Introducing Bridging The Gaps
an initiative co-led by The People's Place Think Tank
Bridging The Gaps organizes to ensure that the most marginalized community members are being connected with necessary supplies and support in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact on Asheville and Buncombe County.
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First a concept, becoming a place, and then, a movement
We intend to face the past history of harms, to openly talk about where and how it hurts, to begin healing, to generate ideas for change and growth, to make a new way, to become free…
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WE’VE LAUNCHED
Phase II: Building the Dream
We are in the second phase of realizing a collective space for learning, imagining, nourishing, healing, and engaging in meaningful conversations. We are in the process of showcasing the many offerings that will be contained with The People’s Place building. We started with a delicious demonstration of The People’s Place Cafe, featuring the culinary genius of B.J. Dennis of Charleston, South Carolina, and a panel discussion around cultural foodways. Over the course of 2024, we will be unveiling other aspects of The People’s Place, by collaborating with others in Asheville’s social justice ecosystem.
we started out R.A.W.
Phase I: Resiliency At Work
This was our first phase of realizing a collective space for learning, imagining, nourishing, healing, and engaging in meaningful conversations. The People’s Place grew out of a series of gatherings (EAT – Engaging in Antiracism Together) for anti-racist activists who regularly met to share and contemplate experiences, to breathe and heal, and to just BE with one another AND it was always over a meal.
The People’s Place will include A Museum on Urban Removal and Revival (AMOURR), which will tell the story of Urban Renewal, which along with many of you, we call “Urban Removal”. We believe that the story of serial forced displacement (Dr. Joy DeGruy) is centuries long, going back to the inception of our country.
Know yOur History: We credit the following institutions and individuals who have researched, written and reported on these historical (and current) events. Please click on the photos and titles for links to their work.
Enslavement
Convict Leasing
Lynching
Urban Removal
Mass Incarceration
Gentrification
Meet the Storytellers for The People’s Place
alexandria monque ravenel
she/her
woman, creative, spiritualist, independent educator
What did you want to be when you grew up? teacher, writer, dancer, model-er (I thought everything had an -er at the end).
david greenson
he/him
Community Organizer, Anti-Racist Educator, Interstitial Chaplain
What did you want to be when you grew up? Wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders, going to medical school in the off-season to become a brain surgeon after retiring from football.
Drisana McDaniel
she/her
consultant, researcher, scholar, activist
What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be an obstetrician because the word was long and confusing to people. So strange.
Rob Thomas
he/him
Equity & Inclusive Engagement Consultant
What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be an airplane pilot. I built airplanes out of wood, as well as plastic model airplanes, and several remote control ones.
We imagine a world that where everyone thrives!
We are imagining The People’s Place as an actual place. A place to learn, to dine, to connect, to grow, and to create change.
Your contribution makes you a part of our community.