Monday's Opening Thought: April 5, 2021

This week’s opening thought: We can’t lead and facilitate any conversations or facilitation around dismantling anti-racism, anti-Blackness, anti-Asian hate, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, or fat-shaming/body-shaming without being in a constant state of learning, growth, and reflection ourselves. If you are out here leading equity work or conversations and you don’t think you have any more deep learning and evolving to do around your connections to and perpetuation of white supremacy, hate, and oppression?

You’re more of a danger to the people you claim to be supporting than you likely realize or are comfortable with hearing.

Monday's Opening Thought: March 29, 2021

TW: Anti-Blackness. Hate crime. Police Brutality.

Monday’s opening thought: So... I’m not watching the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered George Floyd. It's honestly something I don't need in my life.

I do not need reminders of Black mortality in the face of white supremacy.

I do not need to sit and watch as the legal system tries to convince a jury that George Floyd, regardless of anything he did in his past, somehow deserved to be murdered by a police officer kneeling on his neck for over eight minutes, driving his throat and head into the concrete.

I do not need to watch every news network play the complete footage of George Floyd's life being taken. I do not need to see "melanated people pain porn for white consumption" and relive the horror of a Black body being harmed for the whole world to watch while non-Black folx with privilege and white folx offer their "unbiased" [read: racist] opinion across every social media platform on whether Derek Chauvin should pay for his hate crime.

I do not need to watch a trial to know that Derek Chauvin will likely get a slap on the wrist and possibly not even serve any real time in prison for his actions, if at all.

What I do need is to take care of myself, because I already know deep in my soul that this trial will more than likely not end with justice for George Floyd and his family.

I do not need to hear "not guilty." Believe me when I say It is honestly something I do not need in my life.

But I'm getting myself ready to hear it...and to mourn a Black life lost all over again.

If you are Black and decide that you want or need to watch this trial, please take care of yourselves. Take care of yourselves despite the white supremacy all around us and the white supremacist workplace cultures we work in. Prepare for the possibility that you'll be in some form of mourning. Do those things however you like to do them in your own way but please do them.

I don’t want to see y’all lose your lives, mentally or physically.

Your trauma matters. Your life matters. Even if our society is about to likely show us again that we should think and feel otherwise.

Monday's Opening Thought: March 22, 2021

This week’s opening thought, for my Black folx: I’ve seen some anti-Asian sentiments and a lack of support for the AAPI community from a contingent of Black folx I wish were smaller in size. There’s been a lot of “Where were y’all while police were killing us? Why should we stand with you now?” Let me just say to the Black folx who are saying these things and taking this anti-Asian stance:

1) You’re being racist and perpetuating white supremacy. That’s not a good look. Don’t feed into the white supremacy and white violence of the “culture” we live and work in. Racism is a machine that intersects with class and hierarchy. You’re playing into the whims of that machine.

2)You’re engaging in oppression Olympics and making this an “us vs. them” situation. It’s not “us vs. them”. It’s “us vs. white supremacy.” White supremacy has been harming and killing Black and AAPI U.S. Americans for well over a century. Yes, anti-Blackness is one of this country’s original sins. But please continue your learning and understand the history of internment as well as the concept of the “model minority” and stop making declarations over who is the most mistreated and oppressed. No one wins at the oppression Olympics.

Let’s not be cogs in the hate machine, Black folx. We’ve got to be better than that.

Monday's Opening Thought: March 15, 2021

This week’s opening thought: If you are on a Board of Directors in 2021 and you’re still talking around, and not talking about or engaging in dismantling, the rampant white supremacist ideology that fuels even the concept of having a Board of Directors you are doing nothing but contributing to the ongoing steamroller of white supremacy. And it’s likely not important enough for your Board to want to address because y’all don’t want the discomfort. And guess what?

There is no number of people of color, of Black, Brown, and Indigenous folx, that you can add to your Board of Directors that will make you appear as you care.

And seeing how the overwhelming majority of Boards are only interested in people of color, in Black, Brown, and Indigenous folx, for the optics and not for their “non-palatable” thoughts and ideas I’m sure we all get what the tea is, even if we don’t wanna say it out loud.

The tokenization of BIPOC folx and the allocation of BIPOC energy to being tasked with addressing the hate on your Board that you don’t want to address while perpetuating that hate against people of color on your Board is literally white supremacy, y’all.

At least own it. You own all the credit for things going well. Own this too. It’s your property, not mine.

Monday's Opening Thought: March 8, 2021

This week’s opening thought:

Listen to all Black women.

Believe all Black women.

Validate all Black women.

Support all Black women.

Advocate for the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of all Black women.

Protect all Black women.

Real talk? Oprah shouldn’t have had to interview a Black woman who married someone she loved - someone who just so happened to be a part of a colonialist, racist, inbred patriarchy that obviously did not want “her kind” in their family - for you to care or consider all of the aforementioned. Her pain and trauma shouldn’t have had to be on display for you to be like, “Maybe she’s telling the truth.” Why do I feel this way?

Because you’ve heard these stories before. You just weren’t actively listening.

Black women have been sharing stories and harrowing ordeals akin to what Meghan Markle shared with the world last night with the world for centuries. In the workplace. In the communities they live in. Even marrying into non-Black families or having intimate relationships and friendships with white people. Meghan’s experience is not unique.

And that is the problem.

Western culture has normalized harming Black women to the point where most people - some Black folx included - don’t even bat an eye when faced with the prospect of this generational hatred or even their part in it. If you saw the interview and you feel for Meghan, which you should, ask yourself how often you’ve felt this way when you’ve heard these stories from Black women who aren’t Meghan. Then ask yourself why you weren’t compelled enough to care about Black women enough in those moments to be an ally or accomplice. It shouldn’t have to be on TV as a prime time special for you to care. And you know what?

These stories were already on your damn TV anyway.

It’s on the local and national news, buried behind a story about a squirrel that rides a jet ski and other puff pieces. It’s Breonna and Sandra and Muhlaysia and countless other Black women gone too soon and forgotten with no justice, names you’ve heard in passing that made you sad for 15 minutes.

You’ve heard these stories before. You just weren’t actively listening.

You might need to put on your listening ears for once and wire them up to your belief that you’re an ally or accomplice.

All Black Women Matter.