justice, Listening, Sovereignty, and Shared Power (Part 2)

    The Heart of Engagement for Equity - Justice, Listening, Sovereignty, and Shared Power (Part 2)
    Aug 20 2025
    Our theme for 2025 is Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change. Thank you for tuning in to the latest episode of InflexionPoint Podcast where we are dedicated to antiracism activation and the art of listening in authentic conversation, engagement, action, and accountability. Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. Episodes focus on both theory and practice, allowing our audience to gain insights that they can apply in real-world community engagement efforts.
    The Heart of Engagement for Equity - Justice, Listening, Sovereignty, and Shared Power In the previous episode of InflexionPoint Podcast, we broke down how equitable engagement goes far beyond good intentions. Equitable engagement is gaining traction in fields ranging from community development and education to corporate leadership and public policy. Centering the conversation around justice, listening, sovereignty, and shared power reclaims the deep roots of this work and highlights what true equity demands. In this episode we provide concrete examples of equity in community engagement from multiple organizations.
    Equitable engagement as a justice-rooted practice, not just a participatory one.
    • Uses values-based, power-aware approach to involving individuals and communities in decision-making processes, policy development, program design, and resource allocation.
    • Centers the voices, needs, and lived experiences of those historically marginalized or excluded by the dominant culture—particularly Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), low-income communities, immigrants, youth, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and others whose perspectives are often overlooked.
    • Redistributes power, builds trust, and creates co-ownership of outcomes.
    • Is not a zero sum game.
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    57 m
  • The Heart of Engagement for Equity - Justice, Listening, Sovereignty, and Shared Power

    The Heart of Engagement for Equity - Justice, Listening, Sovereignty, and Shared Power
    Aug 6 2025
    Our theme for 2025 is “Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change.” Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. Episodes focus on both theory and practice, allowing our audience to gain insights that they can apply in real-world community engagement efforts.
    In this episode, we break down how equitable engagement goes far beyond good intentions. Equitable engagement is gaining traction in fields ranging from community development and education to corporate leadership and public policy. But too often, it's treated as a checklist rather than a transformational practice.
    Centering the conversation around justice, listening, sovereignty, and shared power reclaims the deep roots of this work and highlights what true equity demands. From culturally grounded outreach to building inclusive leadership teams and using technology to bridge the divide, we explore strategies that help us show up better, listen deeper, and co-create more just outcomes.
    Watch: https://youtu.be/28D897yZrsk
    Más Menos
    58 m
  • The Quest for Economic Sovereignty in Burkina Faso - From Thomas Sankara to Ibrahim Traoré

    The Quest for Economic Sovereignty in Burkina Faso - From Thomas Sankara to Ibrahim Traoré
    Jul 16 2025
    Our theme for 2025 is “Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change.” Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. Reimagining the Power of Burkina Faso: A Converstation with Leontine Osuagwu Leontine Osuagwu's home country is Burkia Faso. She is the co-founder of Dunamis Global Empowerment Ministries with her husband, Emeka Osuagwu, where they empower nations through Liberation, Transformation, and Dominion, and the founder of Leo’s Leadership Lounge, where she equips today’s leaders to rise as authentic, emotionally intelligent catalysts for transformational change. With over 20 years of leadership experience across corporate, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors, she helps leaders cultivate the mindset, strategy, and emotional intelligence needed to lead with excellence and create sustainable impact.
    Economic Sovereignty in Burkina Faso: From Thomas Sankara to Ibrahim Traoré In the previous episode we drew the line from community engagement and cooperative economics to sovereignty. In his book, Sovereign Psyche, Prof Ezrah Aharone defines the sovereign mindset as “an energizing mindset, consciousness, and thought process by which people define and express freedom through the unique particularities of their political and ideological self-identity.” In this episode we dig into the role of sovereign psyche in the African nation of Burkina Faso under the past leadership of Thomas Sankara (1949-1987) and current leader, President Ibrahim Traoré.
    Watch: https://youtu.be/uTaThO3mbZo
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    57 m
  • The Sovereign Psyche Starts in the Community - Expanding Cooperative Economics and Collective Power

