‘Common Ground Initiative’ Founder

Anthony Payton

Anthony Payton says his ‘Common Ground Initiative’ podcast aims ‘to highlight the diversity that is in New Hampshire, but at the same time we want to bridge the gaps between certain communities.’ (Courtesy photo)

While New Hampshire is not as diverse as many other states, it is rapidly becoming more so. Freelance writer and columnist Anthony Payton of Manchester is hoping that as the state continues to become more diverse, we can find more that unites us than divides us. Through his new podcast, “The Common Ground Initiative” (available on Podbean), Payton is hoping to highlight the diversity in the state, while at the same time bridging the gaps that can divide us.

Q. You talk a lot about your family on The Common Ground Initiative and the work that’s part of that. Can you explain what the initiative is?

A. We want to highlight the diversity that is in New Hampshire, but at the same time we want to bridge the gaps between certain communities — the inner-city community and the white guys who might be in the woods who drive the 4x4 pickups.

Throughout my travels in New England, I happened to spend plenty of time with guys like that, and they have their own views and I had my own views, but we were able to express those views and we did it in a civil manner. We got to see the other side of the coin, whereas too many people don’t get to see that side of the coin.

One of the incidents that triggered the series was going to a Walmart in Hooksett — I spoke about it in the first podcast. I saw a guy, and I had made my assessment of him right away, and everything that I had in my head about him turned out to be the complete opposite. I struck up a good conversation with the guy, then later on in the parking lot he wound up not having the 4x4 truck that I imagined that he did, but instead he had a regular sedan, and there was a Black woman that was outside of the sedan that was helping them with bags. I think that was their significant other, so that threw me for a loop.

Q. Why do you think this project was important for you, and why do you think it’s important generally for this project to exist right now?

A. I believe as a nation we’re in a pivotal period. There are so many people who are upset with how the country’s being run regardless of who’s running it, and it seems like they turned their angst toward people who look like me and immigrants and things along those lines.

I just want to express that we’re not the enemy; we have a commonality: We all want safer neighborhoods, better schools for our kids and to be able to live a good life. Those are the common denominators that bind us. We have to stop thinking that we’re in each other’s way, because I believe that is a self-sabotage to us growing not only as a state but as a nation.

Q. What were some of your concerns when you started the project?

A. One of the first would be that sometimes I played devil’s advocate and I didn’t want people from my community to feel like I was a sellout. Then I was worried about good-hearted white people weaponizing my words, so to speak, and saying, “Anthony said this, and this is what I’ve been saying this whole time.” I didn’t want to become one of those Black pundits who is constantly bashing the Black community.

I didn’t want to be viewed as that, nor did I want to be viewed as an extremist on the other side.

Q. Who are some of the people that we’re getting to meet through your project going forward?

A. We are going to be meeting my coparent Shauntay, who’s a mother, business owner and community activist. She and her family are embedded well into this community. There’s also a hairdresser where I want to address Black hair, and that’s not really spoken about as a sensitive topic, so I guess I’m going to be the guy to air things that go on in the Black community that other people aren’t privy to. I open that door up, because I believe that it shouldn’t just be a conversation that’s held within our community, and everyone should get to know our sensitivities and things like that.

Then there’s a college professor who is trying to put college into the prisons and also help people who are getting out of prison with college to continue their education. I believe education is very important for a person who needs to recalibrate and come back to society to be able to get gainful employment and things along those lines. Those are just a few, and there’s so many great people that I met.

This article is being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative as part of our race and equity project. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.