Nicole Unice and Brenda Brown-Grooms
Recorded
October 15, 2021
Archived
October 15, 2021
49:33 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddb002580
Description
One Small Step conversation partners Nicole Unice (44) and Brenda Brown-Grooms (66) discuss their paths to God and becoming pastors. They speak about issues of inequality and racism in America and how we are at a pivotal moment of opportunity for the United States of America.Subject Log / Time Code
Brenda (B) and Nicole (N) share why they wanted to participate in today's interview.
B talks about about how she found her path. She says as a kid, her invisible friend was God.
N recalls feeling deeply lonely as a child and the ways she would commune with God.
B and N discuss curiosity.
B says that Western culture emphasizes youth over wisdom and throws money at issues.
B talks about race in the United States. She shares that her family is from Charlottesville, Virginia.
N talks about her experience growing up in the military and the church. N notes how there was a need for an enemy in order to boost morale in both of those spaces. N highlights how the military and the church were and are closely linked.
B shares more on her perspective. B says America is not America, America is aspirational, and as an African-American woman, she has always known that. B highlights the inequalities in the United States.
N describes an impactful conversation she had with her grandfather. She says before becoming a pastor, she went into counseling for eight years. N adds that was needed because it allowed her to practice listening.
N shares her younger brother was adopted and is Korean. She talks about how that has affected her views on race in the United States.
B explains that we need to be uncomfortable in order to face the issues of race in America. "The big things, the important things, gotta hurt," she says.
N talks about the importance of leading with empathy.
N recalls meeting with a single mother. N says she [N] was raised to believe that every problem is fixable if you work hard enough but being a pastor has opened her eyes to see that some problems require systemic change, not personal change.
B and N speak on how the church should be a place of hope and acceptance.
B speaks how the legacy of slavery in Richmond, Virginia shows up in children and how they are raised. B emphasizes that people go where life is.
N talks about raising her own children. N asks B if there is anything B would like to tell her as the mother of two white sons. B highlights the importance of N teaching her sons to love and be loved.
B shares her closing words: we have another chance to get this right. We need to recognize that what we need to live, everyone needs.
N shares her closing words: This (now) is a moment of divine opportunity. N adds that when you use your voice, it comes at a cost.
Participants
- Nicole Unice
- Brenda Brown-Grooms