Ep. 28 - The Short End of the Stick Ft. Laura Grantham Broussard - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

Sometimes to talk about good things we need to talk about bad things. We have to go into the darkness of the cave, but make sure we’re lighting lanterns along the way. Laura Grantham Broussard sat down with me for a visit on Find the Good News, and our conversation was a bit like that. Laura caught my eye online because she was one of the few voices ringing out in our area taking an active position of compassion and mercy for immigrants and asylum seekers. She’s one of the one’s lighting those lanterns on the way into the cave. If I’m being honest, I typically feel a good bit of fear when the subject of migrants, foreigners, asylum seekers, or border walls come up. These are volatile times, and as a past guest of the show once said, “You can’t change anyone’s mind anymore.” Still, that’s one of the unwritten missions of this little show, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we all make an effort to have honest and elevated conversations—even uncomfortable conversations—that might cause a shift in thinking or a change of heart? I’d say that’s the kind of conversation I have with Laura in this episode. She speaks frankly about the immediate needs of the families that she serves through the Immigrant Families Together network and reveals many of the catalysts for their migration to safer lands. What I really love about Laura Broussard is that she’s actually doing something. She’s not sitting on the sidelines. She’s using her voice on new media networks to help bend the bow toward social justice, but she’s also putting actual energy into serving our brothers and sisters, these children of creation—and that’s what they are—manifesting resources for families that are totally at the mercy of a stranger’s kindness. That hope for kindness is not what they always receive. Laura has that unique knack for looking at history to help generate her compassion. Because she can see where she’s come from, she can see others as herself, and in turn, treat them as she would want to be treated. She sees the common ground that we all share, the things that bind us, and that many of the comforts and securities we enjoy simply come from being born in the right place and the right time—good old fashioned luck. It’s easy to find voices stirring the pot with the long end of the stick, voices that use degrading rhetoric that dehumanizes immigrants, making their troubles easier to disregard. Laura understands that they are people—just like you and I—and they are the ones getting the short end of the stick in this pot we stir with our words. Laura Grantham Broussard, all of the locals that support her efforts, and the Immigrant Families Together network are using their words and works to help these people in desperate situations. Maybe there are lanterns hanging along the walls of the deep, dark cave. Maybe there’s a light on outside as well. Maybe people like Laura are helping to transform these dark spaces into comfortable and safe homes filled with love, friends, and resources. For mothers and fathers wandering far from their homes and wondering what’s next, I believe it’s the good news they’ve been praying and hoping for.

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THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT LAURA GRANTHAM BROUSSARD & THE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES TOGETHER NETWORK >> www.facebook.com/lg.broussard and https://immigrantfamiliestogether.com/donate-to-a-mom