Page 14 - BigConversationsDismantlingRacism

In 2015, several organizations, including
the Calvert Library, CMCC, NAACP,
Concerned Black Men and Concerned
Black Women, TRUST, the Maryland
Commission of Civil Rights answered the
concerns of community in the wake of the
Freddie Gray tragedy in Baltimore.
Freddie Gray, Jr. was a 25-year-old black
man, who was arrested by the Baltimore
Police Department for possessing what the
police alleged was an illegal knife under
Baltimore law. While being transported in
a police van, Gray fell into a coma and
was taken to a trauma center, where he
died. More than 100 local residents
participated in Promoting Partnerships
Between Law Enforcement and
Community, a conversation at the College
of Southern Maryland.

Southern Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties

In the meantime, beginning in 2010, Middleham and St. Peter’s Episcopal Parish began to
offer the “Big Conversation” (BC) programs annually. The BC team was committed to the
belief that communities can benefit from the opportunity to learn about important issues
through open and civil dialogue. Since the Middleham and St. Peter’s congregation is made
up of both Calvert and St. Mary’s residents, the Big Conversation series touched people in
both counties.

Planning began after a group of parishioners attended a forum on “Civil Discourse in the
Nation” at the Washington National Cathedral. At that time, some national leaders were
worried that, as a country and especially in Congress, we had lost our ability to listen and
talk civilly with each other about conflicting ideas or issues. The local group came away
feeling strongly that the opportunity to have a civil discourse on national issues was just as
important at the local level as it was on the national level. They wanted to explore the
opportunity for Southern Maryland.

Thus began the concept for “The Big Conversation”. The group formed a committee and
began to explore two questions: 1) What does civil discourse look like and how can it be

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