MPR News and the Bush Foundation are excited to welcome john a. powell, the inspiring author of “The Power of Bridging: how to build a world where we all belong” to the historical Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 7, 2025. We hope you can join us for this special evening of conversation and community building. The event is free. All you have to do is register to reserve your seat! MPR’s Catharine Richert, who leads the “Talking Sense” reporting project that aims to help people have hard conversations about politics, better, will host the conversation with john. And stick around after the talk, as john will be signing books for anyone interested. We will have books available at the event.
For those of you unable to attend, we will be recording and videotaping the conversation, thanks to our event partner, MPR News. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to receive a link after the event! Bring yourself, friends, neighbors, co-workers or anyone else you think is seeking solutions that help us all make more room for more perspectives and reduce our political and social fragmentation. Many of you have already joined us through the Bush book club and claimed your free copy of john’s book. If you haven’t yet, we’re still offering books at no charge, thanks to john’s publisher and our local partner, Black Garnet Books.
About the Book
A bold guide for connecting across differences―even those that seem impossible
“Wise and visionary, powell helps us find the courage to forge connections with others, the earth, and ourselves in order to transform the world from the inside out.” ―Valarie Kaur, bestselling author of See No Stranger and Sage Warrior
We don’t want to live in a society in turmoil. In fact, 93 percent of people in the US want to reduce divisiveness, and 86 percent believe it’s possible to disagree in a healthy way. Yet with increasing political and social fragmentation, many of us don’t know how to move past our differences. Civil rights scholar john a. powell presents an actionable path through “bridging” that helps us communicate, coexist, and imagine a new story for our shared future where we all belong.
With inimitable warmth and vision, powell offers a framework for building cohesion and solidarity between disparate beliefs and backgrounds. Bridging is more than a discrete list of actions to follow―it’s a mindset we can develop to help us foster belonging and connection. Key elements of the bridging mindset include:
• Understanding how deeply “othering” shapes our world, priming us to see difference of any kind―race, gender, political orientation, etcetera―as a threat
• Identifying where “breaking” happens, when people are excluded or treated differently for being perceived as other
• Embracing “belonging” as one of our core human needs―we all want to feel seen, valued, and appreciated just as we are
• Committing ourselves to treat all people like they belong
• Allowing ourselves grace when we inevitably fall short―and resolving to try again
Throughout the book, powell shares personal reflections as well as practices to help you begin bridging wherever you are―in your community, friendships, family, workplace―even with those whom you might never have imagined you could find common ground.
“Bridging is a salve for our fractured world,” powell says. “We can overcome the illusion of separateness by honoring our differences, transcending the notion that difference divides us, and instead cocreate a world where everyone belongs.”
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
About the Author
john a. powell is Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously the Executive Director at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, and prior to that, the founder and director of the Institute for Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. john formerly served as the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He is a co-founder of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the boards of several national and international organizations. john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University. His latest books are Belonging Without Othering, How We Save Ourselves and the World and The Power of B ridging, How to Build a World where we all Belong.
About the Hosts
Catharine Richert is a correspondent based in Rochester, Minnesota, where she covers southeast Minnesota for MPR News. She also leads Talking Sense, a reporting project helping Minnesotans have hard conversations about politics, better. Catharine began her reporting career in Washington, D.C., where she covered agricultural policy and the U.S. Senate for Congressional Quarterly. In 2009, she moved to Minnesota and joined MPR News’ politics team, pioneering the newsroom’s disinformation beat and contributing to MPR’s political and health care coverage.
Our gratitude for all of the partners who enthusiastically said yes to helping us make this event happen!
