Introductions and Backgrounds
Taryell Simmons: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Rise Urban Nation. It is your host, Taryell Simmons, and I have living legends in the building for a healthy episode. Glenn and Jonn, thank you for being here. For people who do not know who you are, please share a little about yourselves, how you met, and how you created this beautiful work together.
Glenn Greenidge: My name is Glenn Greenidge. I live in Jamaica, Queens, New York, and had a twenty-five-year career as an IT professional. Later, I moved into real estate, mortgages, and economic development for the community. I have been doing community work since about 2010 on community boards and serving as executive director for a business improvement district. My background is in accounting and computers, and I have parlayed those college skills into careers and community building.
Jonn Thomas: I am an entrepreneur and computer programmer by trade. I used to write custom database applications for small businesses and large corporations, including Sara Lee and Springs Industries. Currently, I am in Spring Lake, North Carolina, working in our family-owned real estate company as the marketing director. Years ago, I built nbnet.com, the second most active information portal for minority business news, directories, and associations. That led me into marketing and search engine optimization. Back home, I became president of the local chamber of commerce and found myself in economic development alongside Glenn.
Taryell Simmons: We definitely still need portals like that today.
Jonn Thomas: Glenn and I met through the International Black Summit. In 1994, while participating in Landmark Education, I attended an International Black Summit event and found a group of Black people having transformational conversations. Glenn had found it a couple of years earlier. A core pillar in the summit declaration that resonated with both of us as finance and economic development professionals is 'building economies responsible for funding our communities.' We connected around exploring what a self-sustaining local and national community looks like.
Founding and Purpose of the International Black Summit
Taryell Simmons: Glenn, tell the listeners more about what the International Black Summit is and how it originated.
Glenn Greenidge: It began in 1991 with two Black women participating in Landmark Education, one getting married and the other divorcing. They envisioned an organization and conversation committed to supporting Black men and women being together. In the 1990s, before modern conference calls, they used daisy-chain phone calling until it became unmanageable. They decided to meet in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1991. A letter was sent out declaring that nothing less than death in one's body should prevent a person of African descent from attending. One hundred twenty of us gathered with a commitment to making transformation available to the Black community.
Glenn Greenidge: We formed small focus groups around community funding, health, nurturing relationships, youth support, and ending murders. That Saturday night, a group worked overnight to draft the Declaration of the International Black Summit, capturing the essence of what was possible. It was presented that Sunday, accepted by everyone with only a couple of minor word changes.
The Declaration of the International Black Summit
Jonn Thomas: Glenn was in the room during that historic moment. Imagine one hundred twenty people from across the globe examining what it means to be Black. The declaration emerged from those deep conversations: We declare ourselves, our community, and all communities whole and complete. There is nothing to do except be. We assert that we are responsible for generating community as possibility and distinction. We listen for and grant being to the possibility and creation of unpredictable results. Our conversation of, about, and for those of African descent is one of power, self-generation, abundance, responsibility, unity, and integrity with the possibility of being. We stand for the expression of our spirituality, ending the murders of our men, women, and children, building economies responsible for funding our community, maintaining wellness of being in our body, providing human services, establishing nurturing relationships, altering the conversation of who we are in the media, and empowering our youth. We declare that our community manifests itself in the world as a contribution in the transformation of the universe. Atlanta, Georgia, October 7, 1991.
Taryell Simmons: That resonates on so many levels. What does declaring ourselves whole and complete with nothing to do except be mean to you personally?
Glenn Greenidge: Speaking from the 'I,' being whole and complete brings me into oneness where there is nothing to fix. When I focus on being whole and complete, complaints disappear. Our work is centered on bringing people present to the now, rather than the past or the future, and recognizing what we bring to the moment.
Jonn Thomas: Making that declaration speaks something into existence that did not previously exist. Through tools and distinctions used at the summit, participants can examine their vision and dismantle internal conversations that disempower them. You cannot inhabit a conversation of slavery and a conversation of abundance and greatness simultaneously. We recognize the past and clarify our future, but we must remain present to where we are now.
Glenn Greenidge: The declaration language gives people choice and vision. Without a vision, you do not have your oars in the water. One critical distinction for me was 'no right way to be.' After twenty-five years of seeking the single most efficient way in IT, embracing that distinction freed me from rigid boxes and allowed the universe to support me in ways I could not have planned.
Embodying the Distinctions: Presence, Grief, and Triggers
Taryell Simmons: What did you discover about yourselves through this transformative space?
Glenn Greenidge: When I first entered the summit space representing an empowerment group in New York, the overwhelming love and energy from across the diaspora was unforgettable. Being in that empowering conversation for over thirty years continues to elevate my life.
Jonn Thomas: A pivotal moment occurred when my mother passed away right before an annual summit in Washington, D.C. The following year, I went to write her name on the ancestor wall and broke down. I realized I had been holding her hostage in my mind instead of allowing her to become an ancestor. The community gave me room to simply be with my grief without trying to fix it or offer platitudes.
Jonn Thomas: More recently, I experienced an intense emotional trigger during an interaction with a colleague. Working with facilitators, I recognized that my upset was not about that individual, but about an entire population of people she represented whom I had not made room for in my heart. Shifting that perspective opened up deeper empathy and aligned me with my vision for global transformation.
Glenn Greenidge: Jonn used several of our core distinctions: noticing the trigger, tracking the source of upset internally rather than externally, and clearing the emotional conversation to restore choice. When dozens of people experience these breakthrough insights simultaneously, it creates an electric atmosphere of personal liberation.
The Role of Facilitation and Community Transformation
Taryell Simmons: What is the role of the facilitators in guiding these breakthroughs?
Glenn Greenidge: Facilitator training centers on authentic listening. Facilitators listen for the common bridge that connects everyone, without imposing personal opinions. Facilitators do deep introspective work throughout the year. For example, our current inquiry explores what it means to rest in 'I am-ness.' By doing that inner work, we support participants in uncovering trauma and returning to a state of wholeness.
Jonn Thomas: To build community across differences, we begin by establishing a shared vision and agreed-upon ground rules. When conflicts arise, we turn to distinctions rather than aggression. We place core questions on the table, such as what building an economy means to each person, and listen deeply for the underlying commonality.
Engaging with the Summit and Future Projects
Taryell Simmons: What practical steps can listeners take to experience this work and build community locally?
Jonn Thomas: The most direct path is participating in the annual summit event, either in person in Buffalo, New York, or Antigua, West Indies, or virtually via https://blacksummit.org/ASE. Listeners can also explore recorded interviews on our website, join our weekly Summit Share Sunday discussions, or bring our Power of Community Transformation program directly to their local organization or neighborhood.
Glenn Greenidge: We also provide tailored environments for youth ages eight to seventeen and young adults ages eighteen to thirty-five, ensuring judgment-free spaces where individuals can safely process trauma and express themselves.
Taryell Simmons: What projects are you currently working on, and how can people connect with you?
Glenn Greenidge: I am transitioning to dedicate the rest of my life to youth empowerment, expanding our youth summit initiatives, and writing a financial literacy book for teenagers. Protecting young people in our neighborhoods is my core calling.
Jonn Thomas: My focus is redirecting the 1.7 trillion dollars spent by African Americans into funding our communities, while building marketing funnels for mission-driven entrepreneurs. My larger vision is building an infrastructure to deliver empowering messages like our declaration to 1.4 billion people of African descent worldwide.
Taryell Simmons: That aligns perfectly with Marcus Garvey's historic vision of circulating resources within our global community. Thank you both for your leadership and service.
