Swope Health announces a new edition of its podcast, One on One with Swope Health, featuring the Rev. Dr. Wallace S. Hartsfield II, pastor of the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Kansas City.
Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.
Rev. Hartsfield talks with Eric about his upbringing, education, and experiences that led up to his current position, following in the footsteps of his father, Rev. Wallace Hartsfield Sr., a spiritual and civil rights leader who worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, and other national leaders.
In this discussion, Rev. Hartsfield describes his approach to understanding and reducing violence in the Kansas City community. He noted the violence has a lot to do with poverty, racism, and uneven development.
“I believe one solution to this is to pray,” he said, adding that he understands some will suggest this is naïve, that prayer won’t change anything. But, he added, he’s talking about a different way of praying: “To pray is to change.”
He distilled his solution to three elements: respect, reconciliation, and righteousness. “Praying is availing and opening ourselves to love and to be loved.”
Rev. Hartsfield suggests that all the ways to address violence, poverty and social justice issues begin with a personal commitment to love.
He also describes the new initiative named after his father, a think tank for critical engagement in the issues that impact African American communities – access to education, economic equity, healthcare and employment.
Listen in to learn more:
