“Community, Culture, and Healing”

By Tavia ‘Tay’ Pennington

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” While this proverb expresses a sentiment of growth beyond individuality, it can get lost in theory when a community is choked by survival, misunderstanding, and the illusion of good intentions.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to serve in various capacities throughout the country, from preparing food and ushering in local churches across the United States to volunteering at orphanages in South Korea. I’ve knocked on countless doors in neighborhoods alongside We The Eastside, educated formerly incarcerated men and women in Oklahoma City about their
voting rights, connected communities with nutritional resources alongside Mr. Kwame and the NEOKC Farmers Market, and helped people find safe spaces for spiritual and religious practice. Whether abroad or local, what I have learned is that there is no such thing as a perfect community. There is, however, such a thing as willing people who are unafraid of the work required for a healthy community to live and thrive.

Since moving to Oklahoma in 2009, I’ve learned about the generational trauma Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities have had to endure. From present day protests against floc, ai data centers, and i.c.e., to the Keystone XL Pipeline debates 2025, the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, the killing of Terrance Crutcher in 2016, the devastation of the tornado that tore through Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore in 2013, the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, the displacement of Deep Deuce beginning in the 1940s, and the destruction of Greenwood during the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. These are just a few of the hardships that Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities have repeatedly been forced to overcome. Not to mention the carceral system, everyday issues like inflation, mental health, education, stagnant wages, and the challenges of today’s job and housing markets.

It is events such as these that would give reason to selfishness at times. No one wants to carry a collective weight on individual shoulders, but there are people who do, and they show up selflessly in community for community.

People like Aurelius Francisco, Tevin McDaniel, and Bridgette Burns of Foundation for Liberating Minds, a Black led, multiracial, multicultural abolitionist organization creating liberation through political education and movement building. Or Ryan, Madison, and Jay of S.A.F.E. Commune, a transformative justice project building networks that respond to harm through accountability, healing, and survivor centered care rather than punishment. The volunteers of Vote 4 Change who educate communities from grade school classrooms to correctional facilities about voting rights and civic engagement; and Kwame Mboya and the NEOKC Farmers Market who teach food sovereignty, nutrition, and self-sustainability while creating spaces where neighbors can gather and build relationships.

These are only a few examples that represent hundreds of people across Oklahoma who quietly serve as volunteers, activists, educators, therapists, surrogate parents, spiritual advisors, and mentors. They do not simply point out problems. They become part of the solution. They understand that meaningful change is rarely accomplished by one individual. It requires people willing to carry one another through seasons of hardship while investing in something greater than themselves.

Through these experiences, I have learned that no one person is greater than another within a community. Every person contributes something that is often overlooked. We function like a body, each with different strengths that support the whole. Some are visionaries who imagine what is possible. Some are organizers who transform ideas into action. Others quietly encourage, teach, nurture, or simply remain present when someone needs them most. Every role matters because every person matters.

Community, culture, and healing are inseparable. Healing begins when people no longer feel they have to carry pain alone. Culture reminds us of where we come from, community reminds us who walks beside us, and healing gives us the strength to continue moving forward together. Healthy nonprofit, prison, and rehabilitation programs are not built solely on services or policies. They are built by people willing to show up consistently, invest in relationships, and create spaces where dignity, accountability, and hope can flourish.