Jared Seide, founder of Beyond Us & Them, explains in an interview for Tricycle, how the practice of council can help heal divisions in a fragmented society. Through compassionate listening, presence, and the recognition of our interconnectedness, council fosters a sense of shared humanity, especially among groups often seen as being in opposition, such as the incarcerated and law enforcement. A central intention of Seide’s work is moving beyond the delusion of separation and “othering” toward a lived understanding of interbeing : “moving from seeing those we disagree with as enemies to recognizing our common ground and shared vulnerability.”
He underlines the importance of this shift from “us and them” to all of us together that counters the growing polarization especially in places as challenging as prisons or police departments. He argues that council is not just a technique but a necessary intervention that invites people to reconnect on the basis of mutual dignity and belonging.
“We desperately need to recognize the humanity in the other and really understand what it means to Other. We need a counternarrative to what we’re experiencing in the culture, in the media, and certainly in political discourse, that reminds us how much we have in common. And I think council is an enacted process and practice for that resonance to emerge.”
Situated in front of the striking Saint-Gilles prison in Brussels, Les Passagées seeks to create bridges between the two sides of the wall. Seide’s words resonate deeply with our view and especially with our project Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower held on the 15th June 2025. By connecting voices, stories and the chimes of the neighborhood – we aim to remind that the prison is not separate from the city and those inside are not separate from our lives.
Inspired by Seide’s philosophy and Rainer Maria Rilke’s call to transform darkness into strength, this project, offers a quiet yet powerful act of reconnecting through sound. It reminds us that connection is not a given – it is something we must choose to cultivate, again and again, through deep listening.
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