“We are committed to unlocking the possibilities that exist beyond the story that difficult conversations of conflict, difference, or injustice must be avoided out of fear, won out of righteousness, or bulldozed with aggression. We want to co-create a countercultural movement of people relating to difference, reframing conflict, and practicing bridging and belonging in ways that both ground in and build toward our vision of justice and liberation.”

“Words can lure groups and communities into dangerous and destructive ideologies, turning them into ardent supporters of disastrous deeds and policies. However, language can also serve as a bridge that unites people and fosters healing on a collective level.”

“While facilitated direct in-person experiences are best, intergroup contact can be achieved indirectly through storytelling & education. That’s where Gorm Media comes in. We are a platform on a mission of unity across lines of difference and we share stories, educate and create engaging content of people from diverse communities and conversations of people bridging on social issues.”

“Nonviolence is usually studied as a philosophy or moral code, rather than as a method of political conflict, disruption, and escalation. I realized how important it was to correct this gap. Drawing from discussions with activists working to defend human rights, challenging corporate corruption, or combating authoritarianism, it was evident that people with few resources and little influence in conventional politics can nevertheless engineer momentous upheavals.”

“Hope is not always a choice we can make. Sometimes things get so crippling that we find a strange glimmer of emancipation in the darkness of the moment. I suppose that little glimmer, that crack, is the trickster reminding us that not even loss can be fully itself. Nothing can be fully itself, nothing can belong, without the strange other hiding among the ranks, squeezing itself between the lines, the devil in the details. Not a slave ship bound for the Americas. Not a pandemic threatening destruction. Not a climate crisis with no end in sight. Not death. Something always steals in. Maybe there is a powerful political move there. Maybe there is a way of sitting with the trouble and inadequacy of hope. Maybe there is hope in the hopeless. “

“Another participant talked about their mother’s living room as an example of a sanctuary space built on fostering connection. It was there they were able to observe their mother and her friends show their true selves, which is often extremely different from who they had to be while out in public, especially as an elderly Muslim wearing a Hijab. In those living rooms, when the mothers come together with one another, they would go wild in a way that no one would believe. The shisha comes out. The music comes on. It’s beautiful to see.”

“For more than 50 years, Muslims and Jews have been portrayed as natural enemies. I always struggled with this naturalization, which is nothing natural, but constructed through history. The discourse has always been polarizing. Divisions between these two main ethnoreligious groups in France or Germany, countries I know best, are also instrumentalized by different political parties for their own gain. Interfaith bridging can bring a new process of identification of Arab-Jews and an acknowledgment of Jewish history and life within Arab-French-Muslim people. It is a way of deconstructing essentialist identities.“

“But we need for soon-to-be-powerful young people to recognize that other 13-year olds who might live on social housing estates or might be the children of drug dealers are also valid and they need to be heard. And sometimes it's time for rich students to close their mouths, demonstrate humility and just listen. Roots has been about challenging all young people to use their voice, and making sure they've got equal space in that room to challenge each other, to listen to each other, to be intrigued about each other, especially for the young people who aren't often in those rarefied spaces to ask the questions they need.”

“There is a lot of idealization of Europe when it comes to racism and social inequalities, and these are based on false assumptions. Europe is doing better in terms of some social policies and maternity leave, and the justice system is a little bit better, but it's not great either. So I think it can break the idea of a Europe that overcame racism after World War II.”