Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, published in 1968, distinguishes two models of education: the traditional “banking” model, in which information is imparted on students by a teacher of a higher status, and one in which all participants co-create knowledge together as equals. The dominance of the “banking” model in Western education systems extends to research practices. Many institutions are beginning to recognize the importance of collaboration between researchers and practitioners. However, in community-based research, the paradigm that research and practice are separate processes, with knowledge being generated by academics and used by community practitioners, can prevent transcendence from the “banking” model into a collaborative and egalitarian one. Though long-established, such a divide between research and community practice is not necessary. In the 1980s Rural Southern Voices for Peace began using community-led listening projects as a tool to address racism in North Carolina. Listening projects have since been used to generate information about community challenges, ranging from identity conflict to environmental policy, while simultaneously addressing those challenges. We examine the process and impacts of the North Hill Listening Project, which was conducted as a collaboration between The International Institute of Akron and Kent State University’s School of Peace and Conflict Studies, to show how listening projects can be a method for academics to co-create and use knowledge with community members.