Is this the beginning of a revolution that finally addresses racism honestly?
Part 2: The Present and A Way Forward
The continuum of violence against African Americans and the Black Community
What has happened in the past is not different from what continues to happen today because racism is generational. Racists who have committed crimes use all the tools of systems of privilege built in their favor to avoid being held accountable. In doubtful circumstances, lawyers have changed venues for trial to predominantly White communities where their White accomplice juries can unconsciously and consciously exercise bias.
Is this the beginning of a revolution that finally addresses racism honestly?
Part 1: Understanding Our Shared History
When people say, “enough is enough!”, Do we really understand why? Why is it that we consistently deny the traumatic experience of racism that pains African Americans every single day? Why do we vote for leaders who effectively support policies and practices that are racist or discriminatory? What propelled so many Americans of all ethnicities including White, African Americans, Asian American, European American, Hispanic Americans to come together despite the Covid-19 pandemic to protest on the streets? Why do African Americans continue to endure racist and discriminatory practices generation after generation? These are some of the questions we ponder here given the recent events and the Black Lives Matter movement that has taken the world by storm even as a pandemic rages, propelling people to deprioritize their personal safety in order to stand up against racism and a history of subjugation and discrimination.
I am not happy when I read some of your posts and ask who are these people? Have they always felt this way about me and my people? Some of us are minimizing what happened and trying to justify police officers brutal attacks. However, this particular policeman had no concern for another human being’s life as we all watched his face that lacked any emotions. Yes, there are good and bad people period but this is not about that it is about watching a black man die before the WORLD’s eyes by the hands of corrupt police officers.
This is being done on a regular basis like it is open hunting season on black males. Some of us want to bring up George Floyd’s past to once again minimize what happened as I have stated before if he was butt naked running through the streets, screaming he did not deserve to die like that. Some of us want to question the looting and rioting. Believe it, a lot of that has been agitated by people who infiltrated in the peaceful protest with one agenda to make it chaotic.
Allyship is an inclusion and diversity strategy through which individuals with privilege support members of underrepresented groups in positive ways.Implementation of allyship strategies in work environments is increasing. There are many opportunities to use this strategy beyond the workplace, particularly in person social networking and media activities, to combat hatred toward underrepresented groups.
Hate, as a noun, is a passionate dislike, disgust, hostility or learned moral resentment of someone or something.As a verb, hate is to feel intense dislike, resentment, or hostility toward someone or something. Hatred is a demonstration of these feelings.Typically, hatred toward a group or class does not begin with extreme behaviors; instead, there is an incremental escalation which begins with less severe activities.
Foremost, my heart goes out to the family, friends, and supporters of Mr. George Floyd.As a professional communication coach, it can be challenging to remain poised when you are emotional over seeing such an egregious act of what we were victimized to witness.
How is it that the world saw Mr. Floyd have his life extracted and we as viewers are also victims?
The answer is accountability.We all saw the video.Former Police Officer Dereck Chauvin, age 44, mercilessly kept his knee in Mr. Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes.Although Mr. Floyd desperately pleaded for his life and although civilians videotaped and did their best to inform Former Office Chauvin of Mr. Floyd’s depleting condition, those pleas were unrequited by Chauvin.
What is accountability?According to Dictionary.com, “the fact or condition of being responsible”.
For the past 5 weeks, I have been living a nightmare. I’ve been about half-present at work, or maybe more precisely I’ve been mostly present about half the time. I’ve come and gone from social media because too often I am unable to tolerate the incivility and hatred that has become – against all odds – even worse during this time when we should all be pulling together.
The nightmare I’ve been living is being worried sick that the love of my life was going to die.
About 5 weeks ago, already almost 2 weeks into self-imposed social distancing, Maddie started to cough. At first, it seemed like a simple chest cold. No high fever, no loss of taste or smell, nothing that made me panic.
We are still in the midst of a disruptive crisis no matter how “positive thinking police” try to spin it. As the Covid-19 quarantine continues with people working from home, with little or no social interaction, some of your team members may start experiencing a deeper level of anxiety. No one knows when or how it will end or what the “new normal” will look like. That anxiety due to seemingly uncertain futures and not knowing how or when the crisis will end, can cause some people to panic, lose focus about their work and disengage from the team.
With the right strategies you have the power to help yourself, your family and people in your organization to not panic and instead find joy and stay engaged. The actions you take now to increase and sustain connection, community, and inclusion will make the difference between a long re-entry or the shortest one possible. If you want to know five actions you can take immediately, read on.
How Leaders & Employees
Go from Fear to Optimism: One TEAM again
The new norm of work is a challenge for businesses and the workforce. No one is exempt from the challenges we face during this period of isolation. Even those who are used to working virtually will have new demands placed on them. Teams will be forced to communicate differently and accommodate home-based needs. Team leaders must find ways to collaborate and move forward despite unprecedented uncertainty. Business owners can find themselves in a fight for survival while not only maintaining the ability to restart operations, but implementing creative ways to make that transition. How are we going to manage all this?Continue reading From Virus-Suppression to Workplace Return – by Deborah Levine and Cathy Light→
Real life, as we all know, is full of polarities: mountains and valleys; highs and lows; peace and war; happiness and loneliness; success and failure.
Though we, Earth’s human beings, are considered to be the wisest and the most powerful creatures on planet, there is a domain of control that we are incapable of. That domain is the control over the physical world. An Earthling like you and I can only control his or her inner self but not external dominions such as the direction to which the wind blows and where the current underneath the oceans flow. When the Earth sways and quakes rig off houses, when the sun blows its fire onto barren lands, we humans get physically hogtied and pushed to derangement IF WE ARE NOT WISE.
Fear of the unknown is very common; something we’ve all experience, I’m sure. I remember when my daughter was leaving a 200-student middle school, and going to a 2,500-student high school. She was terrified that she would be “lost all the time” until I reminded her that her favorite mall was twice that size, and she was never lost there!
The “little child” in us rears it’s head when situations arise that we feel unprepared for. But as we pass through the eye of the storm, something miraculous happens! When human beings are faced with difficult situations, they rise to extraordinary heights! The spirit inside us blossoms and we become the beings we are meant to be. The sight of another person or community in need erases all those childlike fears, and we expose our “superman” uniforms!
For the past 5 weeks, I have been living a nightmare. I’ve been about half-present at work, or maybe more precisely I’ve been mostly present about half the time. I’ve come and gone from social media because too often I am unable to tolerate the incivility and hatred that has become – against all odds – even worse during this time when we should all be pulling together.