Be the Bridge a chance for community members to unite and find common ground

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

With a frigid winter wind whipping off the Cedar River, walking the pedestrian bridge in downtown Charles City in mid-January was not for the faint of heart.

But that’s exactly what many people joined together to do on Martin Luther King Jr. Day almost two months ago when they marched over the water.

It was an act of solidarity and a metaphor of sorts for Phillip Knighten and his racial reconciliation group called Be the Bridge, which held a ceremony to honor King prior to the symbolic gesture.

After a hiatus of close to two years, the group has gotten back together and held its first meeting since 2017 last month. Knighten hopes the people who attended the gathering can help lead the way for Charles City and surrounding communities to experience greater racial harmony.

That was one of Knighten’s top priorities in March 2016 when he, Vicki Bruening and Keisha Cunnings helped organize the get-togethers.

“It’s just kind of on an organic basis, we’re building relationships and in turn that builds empathy. That makes people want to get to the bottom of the issues we may have had in the past with racial relations and therefore kind of build things back up – get to a level that we need to be,” said Knighten.

Since then, there’s been some highs and lows. The group marched over the suspension bridge in 2017 but disbanded shortly thereafter.

“To be honest, when we first started out – our first time around – we kind of got really deep into issues and I think that it kind of turned some people off,” said Knighten. “We came at it from the angle of just, ‘OK, this is your problem, this is your fault – these things are happening because of you.’ This time around I don’t really want to go that route. I kind of want it to be more educational – bit by bit.”

More than 30 people attended the group’s meeting in late February.

“We can all have fun together and just be human beings as opposed to white, black, Hispanic – what not. We can all have fun together,” said Knighten.

Knighten said he was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and moved to Charles City 16 years ago. He said he experienced first-hand racial disparities and discrimination growing up as a kid in the southwest.

Knighten said Tulsa was the site of the Black Wall Street Massacre in 1921. The race riots started when mobs of white residents attacked black citizens and business owners. One report stated over 36 people died in the riots and over 35 blocks of the business district were destroyed.

“I’ve seen it first hand,” Knighten said about racism. “I like to think that in this day in time we’ve moved on past it, but we haven’t. We’re almost going in reverse,” said Knighten. “Now it’s just more important than ever to get together.”

Knighten was elected to the Charles City Council last year. That was a historic moment for Charles City as he is believed to be the first African American to be elected to that position.

Knighten said he feels Be The Bridge can help facilitate growth in a number of areas in the community, as well as just helping people get to know one another better.

“Charles City is probably a microcosm of Iowa in general. You have a very small minority population in the state of Iowa,” said Knighten. “That being said, you don’t have a lot of interaction amongst races. That’s why we have this group. That’s the purpose of this group – in order to facilitate interaction and understanding amongst different races and cultures.”

The first part of the reboot meeting last month was dedicated to discussion about racial reconciliation and what it meant, Knighten said.

Then the attendees split into small groups that helped them break the ice and get to know one another better. The relationship-building activity had them answer questions about themselves like “What is your favorite movie?” or “What is your favorite color?”

The answers were written down on index cards and then a game of Pictionary was played to draw out and guess those responses to the questions.

“You’re sitting around with this diverse group of individuals and you realize all of the sudden how much you have in common with each other. Even though you may be from a different racial background or a financial background – socio-economic background. But you still realize how much everybody has in common and how much fun you can have with each other,” said Knighten.

Knighten said he has many other topics to tackle at future meetings to make sure people who attend will enjoy themselves and learn something along the way.

“They don’t even realize that they’re sitting there and they’re getting to know each other just through these questions. As they’re getting to know each other – through a fun way – they’re building relationships also. You’re breaking down barriers,” he said.

Knighten’s top goal is to create a proud community enriched with diversity. He feels the meetings are just a start.

“Each individual meeting will just be kind of a cornerstone of racial relations in America,” said Knighten. “That way, it kind of peaks your curiosity, because you’re never going to get all the information you need off a short one-and-a-half hour to two-hour meeting. When you build those relationships with people of different cultures, you may want to get together with them sometime outside of a meeting.”

Knighten said he was surprised to see more than 100 people attend the MLK Day presentation in January. He said he’s excited to see what the turnout will be for the next Be the Bridge meeting.

“We plan on multiplying, you know, double each meeting,” said Knighten. “I want this to grow as big as it can be.”

The next Be the Bridge meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 24, at 5 p.m. in the Zastrow Room of the Charles City Public Library. Knighten said there will be refreshments and snacks available.

Contact Knighten at (641) 330-9465 with any questions, suggestions or requests.