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Tough Talks series continues this month

Discussions relaunched after chamber visit to Kentucky last year

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A public-private partnership among nearly a dozen Springfield organizations will continue its Tough Talks series with two discussions scheduled this month.

Facilitated by Missouri State University professors Lyle Foster and Leslie Anderson, the discussions center on race relations and are geared toward creating action items to address community issues, according to a news release. The first discussion took place Oct. 1 over Zoom, and was livestreamed on the city of Springfield’s Facebook page and website.

The idea for restarting the dialogue began last year on a Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce community leadership visit to Lexington, Kentucky, after learning about the city’s Courageous Conversations initiative, according to the release. Following the racial unrest and shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014, Francine Pratt, now the director of Prosper Springfield, elected officials and community leaders hosted a Tough Talks series in Springfield, which Foster then continued on MSU’s campus.

"I think we all realized in Kentucky that it was time to resume these types of deliberative dialogue engagement sessions,” Pratt said. “I sketched out a plan on a napkin on the plane ride home to Springfield and shared it with Cora [Scott, city of Springfield], who said, ‘Let’s do it!’ It’s only because of COVID that we have delayed starting the Tough Talks forums."

In the first Tough Talks discussion, Foster and Anderson took questions from participants via Zoom and Facebook, ranging from equity and diversity training at businesses to how to talk to racist family members.

“Racism has been severe enough and it has been historical enough that good intentions are not enough in order to address it and solve it and erase it,” Foster said, adding people should commit to educating themselves on the issues.

Matt Morrow, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said at the event he was glad to finally see Tough Talks launch after the September 2019 visit to Kentucky, following delays in date and format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These Courageous Conversations they were having … over time, they were less about the content of the conversation and more about the social capital that was being built among people with diverse backgrounds from one another,” Morrow said. “Once that foundation is in place and continues to be nurtured, a lot of really good things start happening in communities.”

City spokesperson Scott said the Oct. 22 discussion will not be livestreamed to encourage vulnerability among participants.

The second discussion, set to take via Zoom and limited in-person seating, will center on how race and racism impact the experiences of those living and working in the Springfield area, according to the release. The final of the talks is scheduled Oct. 29 and will focus on future workforce and developing a framework to discuss equity in talent attraction and retention.

Leaders from local businesses and organizations that attended the Lexington, Kentucky, trip formed The Tough Talks Collaborative to launch the discussions. The collaborative is run by Community Partnership of the Ozarks and supported by the city of Springfield, Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc., Empower: abilities, Missouri Job Center, MSU Division for Diversity & Inclusion, Prosper Springfield, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and its The Network for Young Professionals, and United Way of the Ozarks.

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