I am an American
We are One Nation
Each week, this series will introduce you to an exceptional American who unites, rather than divides, our communities. In this installment, read about Liz Joyner, executive director of the Village Square in Tallahassee, Fla., a nonprofit devoted to civic dialogue.
Each week, this series will introduce you to an exceptional American who unites, rather than divides, our communities. To read more about the American profiled here and more average Americans doing exceptional things, visit onenation.usatoday.com.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Liz Joyner’s “Threads of a Nation” quilt is stitched together with red, white and blue squares and patriotic quotes: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and “Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.”
It’s a quilt that’s a tribute to her family who had served in the military and worked in government — her brother a Navy SEAL and her father a Pentagon worker. But it’s also, she said, a reflection of the “beauty of the diversity of our people.”
Joyner picked and dyed scarlet-, rose- and ceruleancolored fabrics that at first glance, wouldn’t necessarily match. But when woven together, unified into one piece.
She’s the executive director of The Village Square in Tallahassee, Florida. The quilt, created after September 11, was almost a foreshadowing of what she does
now through The Village Square: bridge gaps between communities and ideologies through conversation. Somehow, Joyner’s been able to gather both liberals and conservatives around dinner tables and on stages to talk about race, religion and politics. The concept might seem only possible to discuss in a civil way across party lines “when pigs fly” — hence The Village Square’s mascot, of sorts: a little pink pig with wings.
The Village Square holds events like Faith, Food, Friday, an interfaith conversation rotating at different faith centers, and film screenings followed by discussions called Race to the Movies: An Unflinching Conversation on Race.
Joyner is a fervent believer that “diverse groups make better decisions,” but even if a conclusion or decision isn’t made, “you’ve still changed everything” by gathering people to converse and learn about life from another person’s perspective. Joyner believes important change starts with relationships fueled by empathy. “Human beings are capable of amazing feats of empathy, “she said, “when we just get to know each other.”