THE SERMON THAT BLEW THE ROOF OFF THE BREAKFAST

Brian—at Fisk University, then earned her PhD in microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt. She wears a few hats: as medical director for infectious disease at TriCore; as associate pastor at New Covenant Worship Center in Rio Rancho; and as that city’s first Black city councilor. Her children are her biggest influence because they catalyze change in her and light that fire we all saw at breakfast. They awaken her curiosity, which is necessary right now, “because all of these issues we’re facing are not that new.” Culbreath believes we have to stand up and say, “We must be counted, we will be counted.” Black folk make significant impacts in this community and are not, she argues, “statistically insignificant.”