    The Sovereign Psyche Starts in the Community - Expanding Cooperative Economics and Collective Power
    Jul 2 2025
    In 2025 we turn our attention towards “Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change.”
    Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. Sovereign Psyche Starts in the Community: Expanding Cooperative Economics and Collective Power In this episode we explore the connection between Community Engagement, Cooperative Economics, and Sovereignty through the work of Ezrah Aharone, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Delaware State University.
    Community Engagement & Cooperative Economics: The Bridge to Sovereignty.
    We take the position that community engagement and cooperative economics serve as a bridge to sovereignty.
    Community Engagement – the intentional process of involving people in collective action to address local issues, shape decisions, and build power through participation, dialogue, and trust. It centers on equity, shared leadership, and long-term capacity-building.
    Cooperative Economics – an economic model that emphasizes democratic ownership, shared resources, and mutual benefit.
    Sovereignty – “an energizing mindset, consciousness, and thought process by which people define and express freedom through the unique particularities of their political and ideological self-identity.” — Ezrah Aharone
    The Sovereign Psyche – challenges people to reject internalized systems of dependency, inferiority, and Western validation.
    Community Engagement becomes the first step in building a sovereign psyche because it awakens collective memory and practices shared agency.
    Cooperative Economics is sovereignty in action expressed through “institutional capacity and control over destiny.”
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    1 h
  • From Self to Solidarity - How Personal Empowerment Fuels Cooperative Economics (Part 2)

    From Self to Solidarity - How Personal Empowerment Fuels Cooperative Economics (Part 2)
    Jun 18 2025
    In 2025 we turn our attention towards “Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change.” Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. From Self to Solidarity: How Personal Empowerment Fuels Cooperative Economics
    A Conversation with Alana Griffin, Ambassador of Ujamaa Collective In Ep 86, we started a conversation about Personal Empowerment and Cooperative Economics through the lens of Ujamaa Collective, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Ujamaa collective acts as a catalyst to advance Africana Women by providing a fair trade marketplace for cultural, artistic and entrepreneurial exchange through cooperative economics. In this episode we continue the conversation with Alana Griffin, Ambassador of Ujamaa Collective.
    Join us as we explore the process from participation to power by reimagining the power of we.
    The point is to shift the perspective; to take action and create new possibilties with a different measuring stick.
    Personal Empowerment begins with individuals recognizing their inherent worth, capabilities, and power to make choices that impact their life and community.
    Personal empowerment cultivates self-awareness, responsibility, and action.
    Cooperative Economics channels that personal power into collective agency by providing structures—like cooperatives, credit unions, and mutual aid networks—that allow individuals to pool resources, share risks, and make collective decisions for mutual benefit.

    Watch: https://youtu.be/QIUEccdGpkA
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    1 h
  • Conversation with Lakeisha Wolf - From Self to Solidarity: How Personal Empowerment Fuels Cooperative Economics

    Conversation with Lakeisha Wolf - From Self to Solidarity: How Personal Empowerment Fuels Cooperative Economics
    Jun 4 2025

    In 2025 we turn our attention towards “Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change.” Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. From Self to Solidarity: How Personal Empowerment Fuels Cooperative Economics
    A Conversation with LeKeisha Wolf, Executive Director of Ujamaa Collective In this episode we explore Personal Empowerment and Cooperative Economics through the lens of Ujamaa Collective, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Ujamaa social mission to act as a catalyst to advance Africana Women by providing a fair trade marketplace for cultural, artistic and entrepreneurial exchange through cooperative economics. In this conversation with LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director of Ujamaa Collective, we take a deep dive into movement from self to solidarity and how personal empowerment fuels cooperative economics.
    Personal Empowerment begins with individuals recognizing their inherent worth, capabilities, and power to make choices that impact their life and community. It cultivates self-awareness, responsibility, and action. Cooperative Economics channels that personal power into collective agency by providing structures—like cooperatives, credit unions, and mutual aid networks—that allow individuals to pool resources, share risks, and make collective decisions for mutual benefit.

    Watxh: https://youtu.be/dWH9ddJG3Ms
    Más Menos
    58 m
  • Conversation with Denise Jones, Educational Consultant at Youth Enrichment Services (YES)

    Conversation with Denise Jones, Educational Consultant at Youth Enrichment Services (YES)
    May 21 2025
    In 2025 we turn our attention towards “Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change.”
    Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. Conversation with Denise Jones, Educational Consultant at Youth Enrichment Services (YES) In this episode we continue the exploration of the importance and significance of involving younger generations in community engagement and grassroots movement. Youth participation in community engagement projects is a powerful way to develop leadership, build intergenerational solidarity, and nurture civic responsibility. We take a deeper dive into Youth Enrichment Service (YES) in this conversation with Denies Jones, Educational Consultant and member of the YES family. As the YES Program Director, Denise and her colleagues developed YES’ motivational model which she continues to examine and build as part of her PhD studies at the University of Michigan. Alongside her current studies, Denise serves as the YES Deputy Director where she continues to support the organization’s programmatic, operational, and strategic efforts and shepherds its mission and legacy.

    Youth Erichment Service (YES): Empowering. Enriching. Serving.
    Empowering youth through mentorship, education, advocacy, and exposure. Enriching students’ educational, social, cultural, and workforce experiences. Serving local and surrounding Pittsburgh communities, students, and families.
    Watch: https://youtu.be/OG8G1unPZT4
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    55 m