black lives matter

I've been promising y'all a positivity podcast now that I'm back in the office again, but a new one will not be going out today either. 

Instead, what I'd like to do, is ask ALL of you, to take some time and do some deep dives into yourself.

This is a mindful community, and part of being a mindful community means paying attention to how your mind works and the origin of your thoughts.

Plain and simple - if you are not actively working to become ANTI-RACIST, you are still racist. I understand this can be difficult to wrap your mind around, but it's because much of the racism that exists in this world lives in your unconscious mind. Here's a quote from   Ijeoma Oluo that explains it perfectly:

"The beauty of anti-racism is that you don't have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it's the only way forward. "

As you start working hard to notice your internal biases, you'll see more and more examples of what I'm referencing.

I am not attempting to tell all of you that you are racist and therefore bad people, but instead what I'm trying to shine some light on is the fact that we have all been brought up in a society where racism is heavily ingrained into everything we do. It's in our school system, in business, in government, even in Ai. It's everywhere because the system was designed to oppress. 

Even if you made the public statements of support and have never acted out of racist intent, there is still work to be done. There is still a system that needs to be dismantled and rebuilt in the name of equality. It requires anti-racists to do so. People who acknowledge that all of us were raised with certain prejudices, whether we want to believe it or not, and that white people especially have been the beneficiaries of privilege that Black folks and PoC do not have. 

This is not a statement to shame or talk down to anyone. I am actively working to become anti-racist, and I hope you'll all join me.

Positivity Podcasts will resume next week.

This week, our focus should be on what we can do within ourselves to create change and what we can do out in the world to ensure Black voices are heard. 

Black Lives Matter.