The dinner table can spark conversation, and connecting with one another has been South Suburban Diversity Dinners’ focus since the late 1990s.
What began as Southland residents gathering each year in homes to celebrate the region’s diversity has grown into a 501(c)(3) organization, which hosts events such as Your Story Matters: This is the Beloved Community on April 21 at Dining on the Green in Park Forest.
“We’re hoping that people will come to that place where they can feel that they matter. That’s what makes the Beloved Community,” said Star Lawson, president of South Suburban Diversity Dinners, about the societal vision popularized by Martin Luther King Jr.
“We’re hoping to reach those in the community who will get that feeling that they matter and invite others. That way we can continue to have the conversations and they’ll get a little easier. We’ll come together more as long as they feel safe in the space that Diversity Dinners is creating.
“Because of the atmosphere we’re in in today’s climate, we need those conversations about allyship, the willingness to engage in the discussions so that they can contribute to fostering that understanding and positive change whether it be in their homes, in their workplace and especially in the communities.”
South Suburban Diversity Dinners participants have included Crete, Flossmoor, Frankfort, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Orland Park, Park Forest, Richton Park, Tinley Park and University Park residents.
The organization follows up A Fall Dinner & Conversation, which featured “Waking Up White” author Debby Irving in October 2023 at Flossmoor Community House, by collaborating with Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble for Your Story Matters.
“They’re an ensemble of performing artists with extensive and diverse performance and improvisational backgrounds so they have professional backgrounds in therapy, education, working with youth and social justice activism,” said Lawson of University Park.
The ensemble’s presentation is billed as bringing the stories of the audience’s personal experiences with race; religion; sexual identity; physical, emotional and cognitive differences; and other identities to life onstage through interactive improvisational theater, movement and music.
“It speaks a lot to the community with a focus on broadening perspectives and healing by celebrating and validating the truth of each member in the community,” Lawson said.
“Hopefully from this group some of the outcomes of people being in the audience and coming to this particular event is they can build community and trust, they can explore different issues in a brave space, and they can practice deep listening, empathy and emotional expression.
“While not every audience member will get to see their story onstage, there are opportunities for every audience member to actively engage and respond.”
Your Story Matters includes an appetizers and dessert bar with items such as chicken and turkey wraps, fruit and vegetable trays, meatballs, shish kebabs, wing dings, and caramel and chocolate desserts. Nonalcoholic beverages also will be served.
Funds raised through a split-the-pot raffle go toward future South Suburban Diversity Dinners events, which include two face-to-face presentations and approximately five Zoom events annually.
“We want to make an impact in our communities by bringing the community together. That’s the whole strength of this organization,” Lawson said.
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Your Story Matters: This is the Beloved Community
When: 2-5 p.m. April 21
Where: Dining on the Green, 349 Main St., Park Forest
Tickets: $30
Information: eventbrite.com/e/your-story-matters-this-is-the-beloved-community-tickets-860465033077
