Community organizing has always been the most effective tool of the oppressed. Throughout our history and across our diaspora, Black folks have broken links in the chain of oppression and created new possibilities for Black liberation to take shape by developing grassroots leaders as strategists, activists, organizers and movement builders. In this episode, we highlight Pillars of the Community, an organization that embodies what it means to actualize the hopes and dreams of Black Californians experiencing the harshest forms of de facto and de jure oppression through the power of community organizing.

Thinking outside the box and bringing innovative solutions to philanthropy and investing are two ways that reimagining how capital gets deployed into Black communities will help us all thrive. Join us as we chat with Ashley D. Bell, Georgia-based entrepreneur, attorney and political advisor,, We'll explore strategies from rethinking how we approach grant-making to repositioning Black banks to be major players in real estate development and other capital community investments.

The conclusion of our interview with Guest Anthony Thigpenn

In the pilot episode, hosts discuss the meaning and vision of Thriving While Black, and how pioneers like Anthony Thigpenn, Founder and President of California Calls, have helped to create the political conditions for Black Californians to thrive and take their rightful seat in a multiracial democracy.