The events of the past two weeks and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement has had a lasting effect on me and my family. My introspection over the last weeks has forced me to admit that while I felt I was enlightened and progressive as it relates to being anti-racist and inclusive, I was mistaken. Throughout my life, the color of your skin, your background, your beliefs, sexual orientation or religion never mattered to me. Growing up in an executive bedroom community of Boston that was mostly white, I was away from the real issues. I thought that the black kids that were part of the METCO program in Boston that came to our schools and became my close friends prepared me for a life of being anti-racist. I thought that because I was into black culture - music, art, fashion, sports and more demonstrated that I knew and recognized what it meant to be black. I thought that having some of my best friends on the planet happened to be black brought me closer to the difficulties and racism black people face and have faced. I thought that my work in the inner-city community with at-risk and minority kids brought me closer to the situations and bias these communities face. And while maybe it did bring me closer to the majority of the white population, boy was I wrong about my understanding of the systemic issues that black and other people of color face every day now and for decades and centuries past.
I have committed to listening and learning about the root causes of how we are in this place in 2020 and why not just overt racism exists but how it is woven into the foundational institutions that make our country and world go. Whether education, healthcare, policing, real estate or more. I have the ability due to my position in corporate America but also through my non-profit work to take real action. At this moment, I am in listening mode with my friends, employees and partners to clearly understand the jobs to be done and the actions we can take now and forever to do our part in creating true equality. I feel the sea change, I feel the energy shift and I can feel the opposing forces of hate organizing against the cause. Make no mistake, there are factions that want things to stay the same, that want racism to stay where it is. They are in the shadows (and some not) preparing for how they can push against equality and systemic shifts. We cannot let that happen.