Local Color

Gathering across color creed and ideology

Others separate. We gather.
Our lives begin to end when we stop talking about things that matter.”
— The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr

Deep in our hearts we know that if we’re going to ever “live out the true meaning of our creed, that all men are created equal” it will be something that happens between us day to day – in the places we live, in the lives we lead, in the actions we take and the decisions we make – large and small. Yet still we reliably turn toward our television sets and social media when the worst happens, where we know our resentments will be stroked and our fury stoked. Imagine if in times of crisis, instead of separating, we gathered? Who might we be then?

We cannot stay disconnected from each other until a time of deep community crisis forces us to confront our distance. A more divided people are vulnerable. Communities that thrive are the ones that build institutions incorporating diversity dynamically into the fabric of everyday hometown life — who in times of turmoil turn toward each other, in the glorious diversity of race, religion and opinion we find in the human race. It’s an embrace of Local Color.

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We imagine a public space where we come to really know each other, where we look unflinchingly at what divides us as we revel in what unites us – sort of an old-fashioned civic barnraising of sorts. We’re deep believers this American community is up to the challenge. We think we can teach the world a thing or two.

Note that we don’t have video of most Local Color events, because what happens at Local Color stays at Local Color. (We do, however, have photos, so check them out… when we first started Local Color we hosted small intimate gatherings like this one. Then they got big.)

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Local Color is returning in 2025 with support from:

The Local Color series has been made possible by Bank of America Foundation

Check out our Local Color Ground Rules

What happens at Local Color stays at Local Color. Read about the rest of our conversational ground rules.

Local Color Squarecasts

View all Local Color episodes
Squarecast Episode 81 | April 2023
Walking Up Hill Both Ways
1 hr 6 min
Squarecast Episode 72 | December 2022
Chloe Valdary
1 hr 27 min
Squarecast Episode 65 | September 2022
Race to Truth
51 min 3 sec
Squarecast Episode 54 | April 2022
When the Stars Begin to Fall
1 hr 33 min
Squarecast Episode 37 | July 2021
Jackie Robinson
1 hr 33 min
Squarecast Episode 35 | June 2021
Created Equal: Stretching Towards Freedom
1 hr 34 min
SquareCast Episodes 8 | August 2020
Beer + Conversation
1 hr 1 min
Squarecast Episode 7 | July 2020
Equality in Life #3: The Role of Government
1 hr 35 min
Squarecast Episode 6 | July 2020
Equality in Life #2: Business & Growth
1 hr 39 min
Squarecast Episode 5 | June 2020
Equality in Life #1: Justice & Law Enforcement
1 hr 55 min
SquareCast Episodes 2 + 3 | June 2020
Local Color George Floyd