Make wishtv.com your home page

Tamika Catchings hosts town hall to talk racism with artists, community leaders

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Former Indiana Fever basketball star Tamika Catchings is hosting a virtual town hall on Friday for a community conversation discussing racism in America and ways to make change.

It’s a part of her Community Conversations’ series, a platform she would usually give to her business, the Tea’s Me Cafe Indy.

“Tea’s Me Cafe has been a place for the community to come together and talk and we welcome everybody from all race colors and creeds,” Tea’s Me Cafe general manager Joi DeFrantz said. “We have the forum and we have the space and it’s a safe space.”

A virtual town hall to get everything out on the table. A chance for people to hear and see perspective. Delivering that message in many different ways. Even the art of spoken word.

“I wanted it to be a variety of people from young generation to the older generation,” Catchings said.

A panel will come together and the community will have a front row seat on Facebook Live. “It’s very interactive,” DeFrantz said. “We want people to chime in. We want people to share their experiences.” It’s a breakout for dialogue after protests swept the country over the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis.

For Catchings seeing this mission through is personal. “My grandfather was a part of it, my great grandfather was a part of just trying to figure out how do we get equality in our world and break down systemic racism,” she said.

She says three words summarize her goal for this talk. Listen. Educate. Action. For some, having the talk means getting out of your comfort zone.

“There’s so many stories that we talk about amongst our families and amongst our friends,” DeFrantz daid. She believes the result of of real conversations, combined with real action could mean real progress. “I think that’s how we create a better world.”

Go online to get in on the conversation.