This Week's Opening Thought: September 18, 2023

Image description: A one-panel comic strip. An older person wearing glasses and a suit and tie stands at a podium in front of the silhouette of an audience. A person in the audience says, "I want my kids taught about the past exactly as it happened in a way that also mythologizes this country's achievements in particular while portraying bad actions as aberrations in order to instill a sense of civic pride but is not in any way opinionated." At the bottom of the image is the sentence, "My nightmare: having to write public school history curricula."

This week's opening thought: THIS. This is why I decided to go on an indefinite sabbatical from doing anti-racism and equity work with organizations.

There is no positive spin for original sins.

There is no way to learn about or have difficult conversations about U.S. history, colonization, the abuse and enslavement of Black and Indigenous peoples, and the near genocide of Native and Indigenous communities and make people of pallor "feel safe" or willingly allow people of the white persuasion (genetically or aspirationally) to run with the "not my ancestors" narrative unchecked.

Don't waste my time. Don't waste the time of facilitators, educators, and other people you expect to teach you or our youth if all you want is to feel you and your ancestors are on the "right side of history."

Those who want to rewrite history tend to have no issue repeating it and partaking in its bitter fruit.

Just admit you prefer the fruit you know and aren't interested in you or your kids planting new trees and digging up the old ones.

[Image description: A one-panel comic strip. An older person wearing glasses and a suit and tie stands at a podium in front of the silhouette of an audience. A person in the audience says, "I want my kids taught about the past exactly as it happened in a way that also mythologizes this country's achievements in particular while portraying bad actions as aberrations in order to instill a sense of civic pride but is not in any way opinionated." At the bottom of the image is the sentence, "My nightmare: having to write public school history curricula."]

This Week's Opening Thought: September 11, 2023

This week's opening thought: A white "professional" recently asked me why I often describe what I was wearing when I share my daily encounters with racism and anti-Blackness. It's simple.

I want to negate the "talking point" that somehow my dress or choice of clothing could be construed as "dangerous" and that it's somehow my fault that people of pallor feel like they're "in danger" when they see a Black man with pink headphones and a Kill Bill t-shirt walking toward them, smiling and saying hello.

I want to negate you telling me it's my fault if the unmelanated kill me for no discernable reason.

How detailed I am in describing what I'm wearing in a potentially dangerous and life-threatening situation shouldn't be what troubles you.

Black people having to build a damn detailed court case to convince you that we did nothing wrong, yet still have to defend our right to safety and survival because whiteness by default feels like we had to do SOMETHING to incur the wrath of whiteness because, you know, whiteness has never harmed or killed anyone with melanated skin without cause should be what troubles you.

But what the hell do I know?

I’m just a Black man with pink headphones and a Kill Bill t-shirt.

This Week's Opening Thought: August 28, 2023

This week's opening thought: The amount of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and white privilege it takes to pass education legislation in your state that calls for teaching the youth of your state that chattel slavery was a “character-building moment” that gave enslaved Black bodies “useful skills” and then show up at a Black community-led vigil after a white supremacist intentionally murdered three Black people in your state in a pre-meditated anti-Black hate crime and think you deserve the right to speak at said vigil is peak whiteness. Hell, that’s beyond peak whiteness.

That is quintessential, old-school classic whiteness.

That’s some forefather shit.

To not care about my life or what your people have inflicted upon mine over 400+ years, then see the murders of my people as a photo op for your Presidential campaign and pop up to share “thoughts and prayers?”

That is vintage whiteness, like an original Ted Nugent t-shirt at a KKK rally.

Harm now; act as if you will apologize later while doubling and tripling down on the damage you’ve caused and supported.

That’s that classic apple pie white supremacy right there, y’all.

A la mode.

This Week's Opening Thought: August 21, 2023

This week's opening thought: If you live in the United States, you live in a country where many people believe lizard people walk among us, JFK, Jr. is a descendent of Christ, alive and preparing for a run as Donald Trump’s running mate, and that Joe Biden is not the acting President on top of believing Joe died years ago, leaving a hired actor to portray him in public to save face.

At this point, no one should be surprised that we can't have honest conversations about real fact-driven issues in the United States.

We can't even agree that there ain't no damn lizard people walkin’ the streets.

This Week's Opening Thought: August 7, 2023

This week's opening thought: If organizations spent as much time building, maintaining, and cultivating leaders and organizations that are actively equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist while removing toxic and harmful people as they do on writing up mission and vision statements with the "right words" in them maybe we'd all talk about the present and future of work differently than we do.

Just a thought.