Dear Allies
Dear Allies:
As “Rome” burns, I can’t help but sit on my couch and wonder how long you will actively help us. You have been absolutely amazing this past week, but I have moments where it feels like this is all 400 years too late. But I remind myself that you were there as abolitionists. You came back to march in the Civil Rights Movement. And, you’re here today with so much rage, on our behalf. But it’s those quiet spaces in between that worry me. Those quiet spaces when people forget the rage. When racism goes into covert ops mode where it moves among us like an insidious virus infecting people much like the pandemic we’re all trying to survive. The racial virus that seems to have no vaccine.
In much the same way that we’re battling COVID-19, let’s commit to communicating, researching, learning, and taking decisive and consistent action to eradicate this racial pandemic. Let’s come together across our nation and COMMIT.
COMMIT to not having the quiet spaces. Do something everyday. Heck. Start a book club.
COMMIT to making the education system work for all kids. It’s still broken.
COMMIT to donating to funds or with your time. Non-profits need your support.
COMMIT to having uncomfortable race conversations… with people who look like you.
COMMIT to more than statements by examining practices in your workplace.
COMMIT to teaching your children how to care about all humans regardless of skin color.
COMMIT to not forgetting why you raged.
COMMIT to not forgetting that some of us battle this racial virus everyday.
You decide what you’re going to commit to. At the end of the day, there really is a vaccine and it lies within each of us to unleash it. It will take authentic love and care for each other. A love and care that pushes us to make seismic shifts in systems of oppression. A friend of mine recently told me that it feels different this time and that we will make real and lasting change. I want so badly to believe that.
Today, I COMMIT to believing that you will stay.
In Trust,
@CEOARJ
“Empowered by ancestral hustle and warrior soul.”
*All statements expressed in this blog are my personal views and not a representation of Washington STEM.
