NASHVILLE, TN – The self-described “first-of-its-kind” Future Way Forward conference, an extension of the community outreach organization Everybody Versus Racism (EVR), was held last week at the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM). Organizers described those who participated in the event as creatives, founders, and professionals dedicated to progressing the conversation around how everyday people can build a more inclusive community in Tennessee.
Dr. Gerald Onuoha, CEO of the Future Way Forward conference and Everybody Versus Racism, said announcing the event was very exciting. Onuoha said the purpose of the event is to stir conversation around what an inclusive future looks like in the first place, how to connect communities and citizens with decades of collective knowledge, and how that knowledge can be used to build an inclusive community that progresses everyone.
“With the Future Way Forward, we have one overarching question: what is the plan?” Onuoha said. “What is the plan to make our communities better? What is the plan to make sure that every community is going to prosper? What is the plan to make sure that we’re bringing people together and not separating them? That’s the thing we have in the back of our mind with every single workshop that we’ve created, every panel that we’ve created. We want to make sure that every voice gets heard.”
Onuoha said EVR will be hosting several upcoming events in the next couple of months, including “food desert and poverty sessions,” where the organization will be going into local communities to help facilitate food drives, food giveaways, and to spread general education on healthy eating. Onuoha said EVR will also be hosting a diaper drive at some point during this time frame, as well as a scholarship fundraising event to raise money for underprivileged students who are aspiring to become doctors.
Onuoha said that EVR was created as a reactionary measure shortly after the murder of George Floyd by the then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020. Three ex-Minneapolis police officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane, who helped with restraining Floyd during the arrest, were also convicted of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care, according to NPR.
Onuoha said conversations within EVR began as general as exploring how Nashville and Tennessee can better follow the Golden Rule as a community and share greater love and support for fellow community members. He said it did not take long for group conversations to shift to ideas on how we as a community can help impoverished citizens progress themselves, whether that is through healthcare access and equity, or through workforce development to increase the number of active professionals within every field that come from underprivileged, underrepresented communities. Onuoha said professions that could greatly benefit from more representation include the number of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lawyers, and engineers who come from underprivileged backgrounds.
Organizers of Future Way Forward (FWF) said the event prioritized inclusion as they believe in the power of connecting people, and focusing on the things that unite Tennessee and Nashville, as they are far greater than the differences that may be between citizens. Organizers said cultivating spaces for diverse groups of people to celebrate, support, and learn from one another helps provide safe spaces for cultural education, community outreach, and economic empowerment.
Onuoha said NMAAM was the perfect location for the FWF conference because of its historical value, the hospitality of the NMAAM owners, and the beauty of the museum itself. Onuoha said citizens can find future updates regarding Future Way Forward and Everybody Versus Racism respectively, at futurewayforward.com and everybodyvsracism.org.
