Hope. Obama won the presidency on it. America was built on it. But how are we supposed to maintain hope for equality in a nation that once institutionalized inequality? That went to war to maintain that inequality? That designated people, based on their skin color, as either an entire person or 3/5ths of one?

The workshop "Trustbuilding tools for Racial Healing and Community Change," that was part of The Trust Factor weekTrustbuilding Tools for Racial Healing and Community Change participants (Photo: Adriana Borra), brought these questions to the table. By dissecting the elements of trustworthiness, using an introspective approach, the workshop equipped participants to host trustbuilding conversations of their own. Those in the room were united in the need for greater cross-racial trust and discussion. They reflected on instances in which they had gained or lost trust, and how those experiences affected them.

Hope, admittedly, was not the focus of the workshop. By the conclusion, however, it became clear that the hope to trust was as elusive to some as trust itself. While trust can be built from the inside out, it is harder to find a formula to inspire hope when reality makes hope seem naïve.

Dushaw Hockett, formerly of The Center for Community Change and currently at SPACES, left participants with the quote, “Trust is fragile and is based on our ability to embrace and hold multiple and competing truths,” allowing participants to embrace the facts while maintaining hope for a more trusting future.