Champion was my word of the year in 2017.
I am circling back to that word now in the midst of the horrifying murder of George Floyd and the reminder of the deep racial injustices in our country.
I am privileged in so many ways and have felt overwhelmed this past week without knowing how to show up as an ally. Making spaces for people of color to take the stage felt like it might be falling into a silence that was deafening in its lack of support.
I am also fortunate to have two young adult daughters (one of whom painted the image above years ago) to keep pushing me to look at my own participation in the systemic injustice and assumptions about ‘that’s just the way things are.’ Pushing me to introspect, acknowledge my biases and make change.
It brings me back to the thing I always do first- LEARN.
I am learning and reading. I am listening to the voices of those who are farther along the learning path than I am.
Learning itself is not enough though. We have to DO something.
This week, I’ve made a few donations including to this GoFundMe for Oakland Black Businesses. I supported my daughters as they marched in the youth rally in Oakland yesterday. I continue to notice my biases and check myself. And I challenge myself to understand that my DOING will never be done.
My tagline would say the next phrase is PROFIT.
I’m going to say in this case, it’s CHANGE IT.
We are seeing the world change in front of us. It is likely we will look back at this time as the time of a historic shift. With each of us contributing to CHANGE, I am hopeful that the shift is towards an equitable society rather than away from one.
If you are looking for ways to learn it, do it and change it, I’m happy to share resources that my daughter has been collecting.