Building Bridges Brings Poetry and Community Together in Saline

February Event at Fine Print Bookshop Celebrates Black Authors and Meaningful Conversations

On Sunday, February 2, Saline residents came to the latest installment of the Building Bridges for a Brighter Tomorrow event at Saline’s Fine Print Bookshop.

The event began with readings and presentations from different cultural traditions, highlighting black authors as February is Black History Month.  Participants then broke out into groups to discuss their experiences and subsequently shared with the whole group./i

Nicole Rice, one of the founders of Building Bridges, commented, “In all the chaos of the world, to take a moment and focus on developing deeper connections with my local community is something I feel so fortunate to have available to me.  Today’s poetry event taught us to be intentional with our words while also understanding that once they’re out there in the world, they are no longer ours.  Words matter.”

Nicole continues with a “huge thank you to Bill Gibson, owner of Fine Print Bookshop, who hosted this edition of Building Bridges.  Keep an eye out for our next event coming soon!”

Pastor Kimberly Secrist Ashby, co-founder of Building Bridges, believes that “poetry is an art where the original piece comes from deep inside the author, yet when it is launched into the world, it resonates with different people in various ways. We listened to each other share about the impact of poetry and poems, enjoyed some original poems read by their authors, and considered how we might respectfully appreciate the poetry of cultures not our own.”

Pastor Kimberly added, “We thank Mac’s Acadian Seafood Shack for the wonderful food we enjoyed and are looking forward to planning our next events!”

The Building Bridges organizers are working on the next event.  If you have an idea you think would work for a future event, email buildingbridgessalinemi@gmail.com .

For more information on Building Bridges, visit the www.buildingbridgessalinemi.org website.