Rethinking Everything
I’m keeping it short this week. I can’t push my journey or share my story with a clear conscience. I live just outside of Washington DC, a city that’s been very active in protesting racial injustice and that serves as the hotbed of debate, considering our divisive president.
I was going to make a big push to teach a bunch of live classes in June, but I’m taking a step back to educate myself on systemic racism. A colleague shared a very simple 4-minute video. I’m ashamed to admit that the simple 4-minute video taught me everything I know about what “systemic racism” actually is.
I was about to ask some of my black friends, “How can I help?” when I saw a Tweet that changed my mind. Essentially the Tweet emphasized that the burden of proof and education shouldn’t fall on our black friends. That hits hard, and I think illustrates just how little I know on the topic. I’ve always considered myself an “ally,” but to be quite honest, I’m not sure if I even really understand what that means yet.
So, rather than try to push my side project and drive people to *me* in June, I’m taking a pause from actively pushing my message. The time I would’ve spent in marketing and networking will be time I use to educate myself. I’m still going to be working, so I’ll have updates each week, but I’m not looking to make financial progress this month.
My starting point looks like:
This video, mentioned above.
So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo. Ordered it today.
Road Map for Revolutionaries by Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, and Jamia Wilson