Bridging Differences to Build a "Beloved Community"

Allison Briscoe-Smith, a child clinical psychologist, senior fellow at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center and 2025 Illinois Interfaith Conference keynote speaker, framed the present as a "crisis of connection," reviewed research on loneliness and misperception, traced the term "beloved community" from Josiah Royce through Howard Thurman to Martin Luther King, and led the packed room through a paired active-listening exercise. An extended Q&A followed on power, desire, time and trust. Spring 2025 Friday Forum x Conversation Cafe series, co-hosted by Diversity & Social Justice Education and the University YMCA.