Dark skies invite us to listen
Hi,
I am dismayed by the dark clouds hovering over our nation. Our inhumanity exposes the worst in us. This week, I’ve thought about what I can do to change the hate strangling our communities. What can one person do? Why have we divided people? This is not the first time I have asked this question.
My first lessons in racism came as a small child. Separate drinking fountains and why it mattered confused a five-year-old. My dad drove a city bus. I could not understand why signs on the bus distinguished white seats from the seats for “coloreds” at the back of the bus. When I asked questions, I usually received this answer, “That’s just the way it is.”
No. That is not just the way it is. Nor should it be the way. It must not continue to be the way.
Inspiration worth sharing . . .
We need leaders who have the courage and integrity to examine policies and laws in government, education, and business. What can you and I do? In Daring Leadership for the Future Begins with You, I propose you can lead right where you stand. Small step? Maybe. But small steps by many can create a groundswell.
I will never forget the first book that gave me a glimpse of black lives in America, the Autobiography of Malcolm X. This week, I found Forgotten Civil Rights Pioneers: A Reading List with a few names I had not learned, and now must. I listened to Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist. And a moving message from a former President on How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change.
Since music always moves my soul, here's a tribute to a few African-American men and women who shaped American music. My favorite? The amazing Aretha Franklin—we need, more than ever, a whole lot of R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Inspiring words . . .
“No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.”
— Marian Anderson
Be and become #yourbest today and every day.
With gratitude,
Kathryn
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